How to Become More Productive

Have you ever had one of those days (or hours) that brought much productivity?  Usually it begins as a spontaneous event, a task that was started but continued on and on until a great amount of accomplishment came forth.  Wouldn't it be great to have that momentum in our daily routine?  Here are some tips to implement that will move us  toward being more productive. 

1. Pick Your Clothes Out the Night Before

A key asset to begin the day is mental energy. It drives thought, clarity, focus and so much more.

The problem, of course, is that life gets in the way of your mental energy, and if you’re not careful, the thousands of decisions you make in everyday life will suck up your focus, thinking and clarity before you know it. Little decisions being made the night before save that needed mental energy!

2. Follow a Morning Ritual

Great leaders and successful people typically do the same thing at the start of each day. They can vary, but from pre-game rituals for athletes to the morning routine of high impact leaders, almost everyone has a set of steps they go through to get ready.

Even if it’s just an intentional 30-minute start to your day before your kids get up, it can transform your mindset for the entire day. 

A morning routine doesn’t guarantee a great day, but it positions you for one.

3. Guard Your Peak Energy Window

Even though you have 24 equal hours in a day, not every hour is created equal.

If you’re like most people, you have a three- to five-hour a day window where your energy is at its highest, your mind is sharpest and you can produce more than normal. And you have other windows where you can feel sluggish or tired. When you’re at your best, do your most important work   What’s the secret to being more productive? Doing what you’re best at when you’re at your best.

4. Use Distractions as Rewards

Let’s face it, when you have really important work to do, you feel the urge to do anything except the work you’re supposed to do.  So you might:

• Glance at Facebook
• Stop by a co-worker’s desk to chat.
• Raid the fridge.
• Check out a YouTube video or do a Google search that takes you in another direction than the needed task. 

More than ever before, our lives are full of distractions. Here’s a tip. Use the distraction as a reward.

Don’t tell yourself you can’t scroll through Instagram. Just tell yourself you can do it after you’ve worked for an hour, or completed five pages of that report, or designed the retreat, or whatever you’re doing.

When you use distractions as rewards, your productivity will jump.

5. Turn Off All Notifications on Your Devices

Speaking of distractions, turn off ALL notifications on your devices if you really want to be productive. Have you ever been in the midst of a project when you hear the 'ding' of a notification?  The more you tell yourself to ignore it, the stronger the desire to check it becomes. Make this a non-issue and turn them off. 

7. Capture Those Ideas and Insights

Because your best ideas will come to you when you’re not expecting it, you need to develop a foolproof method for capturing them.

Whether it’s a notebook you carry with you or some app on your phone is irrelevant. You simply need something to capture them before they vaporize. Because they will vaporize.

8. Go to Bed…Early

A rested you is a better you.

9. Take a Nap

Sometimes a nap in the middle of the day feels like plugging a phone in. We can go 50 percent to 80-90 percent charged in about 20 minutes!!

By picking one or two of these to add in our lives can begin to make a huge difference in our productivity.