One thing that everyone wishes that they could have more of is time! More time to spend time with our family and friends, more time to complete tasks, and more time to enjoy life. By implementing and being consistent with productive habits you can transform into an individual that has a more productive life. By living a productive life, you are giving yourself the greatest gift of time.
Time to devote to your family, friends, and most importantly time to just enjoy life!
Take a minute to analyze your life.
Brainstorm and jot down areas that you want to improve in. While reading the tips in this article, think about how these tips can help you in the specific areas that you identified and wrote down.
With that being said, lets jump into the article which will cover simple but powerful habits that individuals can develop for a more productive life!
Develop a morning routine
Your morning routine dictates largely dictates the success of your day. If you regularly wake up each morning rushing to complete basic activities and arriving late for work or school, this is a sign that you need a morning routine.
The first step in developing a morning routine is to identify your waking time.
A strong morning routine can be developed by becoming an early riser. The term early riser may vary according to the time that your work or school day starts. Your morning commute also will determine how early you should awake.
By becoming an early riser, you are giving yourself time to mentally prepare for the day, complete self-care tasks, and attend to the needs of your loved ones without being rushed if you have children.
Some self-care activities items to include in your morning routine are meditation, praying, reading, exercising, journaling, and yoga.
In your morning routine strive to have a healthy breakfast and hydrate with water before heading out the door.
Also in your morning routine, limit your screen time. If you are able to start waking early but engage on technology devices, you will find that you will be in a cycle of rushing again.
I currently wake up 2 ½ hours before the start of my workday. This allows me time to mentally be present and complete a few home tasks before waking my kids to tend to their needs.
This article has more great tips on having a productive morning!
Use planners, lists, and a calendar
Lists, planners, and calendars are tools that allow us to organize and plan our day. By using lists, you also intentionally create a plan that identifies tasks throughout your day that need to be completed whether at work or at home.
These lists serve as guide which in turn helps with focus and accountability.
Planners and calendars allow you to track and remember appointments, meetings, and upcoming obligations.
Planners and calendars also create a visual of your day, week, and month which allows enhances your time management and productivity.
Access to lists, planner, and calendars are limitless. You can access and use paper copies, electronically, or both.
I currently use a mixture of both as technology can sometimes fail. Writing down events and obligations allows me to put pen to paper which helps with memory.
Limit Multi-tasking and Distractions
When completing work activities and home tasks, limit distractions as they will not allow you to complete your tasks in a reasonable or set timeframe.
Also, do not try to complete more than one task at a time. When you jump from one activity to the next activity, you are not giving either activity your full attention which can lead to mistakes and less proficiency devoted to the task.
Remember our goal is to become productive more in life!
If something comes up that needs your attention while you are completing a task, stop and complete the new task or add it to your list of items to complete.
The Pomodora Technique is a popular technique that I have adapted and love!
Lifehacks describes the Promodora Technique as a time management technique in which you chunk your time into 25 minutes increments where you consistently work, with the goal of having maximum focus and creativity.
During the 25-minute block in which you work, you limit any distractions (cell phone, smart watches, television, notifications, etc.). After working for 25 minutes, you would stop and take a 5-minute break. Use this opportunity to take a mental break, stretch, use the restroom, etc.
After your break, you would then complete the cycle of working for 25 minutes with limited distractions. After you have completed 4 cycles you would take a longer break.
If 25 minutes seems too long of a time to focus on one task, adjust the time to fit your needs.
When you are fully present when completing a task, you will be amazed at your talents and how much you can get completed!
have a cleaning system
Create a cleaning system that works for you. You can choose one day out the week to reset and clean your home and complete mini-cleaning tasks throughout the week. For example, each day you may take 30 minutes to clean and organize a specific room or complete a task. Below is a sample mini-cleaning schedule:
Sunday-Set up your week for success (Grocery shop, meal prep, laundry, clean bathrooms, clean kitchen, vacuum)
Monday-Rest
Tuesday-Clean and refresh bedrooms, Tidy Bedrooms
Wednesday-Clean living room and wash 1-2 loads of clothes
Thursday-Clean Kitchen
Friday-Complete miscellaneous cleaning tasks (dust, wipe down high traffic areas)
Saturday-Rest
Once you establish weekly and daily cleaning habits, you will discover that each week the energy that it takes to devote to cleaning will diminish.
I choose Sundays to reset my home and complete mini-cleaning tasks throughout the week. Click here to read about the importance of having a Sunday routine and download the FREE Sunday checklist.
arrive early for events
Strive to arrive early for events. When you arrive early for work or personal events, you are less stressed which allows you to be mentally present for the events.
It also show the organizer of the event that you respect their time.
Tip: Before leaving home prepare for unexpected events such as weather and traffic, adding on extra time to your commute time.
Develop an evening routine
Productive people have a morning routine which was our first tip for living a more productive life!
However, an evening routine is just as important and vital as a morning routine. Throughout the day we complete many tasks and make thousands of decisions throughout the day which are cognitively taxing on our brains.
Do you ever notice how you are more mentally “Aware” in the mornings?
Experience Life assert ideally cortisol levels are highest in the morning, helping us stay focused during the day and gradually wears off through the afternoon and evening.
Having an evening routine allows you to include distressing routines that will prepare your body to transition into a deep sleep as well as prepare you to start the following day.
Some self-care activities items to include in your night routine are similar to the morning routine.
Spending time with the family, meditation, praying, reading, taking a warm shower or bath, journaling, and prepping your clothes, could all fall in the list of things to complete before winding down for the night.
Tip: Limit your screen time before going to bed. This will help you transition into a deep sleep.
Closing Thoughts:
These habits have allowed me to be more productive in life, with noted success in my work and home environment. These habits have taken years to develop but the journey has been worth it!
I encourage you to adopt just one habit, with a guarantee that you will see a difference.
7 Habits Of Organized People also lists additional tips for productivity goals.
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