Do you want to be more conscious of your time? Get more things done in a day?
People who are effective in their daily lives have similar behaviors under control. They include those who have a daily action plan, implement healthy habits into their daily routine, and prioritize their sleep schedule. Whether it’s one of these things or all of them, the more good habits you develop, the better your time management and therefore productivity will become.
We did some research and found the 10 most common habits that productive people do to live their best lives and work more efficiently.
1. Order your thoughts
To keep you calm, balanced and free of tension, it’s important to take a moment to ground and organize your thoughts. Exactly how you do that depends on your personality. For some, it’s meditating or journaling work, for others it’s quietly enjoying a cup or getting some fresh air. As long as you allow yourself a moment to focus on your thoughts and emotions, so that afterwards you can concentrate on the next activity and emotions and thoughts no longer take over.
2. Dress up
Staying in your pajamas, sportswear or lounge wear will have an effect on your productivity. Dress yourself for the day and the role you have in mind. Automatically, you will feel more motivated and productive.
3. Touch it once
As women, we love multitasking, and whether multitasking is a myth or a fact, we still manage to make it look pretty truthful. However, focusing on one task and actually finishing it – or completing it in one way – before starting another increases productivity. So if you open an e-mail, read and respond to it instead of marking it back as unread. The e-mail will keep floating around in your head anyway, so it’s best to get rid of it all at once. No time to answer e-mail? Then don’t open your mailbox either and schedule it when you do have time.
4. Tricky tasks first
Not in the mood for a particular task? Then do it first instead of risking spending a whole day on it. Get it out of your system so you can focus on the rest of the day.
5. Prioritize
Not easy, but crucial for sustained flow throughout the day. Establish a to-do list in order of importance. Even if you didn’t get everything done, you’ll feel fulfilled at the end of the day.
6. Consistent sleep pattern
Being tired will make you less productive. A consistent sleep pattern with enough sleep is therefore crucial. Try to find a rhythm that you can maintain even on weekends. Short nights during the workweek and sleeping in late on weekends only lead to a recurring imbalance that your body has to get used to again.
7. Plan healthy meals consciously
We cannot stress enough the importance of proper nutrition. Healthy food choices promote clear thinking and give you energy. Moreover, it can improve your entire quality of life. In addition, planning your meals will save you time during the day. One less thought!
8. Stick to a workout schedule
For most productive people, a workout is not an extra task, but a planned moment for self-care. So schedule it in your calendar and make it non-negotiable.
9. Bye Bye notifications and hello “focus”-function
Our phone is the biggest productivity disruptor out there. And we are aware of it! Yet we often get tempted to reach for our cell phone and start scrolling – often aimlessly. Even the flashing of your cell phone due to a notification already takes you out of focus mode. Therefore, turn off your notifications and use the “focus” or do not “disturb” feature to increase your productivity.
Do you have another productivity tip that should definitely not be missing from this list? Let us know so we can share it with other women!