Have you ever felt envious of people who just seem like they have their life altogether? People who can finish all their work on time and yet still have the energy and motivation to get physically fit. While we’re here chugging down two cans of energy drink, they’re just there still brimming with enthusiasm and also still achieving the same amount of productivity as us.
Whether you’re a common employee or the CEO of Amazon himself, every one of us aims to accomplish things every day and there’s a certain amount of productivity that is asked of us every day as well.
However, no matter how many post-it notes, to-do lists, or trackers we’ve burned through, there are still some tasks that are left unfinished or tasks that take us way beyond the deadline to finish.
Hence, here are some things that you can do to build up your productivity:
1.Be a morning person
A productive day starts with a productive morning. Not very surprising, right? But it’s been shown in some studies that morning people really do tend to be more productive than night owls. It hurts, but it’s the truth.
The key is having a consistent morning routine. This might include waking up at a specified time, then washing your face, eating breakfast (a healthy one), exercising, and even meditating. This may sound like something out of a movie protagonist’s perspective, but it’s real and achievable with constant practice.
Waking up earlier in the morning gets you in what’s called the “golden time”. It’s the time when everyone else is still snoring and snoozing their alarm clocks while you are already sipping your first cup of coffee. This time period allows you to think about your upcoming day and essentially plan ahead.
Being a morning person is not only healthy for your body, but it can greatly boost your productivity and mood too!
2.Prioritize Tasks
Knowing what you have to do is one thing, but knowing which one you have to do first is another. It’s not enough that you just know what you need to do, you also have to rank them by order of importance from most urgent to the least urgent.
They say that getting the most draining and stressful part of your day out of the way first is great for productivity and it’s true! When you begin your day, you are still full of energy so you still have the energy to do it and as your day goes by, your tasks get easier and easier thereby making it less stressful. This also minimizes your chances of procrastinating as the most difficult things to do are already out of the way.
3.Limit Technology Use
Our gadgets have essentially become another part of our body nowadays as we can’t go almost anywhere without being in front of a screen. Whether it’s checking our emails for work, or checking our phone for new notifications in social media, our technology has gotten the larger chunk of our time in a day.
Just like what was mentioned above, prioritizing here is also key. Know what technology use is essential and which one is not. Checking your emails and replying to clients Is essential, but your coworker messaging you on social media asking if you’d like to party tomorrow is not essential. So, turn off your notifications for those and set the important ones as your priority.
4.Build The Right Relationships
As someone once said, “Spend more time with the people that bring out the best in you, not the stress in you”. Having the right people beside you can make a ton of difference. Just like how being with the right people in your younger days can literally steer your life’s course for the better, hanging out with the right type of people at any age will always be the right choice.
As humans, we tend to imitate those around us. So, if we’re always with people who agonize over the tiniest things, people who talk behind the backs of others, or people who are mediocre in everything they do, then that’s also what we will be. So take this as advice to go find yourself some better friends to surround yourself with and do not be afraid to cut off toxic ties!
5.Take down notes
Most CEO’s of today such as Bill Gates all had their novel ideas for entrepreneurship written down in a note the second that they got it. You may have also experienced it before. The feeling of suddenly having a “Eureka!” moment as you tie all the pieces together or when you suddenly think of concepts that have never been heard of before. These kinds of ideas never come twice, so make sure to write them down!
In addition, taking down notes at a meeting or lecture gives you control of which ideas you think are the most important and need to be remembered. This enables you to look back and make use of them at a later date.
6.Take care of yourself
This may come as no surprise, but being productive is not just all about churning out outputs and ideas, it’s also about paying close attention to yourself. Just like how a long-distance marathon runner doesn’t need to go all out and sprint at the beginning of the race, and paces themselves instead to give a consistent performance all throughout, you should also pay attention to how you are pacing yourself.
Experiencing burnout is the thing that you would want for yourself. Whether it’s being mental or physically exhausted, being burnt out leaves you with no will to push on and continue.
So take care of your health and eat the right kind of food! Avoid junk food as they contain too many calories in a tiny amount. Consuming more calories than you expend within a day can cause you to gain weight and be more prone to obesity.
Exercising regularly is also great for taking care of yourself as keeping your body in shape allows you to have more energy and happy hormones. These will enable you to stay motivated and full of enthusiasm.
7.Learn To Say No
Learning to say no is also part of taking care of yourself. When you learn to say no, you are not being rude to the other party, rather you know your limitations and just want to save your energy for yourself. Having this at any stage of your career will prove to be one of your most important assets.
Not only will this spare you from doing others’ work for them, but it will give you a surprising amount of freedom and more time to actually take care of your priorities. This will then increase your own productivity as you can now finally focus on the things that you need to do.
Remember that you are not obligated to help anyone nor do their tasks for them even if they are your close coworker. Any task handed down to you that isn’t your obligation nor will add to your overall productivity, is nothing but a distraction and hindrance to your job. Thus, you shouldn’t be afraid to say no in fear of offending anybody as it is your right to only do the tasks that you actually have to.
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