So with Fall in full swing I know my calendar is feeling a bit tight and I wanted to refresh on some of the key strategies for increasing productivity. Each of us has the same 24 hours in a given day and how we manage this resource greatly impacts our quality of life and success at the goals that are important to us. The tips I am about to share with you will not literally manifest more hours in your days but will hopefully help you get the most out of the hours you do have.
Habits of Productive People:
- Schedule in a calendar. This is the number one tip. Find a calendar system that works for you and stick with it. There are many options. I have tried keeping my calendar on my phone, computer and on paper. I have found that a paper calendar works best for me. I like My Agenda / Mom Agenda products at www.momagenda.com.
- Maintain “to do” lists and regularly update. I have a weekly overview of my to do lists that is in sync with my goals and demands of the week ahead. I usually organize this on Fridays the week before. I also daily update what I have been able to accomplish and remove from my list and anything that needs to be added or moved to another day. I use post it notes on the pages of My Agenda calendar so that I can move them forward as needed. Managing my calendar is a daily ritual but it is something I can do on most days in 5 minutes.
- Identify your top priorities and write them down. When you know what is important it is easier to ignore what is not. This is part of my Friday ritual when I overview my week ahead. I identify what my priorities are and a lot the time needed for them on my calendar.
- Don’t blow yourself off. By scheduling the time on your calendar, you have defined time that you are committing to your goals. When other opportunities present, you are more clearly able to see how much time you have available to spend in other places.
- Have a non-negotiable AM routine. This is one of the key habits of successful people. Taking care of business that we need to have a solid start to the day needs to be something we just get up and do and then repeat again the next day and the next. Reinventing the wheel every morning is a inefficient and ineffective and can result in a difficult start. Starting with strong momentum can set a tone for productivity and a sense of being on top of things that carries throughout the day.
- Exercise in the morning. It has been scientifically proven to increase focus, mood and productivity. This is an awesome video by John Ratey about this topic.
- Make friends with time. When people think of time negatively (“I don’t have enough time”, “I’m too busy”, etc…) they create a negative relationship with time. Any resistance we can clean up allows for the energy that we do have to be spent in favor of our desired outcomes.
Do you already have any of these habits in place? Take a minute to consider what already is working for you. Review the list and identify 1-2 new behaviors you want to try out. Stick with the plan for a few weeks to get used to seeing how it works. If you have other strategies that work for you that you want to share email me.
