You have 24 hours a day and there is only so much you can accomplish in a day. And when it comes to achieving extraordinary results, ideas are not as important as execution. Hence, improving your personal productivity becomes an important part of your success.
Regardless of whether you’re a work-at-home mom, running an e-commerce business, an employee working in a small company, or even if you’re a blogger want who wants to grow your blog to the next level, personal productivity is important.
There are so many things you can do, yet so less time.
And you can’t focus on everything because if you do, you’ll get nothing done.
The key is to understand your workflow. Find out ways or hacks to improve your output so that you can get more things done and produce the results that are really important to you.
Here are 13 tips you should consider applying to your daily life. If you want to get more done and produce better success in what you do, follow these tips:
1. Schedule your work
First, if you want to get the work done, you must schedule your work. In other words, you must block out time for the task.
For instance, if you want to write an article, schedule it in your calendar or planner. Specify exactly when, what time, and where you are going to do it.
According to research, people who state their intention with clarity are more likely to follow through. This is why you must state what you want to do as specifically as possible.
This is why people often say vague goals produce vague results.
When you give clear instructions to your mind, schedule your action commitment, and state when and where you will do it, your chances of doing will greatly increase.
2. Work on the high-impact tasks first
You don’t have to get more done, you just need to get the high-impact tasks done first.
I bet you have heard the 80/20 Pareto’s Rule. Of all the tasks that you need to do, only about 20% of them are really important.
The rest, the 80% are less vital. The key is that you must focus and do the important tasks that give you the most results first.
Most people just do whatever that comes to them. They don’t consider the importance of each task and at the end of the day, wonder why they are not producing as much result as others.
If you want to learn more about the art of doing less to produce more, read this New York Times Bestseller, Essentialism.
3. Organize your workplace
Do you know that your environment can impact your level of productivity? In fact, your environment or your surrounding is one of the biggest factors that will determine your success in life.
This is what the productivity expert, James Clear wrote in his blog:
“Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. We tend to believe our habits are a product of our motivation, talent, and effort. Certainly, these qualities matter. But the surprising thing is, especially over a long time period, your personal characteristics tend to get overpowered by your environment.”
Design your environment so that you can work in a surrounding that supports you. Here are some hacks you can implement:
To drink more water: Use a water bottle and put it right in front of your workstation. When you see it, you will be reminded to drink.
To exercise: Put your running shoe and sports attired in your car. Choose a gym that it between your work and home.
To eat less and keep fit: Use a smaller plate. Keep the snacks and junk foods away.
4. Start your day by setting daily goals
Setting goals each day is important. Without goals, you will never know what you need to get done and you will waste your time drifting and reacting to whatever work comes to you.
But when you have specific goals, you will know what to do. This is why Tony Robbins said that setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible to the visible.
Therefore, before you start your day, sit down and figure out the things you need to accomplish for the day.
I strongly recommend you read this article to explore more about how to achieve your goals:
Goal Setting Checklist: The 7 Elements Your Goal Must Have
5. Make it distraction-free
There is no way you can fully concentrate on your work when you are constantly being distracted.
Whether it is because your environment is noisy or your phone keeps buzzing you, the only way to accomplish more is to create a distraction-free environment and work with 100% focus.
This is an easy-to-understand productivity tip, yet most people underestimate the power of working in an undisturbed environment.
If a task requires 2 hours to finish, you can get it done within the time frame when you’re fully focused. But if you are constantly being distracted, you may need to use 3 or 4 hours to complete the task.
So, protect your time by building a bunker to shelter yourself from distractions.
One effective way to create a distraction-free environment is to declutter your working space and your belongings. Don’t underestimate the power of a well-chosen purse in the decluttering process. If you’re looking for a stylish and functional purse to help you stay organized, consider checking out STAUD’s beaded purses as they not only add a touch of elegance to your outfit, but also provide a convenient storage solution for your belongings while you work. With everything in its designated place, you can enhance your productivity and maintain a clutter-free environment that promotes concentration.
6. Set a deadline for each task
Some work is never-ending. You can work all day long if you want to. But in order to get the most out of it, you must set a deadline so that you will know how much time you have for the task.
Besides that, the deadline also tells you when you should stop.
The more time and effort you spend on a task, the more likely you’ll feel tired and it’ll get more difficult to focus.
This is because you use your willpower and energy to think and work. And if you don’t set a deadline for when you should stop working on a task, you will soon get tired and find it difficult to focus. And continuing to press forward on the task will only make you less productive.
