We all have a story and lots of good reasons why we are not as productive as we want to be.
There is too much to do and too little time. I am always overwhelmed. I cannot concentrate.
On top of it, I am sure we can all appreciate the beauty of sleeping in. I do believe that with a positive, consistent morning routine you can reserve the sleeping in for the weekend. Routine and consistency are going to be the key.
So, if you’re always wondering how you can make yourself more productive, you’ll need the following information.
Let’s start off by dividing our morning into two segments.
~ FIRST 45 MINUTES: things we will be doing at home, prior to getting to work.
~ THEN: we will start our workday with some easy-win tasks and overall good starting tasks.
that will keep our productivity at high levels throughout the day.
START YOUR DAY EARLY IN THE MORNING
I do not remember who said it…but this speaks volumes…”Do your work early in the morning because fear is still asleep at 5 am.”
It’s not easy to train yourself to stop procrastinating and become more productive! But, it’s doable!
I am not suggesting to get up with the rooster. Just recommending to get your day started a bit earlier.
The sooner you get up, the more you can do before your fear wakes up and starts putting you down with those many excuses for why something cannot get done.
EXERCISE AFTER BREAKFAST (15 minutes)
Did you that exercising is one the few activities that generate neurons.
Not only neurons. But new neurons.
It also alleviates both physical and mental pain.
To put this in super simple terms…exercising makes you a happier human being.
That is right.
Now exercising does not solve every issue you may be facing. But I am positive you can imagine how spending 15 minutes doing some light exercising each morning could start your day off better.
MEDITATION FOR BUSY PEOPLE (10 minutes)
Consider this your exercise cool down.
Meditation has huge benefits on both our bodies and minds.
Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School conducted a study where the participants were asked to practice some relaxation methods on a regular basis.
The effects he found were after two months, their bodies began to change.
The genes that help fight inflammation, kill diseased cells all began to switch on. The more people practiced relaxation methods, such as meditation or deep breathing, the greater their chances of remaining free of arthritis and joint pain with stronger immunity, healthier hormone levels, and lower blood pressure.
I am not talking about lighting incense and sitting on a special rug with chanting. In this case, the relaxation/meditation serves as a way to clear your mind and connect with your body.
If you have never meditated, check out this link for some quick and practical tips.
WRITE A JOURNAL ENTRY
This is not a “Dear Diary” thing.
Journal writing can be an extremely cathartic experience.
I often use this with my clients. I refer to it as a brain dump.
You can use any medium, keyboard, paper pad, a scrap of paper of if you are really committed to go out a buy a nice journal and treat yourself to a brand new pen.
Anything really goes.
The brain dump is a stream of consciousness. You put your pen to paper and literally write down whatever comes to mind. You do not stop to think, you do not stop to re-read or allow your brain to stop you.
The idea is that writing frees your mind from the things that are cluttering your mind. Once you get those things out, you no longer have to use your energy focusing on it.
As a result, this means that you can focus on a new day and the tasks you will have to take care of in just a short while.
START YOUR WORKDAY BY PLANNING
You can accomplish this in a few different ways.
- You can begin your day by planning out your to-do list.
- You could also take the last 10 minutes of your day to create your list for the following day.
- You could bring work home to plan.
Try out all three, see what works for you. The important thing to remember is routine and consistency.
DOWNLOAD 16 QUICK TIPS FOR BETTER TIME MANAGEMENT
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GO FOR THE EASY WINS
Try building you to do list in an organized way.
~ CRUCIAL: The thing or things that need to get done during your day. No matter what.
~ EASY WINS: The things that can be done quickly, so you can feel that you are being productive. These will get your wheels going faster and faster.
Start your day by focusing on one or two tasks that are easy wins.
GO RIGHT INTO THE CRUCIAL
We have been quietly building up our whole morning just to be able to tackle the crucial tasks for the day with high energy and positive morale.
Once you have your morning ritual and early wins have taken care of (which mean basically that you have a good start to your day), you can confidently move on to your main tasks for the day. See, it wasn’t so hard to be productive after all!
Good luck!