Have you ever wondered how some people are able to do so much more with their day while you struggle with completing even one task? These highly productive people almost seem super human. Well these super-productive people are not super-human although they often appear that way. They have just changed their productivity levels by adding a few simple habits to their routine, which greatly increases their efficiency and productivity and add many more hours to their day.
Now you can too increase your productivity and achieve so much more if you want to. These simple techniques give you so much more energy to supercharge your life and be 5X more productive. So add these 29 habits to your routine and be more successful.
- Learn your Energy Clock
All of us have different energy hours, experiencing highs and lows during the day. Are you a morning person or an evening one? Learn your own energy clock and plan to complete the most difficult & vexing tasks, when you have the most energy and see your productivity shoot through the roof!
- Planning Your Day
Every night, plan your day ahead with a list of all the tasks that need accomplishing. Make a To Do List for tomorrow. Getting organized in advance gets you started early and you’ll achieve a whole lot more.
- Prioritize Your Tasks
A long To Do List in front of us makes us feel bogged down. Try and prioritize the list of tasks deciding which is urgent and most important, so that you can focus on the tasks first that will benefit you the most. Completing these will make you feel satisfied faster, helping you to create energy and time to work on the other ones.
- Eliminate Non-Essential Tasks
Make a list of tasks that need to be accomplished and mark off the urgent and important tasks. Look through the rest and see if there are any you can discard. Eliminating all your non-essential tasks will give you more time and energy to focus on the important ones.
- Complete the Worst Jobs First
Complete your worst job of the day first. It doesn’t need to be the most difficult or even the most important, it’s simply the task you dread doing most. You’ll feel great getting it completed first thing in the morning and it will set a positive, motivational tone for the rest of the day.
- The 5 Minute Rule
Procrastination is the worst enemy of your productivity. Sometimes we tend to postpone the minor tasks to later, thinking we can do these simple ones later. But the golden rule of higher productivity is to complete your To Do List quickly. If a task takes less than five minutes to complete, don’t leave it to later or until tomorrow to perform it – just do it straight away. This way you achieve more off your list and makes you more satisfied.
- Break Big Tasks into Small Tasks
Some Tasks seem too large and formidable and we keep avoiding them. Breaking these large overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks can make them seem less intimidating and therefore more manageable. Completing these small 5-minute tasks is much easier and gets the Big Task get completed faster.
- Tick mark Tasks as you complete them
Crossing Tasks off a List as you complete them will give you a sense of achievement and therefore motivate you to work harder. So keep your To Do List handy and keep tick marking the ones you complete.
- Set A Deadline
Setting a deadline to complete a task will help you stay motivated and focused. Pen down a date/time against every action point on your To Do List, to ensure you remain focused on meeting them.
- Complete A Task before starting the next one
Once you’ve started a task, keep going until it is completed. Don’t switch between tasks. This helps you to remain focused and finishing it off.
- Stop Multi-Tasking
Multi-tasking is often touted as a method to increase efficiency but it is not always the case. Try focusing on one task at a time and completing it before moving to your next task. You’ll likely be more productive and complete each job faster and more effectively.
- Just Say No
Say no to any new non-essential tasks until you have completed all your current ones. If you keep adding new tasks to your list, you will soon feel over-whelmed. Its better to have a finite list then a never-ending one.
- Review Goals Weekly
Once a week you should review your current goals and assess how they are progressing. Make any changes if necessary to keep the advancement of your goals on track.
- Perfectionism
Don’t set such unrealistic goals for yourself that you won’t be able to achieve them. Being a perfectionist can cause frustration and even high levels of stress, which will impair your productivity. It is important to remember that perfection is unattainable.
- Organize Your Workspace
A messy or disorganized workplace can cause you to have difficulty concentrating and a lack of focus. Remove any unnecessary items and keep only the projects you are working on in front of you. Try and keep a picture of someone/something, which motivates you to keep moving ahead.
- Eliminate Distractions
One of the biggest killers of productivity is distraction. Being focused allows you to complete tasks faster. Everyday distractions like social media, chat apps etc. cause you to be distracted. If you want to be focused at work, shut down the notifications on your smart phone or better disconnect the Internet, while you are working.
- Outsourcing Tasks
Many tasks can be easily done by others. Learning the delegation of some unimportant everyday tasks to others helps you to free up your time to concentrate on more important ones.
- Become Accountable
It helps if you have somebody watching over you to remain focused. Tell someone about a task, you are trying to achieve and you’ll feel compelled to accomplish the task.
- Get Plenty Of Sleep
Like your body, your mind also needs rest. By ensuring you have a good night’s sleep means you’ll be well rested and refreshed to make your working day as productive as possible.
- Rising Early gets more work done
Think how much more you could achieve with an extra hour at the beginning of your day. Changing your routine to wake up one hour earlier creates miracles to your work schedule.
- First Hour Is For Tasks
Spend the first 60 minutes of your day working on your list of tasks and planning out your work schedule, before doing anything else. Do not open your emails or start your phone calls. Use this focused time to plan your work and see the difference in your productivity every day.
- Take Regular Breaks
Research has proven that our mind gets dull if we spend too much time at the desk. If you want to be more productive, taking short breaks, is a great way to relax the brain and generate more energy. It sounds counter-intuitive but the more refreshed you feel, the more productive you’ll become. Instead of sitting down during your breaks, try walking up a few flights of stairs or taking a brisk walk around the office to re-energize yourself and clear your head.
- Avoid Large Lunches
Large lunches, especially those accompanied by alcohol, can make you feel tired and sleepy and seriously dampen your productivity. Try and avoid them if you have a busy schedule in your day.
- Meeting-Free Day
Plan to have at least one day a week with no meetings scheduled. This way you’ll have more time for yourself to focus and accomplish a lot more that day.
- Work During Your Commute
With commuting to work becoming longer, try and use this time to catch up on prioritizing your to-do list or finishing those small 5 minute tasks. Maybe, its just catching up on calls or emails. This way you use this time more productively.
Also published on Medium.
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