5 Ways to Be More Productive
“Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.” — Franz Kafka
Today’s world is one of instant gratification. We expect more from ourselves and we want to see immediate results. This drive is good, however, it also makes it easy to get distracted when results take more time. Productivity is the key to staying focused in order to produce the results you need.
If you need to keep yourself on track while pursuing your goals, keep reading for 5 essential ways to increase your productivity.
1. Wake Up Early
“Over my 50 years in business I have learned that if I rise early I can achieve so much more in a day, and therefore in life.” — Richard Branson
There’s a reason why so many successful people wake up before the sun. With everyone sleeping, no one is asking for your attention. No interruptions from kids, spouses, coworkers, bosses, neighbors, or friends. This makes your home or the office quiet and distraction free.
Working in the morning boosts your productivity levels because you just had a full night of rest. You haven’t been bogged down yet by a day full of decision-fatigue. And you have more energy to dedicate to your work than you would at the end of the day.
2. Stay Off Social Media
If you’re trying to be more productive, consider deleting your social media apps from your phone. The time you spend scrolling through your newsfeed could be better used for other tasks.
In addition to wasting your time, social media can also dampen your mood. Seeing everyone’s highlight reel can make you depressed. Even if it’s only momentary, this depression could zap you of your energy and make it more difficult to get work done.
Checking our social media accounts while in the middle of a project can derail our train of thought. It may take us several minutes to get back to our original thinking. Only to have another notification ding again.
3. Outsource
If possible, outsource as much of your life as you can. Hire an assistant to handle all your mundane tasks (like responding to emails and setting up meetings). Sign up for a meal service that picks and preps your meals for you. Hire a maid to clean your home. By outsourcing most of your day-to-day tasks, you will have more time to focus on what you do best. This will help you focus most of your energy on where it can be most effectively used.
Outsourcing will also allow you to spend more time with your family. Instead of coming home to catch up on emails or cook a meal, you can now relax with your loved ones.
4. Take Care of Your Health
To be more productive, you need to live a healthy lifestyle. Being healthy will give you more energy and boost your mood. Both of these greatly affect your productivity levels.
When trying to be more healthy, work on these four things:
Go to Bed Early: In addition to waking up early, you will need to go to bed early. If you want to be more productive, you need to get the recommended 7–9 hours of sleep every night. By getting more sleep, you’ll feel refreshed and energized for a productive day of work.
Eat Healthy: The food you eat is the fuel your mind and body use to function each day. If you’re eating poorly, your mind and body will function poorly. But the healthier you eat, the more energy you’ll have and the more productive you’ll be.
Exercise: Working out has many benefits. These include: making you stronger, giving you energy, boosting your mood, and making you more confident in yourself. All of these positively affect your productivity levels.
Drink Water: It’s very important to keep your body hydrated. Symptoms of dehydration include headaches, dizziness, muscle cramps, and more. To keep your energy levels up and stay productive, drink half your body weight in ounces.
5. Focus On One Thing At A Time
Focusing on one thing at a time applies in the moment (such as avoiding multitasking). But it also applies when you are setting goals and starting projects. For example, if you want to be a best-selling author, you can’t write your book and coach your kid’s soccer team and volunteer at the soup kitchen and launch an Amazon business and try to lose 30 pounds. You are focusing on too many things at once.
If you want to be productive, you need to focus on one thing at a time. The faster you can check a goal off, the sooner you can move on to the next one. But working on multiple goals at once will only slow down your progress and make you less productive.
Conclusion
Productivity is about efficiently achieving more each day. It’s not about dedicating more hours each day to reach your goals. Mastering the discipline required for productivity is a worthwhile pursuit. It will keep you on track while you put in the work to get the results that you need.
