Success is habitual.
Rare is it that someone makes their mark in this world without a string of positive behaviors leading to their accomplishments.
There’s no such thing as getting rich quickly barring you winning the lottery.
The fact is, you’ll only start seeing results – whether in business or in your personal life – after creating a foundation of good habits that are conducive to success.
It’s not immediate either. Only after this string of productive behaviors have become a regular, disciplined part of your routine that success becomes habitual.
So, what are the necessary facets and principles of a productive routine?
Let’s answer that question here:
Waking Up Early
There’s not necessarily any direct, scientific evidence that outright proves that being an early riser makes you successful.
Now, this might leave you a little less rested. However, you don’t actually need eight hours of sleep every night. Six or seven will do.
With that one extra hour each day, you’ll gain 15 days of total time every year to be productive. Many productive people will choose that time to exercise or meditate so they can prepare themselves for the day.
Also, if you’re working a demanding schedule, rising early in the morning gives you time to spend with your family during breakfast. Such an example of work-life balance is essential to productivity because, without it, it’s likely to burn out and lose your edge
Write Everything Down
Seeing is believing.
Taking the time to write out distinct goals for the day makes them tangible. It also acts as a means of positive reinforcement. When you see the checkmarks mounting up, it makes you feel productive and gives you a sense of accomplishment.
Following this method will encourage you to be productive because you’ll actively see and remind yourself just how much you get done during a day.
Filtering Down and Prioritizing Your To-Do List
As valuable as your to-do list is to your overall productivity, sometimes it can be all-consuming.
An insurmountable to-do list can end up hindering your productivity because you’ll get drowned in a sea of tasks. You’re getting pulled in too many different directions and, therefore, end up directionless. And, anyone who’s ever put too many items on their to-do list will be able to tell you that it’s also conducive to procrastination.
Instead of spreading yourself too thin, focus on one-to-three of your most important daily tasks. These are your items on your list that you must finish.
This way, you won’t grow distracted by less vital tasks that tend to get in your way. And without fail, the tasks most conducive to your overall success and productivity will be completed.
Focus on Deep Work
Professional and personal strides are rarely made when you’re only doing things that don’t require much effort.
No, the work that makes a difference in your life is going to be challenging, demanding projects that take up time.
At the crux of this “deep” work is making the most of the time you do spend getting it done—so that it’s executed with proficiency. When you’re writing your Master’s thesis or working on a challenging brief at work, you need to be intensely focused.
Meaning, you must schedule this deep work at around the same time every day so that it becomes a habit. You also must be okay with being bored, because this kind of work isn’t always sunshine and lollipops. It can be arduous and unengaging. You must embrace this kind of grind.
Furthermore, don’t be easy to contact. Your deep work should be at the center of your focus, not conversations on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or any other chat platform.
Remove Your Apps from Your Phone
Let’s be honest, social media offers a lot in terms of entertainment. But we’re willing to guess that during times when you needed to be productive, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter have gotten in your way, at one point or another.
It’s understandable. When you get the alert, how can you not check to see who’s liked a post or sent you a message?
The best practice in this instance is to remove these distractions from your mobile device altogether. This will make them non-factors, and we’re willing to be you get more done during the day as a result.
Use Technology to Your Advantage
With social media at the forefront of our culture, you might make a mistake in thinking that technology works against your productivity.
Really, though, with the various work-based technologies available in 2020, it’s possible to be more productive than ever.
Think about it. Why subject yourself to a pen, paper, and physical agendas/calendars when you can store, share, and collaborate in the most streamlined of manners?
Of course, there are more mainstream workplace productivity tools like Trello and Slack. They’re undoubtedly useful. But like many product categories on the market, if you do research, you’ll end up finding a more unique, less expensive platform that better suits your productivity needs.
Take Heycollab, for instance. Amongst its array of productivity-based features is a kanban style task collaboration tool to help you track, organize, and prioritize projects.
Many professionals prefer it to Trello and Slack, primarily because of pricing and for superior functionality.
With these tools, you’ll find that you end up accomplishing more and performing at a superior rate than ever before.
It’s Time to Become Your Most Productive Self
A lot of the time, people cast negative connotations onto habits. When we hear the term, it’s so easy to think of behaviors like biting your nails or smoking.
However, habits can be entirely positive. Namely, the above tips are all incredible habits that you must harness over time.
Sure, at first, it might be tough to force these various acts into your daily schedule. However, when you stick to these behaviors, they’ll become second nature, and suddenly you’ll be living seamlessly as a productive person.
So, take this blog to heart and make the changes you need, and you’ll begin producing at a level you never thought possible.