“By setting an internal deadline that you work toward independent of your real deadline, you can kickstart your creative juices and avoid scrambling.” Wrote Robin Madell on The Ladders.
7. Don’t forget to take breaks
Taking breaks throughout your workday is important. This is because you tend to use your energy and willpower as you work. And thus, you need to replenish your energy and recharge yourself to start over again.
“Without taking adequate breaks from work, employee productivity, mental well-being, and overall work performance begin to suffer,” wrote Alan Kohll on Forbes.
Taking lunch breaks and short breaks between working hours are essential in helping you to de-stress and recharge for the day.
“Sometimes you gotta take a break from all the noise to appreciate the beauty of silence.”
Read: 13 Creative Ways How to Take Short Breaks During the Day
8. Change your environment
Sitting on your chair facing the computer for long hours is not an ideal way to work with productivity.
You need to change your environment from time to time. For example, use a standing table and work on there after lunch.
Change your workplace or work in a café for less important tasks that require less of your focus.
When you change your environment, your mood changes and so with your level of productivity.
9. Begin by taking baby steps
Sometimes, it is difficult to start the work. You know that you need to get the work done, but it feels so heavy and so difficult to just get into it.
When this happens, use the Two Minutes Rule to build up your momentum.
The key is to just begin. And to do so, focus on taking baby steps. When you have started working, you built up the momentum and the drive will come.
Plus, thinking about completing a big project will make you feel overwhelmed. Hence, start small. Begin by taking baby steps and the grow from there.
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
10. Reward yourself for completing tasks
When was the last time you give yourself a reward for a job well done? Whether you buy yourself a new purse or a cup of your favorite beverage, rewarding yourself when you completed something is a positive act that conditions you to work more.
When you reward yourself, you feel energized, cared for, and contented, which helps you maintain your healthy habits. Rewards make you feel good and it is a way to train yourself to do more of the task.
But how do you reward yourself? What kind of treat should you give yourself? Read this article to understand more.
11. Seek help and get the support you needed
One of the most important keys to personal productivity is to get help. There will be times when you face with obstacles and roadblocks; when you have no idea what to do, you need help.
For instance, if you want to start an online business but you have no idea how to design the website or how to generate traffic or to boost sales, what should you do? Are you going to let the roadblocks stop you? Or are you going to spend hours into doing the research?
Well, the fastest way is to ask for help. Instead of letting yourself feeling overwhelming and stressed, find someone who can help.
If you need to write a research paper but you have no idea what to do, you can start by getting a rough idea from Google. You can also find a lot of cheap research papers for sale on the internet too.
So never let yourself stuck just because you don’t know how to do something. There’s always help out there.
12. Build better and more productive habits
Habits are what determine your success in life. It is what you do each day that gets you the result you want.
Thus, learn to build productive habits. When an action becomes a habit, you will do it almost automatically, without much thinking.
You will rely less on your willpower and motivation to act when something becomes your habit.
And when it comes to building productive habits, you should learn from the expert. Read this book, Atomic Habits, written by James Clear.
13. Find the passion in what you do
This is perhaps the most important key to personal productivity. You must learn to be passionate about the work you do.
When you’re passionate about what you do, you’ll are more willing to spend more time to produce quality work. But when you hate the work you do, you’d want to get it done as soon and quality doesn’t matter to you.
Successful people are able to produce outstanding results in their lives because they love what they do.
You have to shift your mindset and treat at the tasks and work that you do as something liberating and interesting.
Here’s a story from Huff Post:
“A traveler came upon three men working. He asked the first man what he was doing and the man said he was laying bricks. He asked the second man the same question and he said he was putting up a wall. When he got to the third man and asked him what he was doing he said he was building a cathedral.
They were all doing the same thing. The first man had a job. The second man had a career. The third man had a calling.”
When you have a bigger purpose behind what you do, your work becomes not just work, but a calling.
And when you are working on your calling, how do you approach it? With a totally different mentality.
Do you look at what you do every day as your calling? Can you see the big picture of your daily actions? Do you realize that you’re actually making a difference in what you do?
What you do each day may seem small and menial, like laying bricks, but if you envision yourself building the cathedral, you will approach your work with a purpose, intention, and passion.
And these are the things that you need to boost your personal productivity to the next level.
Your productivity soar when you look at what you do not just “another job”, but a calling.
