So you want to be more productive? I believe we all go through periods of immense productivity followed by brief periods of time when we need to ‘recharge’ or ‘defrag’ so to speak. When you’re productive it’s paramount that you continue the momentum and stay on track.
Here are my five top tips on how to increase your productivity and achieve greater output in any aspect of your life this could be fitness, business or relationships.
Structure
All successful, productive individuals implement a large degree of structure in their lives, meanwhile those individuals with a sluggish, lethargic nature simply allowing their days to pass by do not have any structure. You should be listing all of your goals down, not in your head but instead on a piece of paper that is in view every day, note down corresponding deadlines for these goals too if applicable.
Forward Planning
Don’t be afraid to plan far in advance. Creating to-do list on a day to day basis is a fantastic habit to get into, but we’re taking things to the next level… we’re aiming for phenomenal, not fantastic. Therefore you should be planning your week ahead of time, what can you do today that will benefit those events and deadlines you have on next Friday?
The greater control, success and productivity you want, the further in advanced you should plan.
Confident Goal Planning
Without goals we do not have anything to aim for. As I’m sure you’ve heard before goal setting is essential if you want to be successful. Not having a goal is like getting in your car in the morning but not having the faintest idea of what or where your destination is, it just doesn’t make sense, so why is goal setting not common practise?
The goals you set however should be confident goals; this means you should be confident with your ability to achieve them. Now, I’m not saying set an overly easy goal you know you can achieve right this moment. What I am getting at is if you set a goal that is too far out of reach you’ll eventually convince yourself just how far fetched your goal is and will then give up, instead of setting out and achieving the goal that you confidently set.
Set confident goals and achieve them.
Focus
Energy goes where attention flows. In the early days of your endeavours branching out and attempting to multitask is extremely counterproductive, focus your attention on the one particular task at hand and I guarantee you will notice an immense increase in your overall productivity and quality of workmanship put into that task. Just imagine you were drilling for oil, you initially begin to drill down for an extended period of time, eventually once you’ve struck the oil you can begin to branch out in any directions (In your case, other tasks and endeavours).
Measure
Without quantitative measurements our perspective of how we are spending time can be quite skewed. You think you’re taking 30 second rest breaks between sets in the gym? Chances are you’re taking 80 seconds. Spending 20 minutes on Facebook each day? I bet you’re on there for an hour.
If you’re truly looking to increase your productivity and identify areas in which we can pick up slack and carve in more time for productive activities record the amount of time you spend on activities such as web browsing each day, start using a sports watch or timer in the gym.
Did you find these productivity tips helpful? If you have any other techniques on how to increase productivity let me know in the comments below!
