Want to Know How To Be More Productive Every Day? Here Are 4 Ways
I often feel I’m not being productive enough. What about you? Do you think you’d like to know how to be more productive?
Sometimes I think we just have too many distractions today. We don’t have the hard physical labour our ancestors had – we’ve got washing machines, dishwashers, food processors, clever tools and gadgets, cars that do much of the thinking for us, and shops and conveniences everywhere.
And that’s great – but somehow we seem to be just as time-poor as people were 100 or more years ago.
So, how we squeeze even more into an already hectic day? And how do we do it, without adding to our stress?
It’s Rarely Just One Thing
Learning how to be more productive isn’t just one simple trick. Being productive is a way of life, and it takes a while to learn and perfect it.
We are all given exactly the same amount of time each day – yet few people utilize that time productively.
If what you’re currently doing isn’t working for you, then – change your approach. Here are 4 ways to do exactly that.
How To Be More Productive: Eliminate Time Thieves
Distractions are time thieves – they steal your available time away from you.
Are you constantly checking your social media profiles, surfing the web, checking email and texting your friends? Do you play Candy Crush or other games? Does your phone or tablet or computer go “ding” or “bong” every time a new update arrives? How much time do you spend watching TV or streaming?
When you’re constantly checking streams or feeds, it becomes easy to lose focus on what you should be doing.
You need to first identify your own personal time thieves. (And switch off those notifications every time there’s a status update – they’re incredibly disruptive!). Then, you can work on reducing or eliminating them from your life. This will automatically help you to improve your productivity levels.
Now, this does NOT mean that you should forget about watching TV ever again, or that you need to delete your social media accounts!
But here’s the key.
Take part in these activities only AFTER you’ve accomplished all that you set out to do for each day.
Once you’ve done what you need for the day, then you can relax, knowing you’ve been productive, and you can really enjoy the time you spend on enjoyable things!
How To Be More Productive: Ditch The Excuses
Are you constantly coming up with excuses not to do things? It’s easy to blame everything and everyone around you for preventing you from being productive.
But sometimes you just need to face the reality that it’s maybe it’s you who’s to blame for your unproductive lifestyle.
You need to look at why you’re procrastinating, and stop doing it.
It may be uncomfortable. You may need to say “no” to requests from others in order to get your own tasks done.
How To Be More Productive: Master Time Management
OK, so suppose you’ve eliminated the time thieves and the excuses from your life. Great!
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll instantly be able to handle your tasks better. You’ll still need to learn how to properly manage your time.
Something that’s really important to know is that you don’t perform at your peak all day.
You only get about two to four hours a day when your energy levels are at their maximum. This is the time when you should be trying to do and complete everything that you have to do on that particular day. You’ll need to find the part of the day when you usually reach your peak and use it to your advantage.
Trying to work or study 16 hours a day won’t really make you more productive. By spending this much time focused on a specific activity, you’ll lose your motivation and drive. Instead, try to find the few hours of the day when you are most motivated to work and use them to improve your productivity. Do your most difficult tasks at your peak time, then allow yourself a “reward” for short while (for example, a nice cup of coffee while you relax briefly, or a limited time on social media or games). Then get back to your easier tasks.
It’s very green and ecofriendly to be productive and not waste time. Simplifying your life is always good. Plus, when you’re being productive, you’re not thinking about consuming or wasting stuff!
Something that doesn’t work for me, but I’ve seen it work well for others, is to leave yourself less time than you know you will need for a task. This is particularly helpful for those who perform well under pressure – even though it may seem counter-intuitive, it will actually help form a habit of completing anything in a very short time period.
How To Be more Productive: Use To-Do Lists
Lists can help you organize your life and your mind, and therefore make you more productive. If you get distracted trying to remember what you need to do next, then you know that you lose focus. It creates disorganization in your mind and your life, and diminishes productivity.
A To-Do list is easy – it can be hand-written or on a fancy goal-setting setup. Whatever works best for you.
It’s also a very good idea to make a To Do list last thing – as you’re ready to leave work, or as you’re ready to go to bed. Make your To Do list for the next day – and somehow, sub-consciously, you’ll wake up next morning keen to get started on your list and cross everything off as complete!
Summary
It can be very easy to feel that you’ve spent the day being busy – but find you’ve actually accomplished very little.
Identify and eliminate your personal time thieves, stop making excuses and instead take action to make sure you can get done what you need to do, get more difficult tasks done when you are at your peak each day, and use To Do lists to remind you of what you need to achieve. It’s very satisfying to cross them all off!
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Warm regards,
P.S. Don’t forget to download your free green living handbook “Live Well, Live Green” here.
Related:
- Squeeze more time into your day – by slowing down!
- Get rid of all the toxic products in your life (you’ll be shocked at where they hide, even in your home!). It’s easy – see how here!
