5 Ways to Become More Personally and Professionally Productive

Are you productive on a regular basis? Do you complete the items on your to-do list daily? Do you handle household chores in an efficient manner? Do you get the results you desire in your relationships or your exercise sessions? At the end of the day, do feel like you’ve achieved your goals—and your potential?

Be honest.

Most of us could be more productive personally and professionally. And, yes, productivity relates to every area of your life. It is not just about work.

I Could be WAY More Productive

Most people consider me a highly productive person. They ooh and aah about how much content I produce regularly. They commend me for the many things I do daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.

Truth be told, I could be so much more productive!

I still waste time every day. If I could reclaim those hours and focus my attention on them, I’d get a ton of stuff done! And I’d have more free time to enjoy my life.

But, like you, I sometimes find myself sitting at my desk and scrolling through Facebook instead of working. I start a project and then get up to get a drink, a snack, or look at the deer outside my window. I call my sister when I should be working. (You have to return your sister’s calls, right?)

There are as many ways to procrastinate as there are ways to become distracted. You might check a new text while chatting with your husband or listen to an interesting news story on the television on the way to do the laundry. You might turn to Google and conduct research for your project and end up watching an hour-long video or take the dog out to pee and stop to pull weeds for a half hour.

All of these tactics keep you from being on purpose and productive. They don’t allow you to work toward your goals. And they especially don’t help you have more time to spend with your kids or dog or to finish your book.

If you are unfocused and waste time, you won’t be productive. Nor will you achieve your goals.

The days, weeks, and months when I’m most productive, I have the time to watch a movie with my husband, meet a friend for tea, go to the gym more consistently, meditate for longer periods, go to the beach, take classes to learn new things, and read. At these times, I feel fabulous! I’m not only achieving my potential and purpose but also living life to the fullest extent.

What High Performers Know about Productivity

High performers know that productivity makes a huge difference personally and professionally. They achieve and sustain high levels of productivity in all areas of life, and the more productive they become, the more quickly they create the wealth, health, career, relationships, and time to enjoy the life they desire.

High performers know how to:

• manage time
• create a productive day
• get more done in less time
• gain clarity about daily priorities
• regularly increase productivity
• hack their work capacity
• live full lives

5 Ways to Increase Your Productivity Immediately

You can learn these same skills and achieve the same results as high performers. Use the following five strategies and tools to become more productive personally or professionally right away.

1. Focus your attention.

You cannot manage time. There are only so many hours in the day; that will never change. You can manage your attention. You can decide what to focus upon in every moment and not let distractions deter you from doing so.

Every day—every hour and every minute of every day—focus your attention on what you want to accomplish. Keep your mind and your actions trained on accomplishing that goal. Learn to bring your wandering attention back to the job at hand.

Focus your attention on what you want to achieve, and replace distractions with priorities. This one skill can change you from unproductive to productive instantly.

2. Allow your morning to dictate your day.

Start your morning with rituals that help you become productive throughout the day. Many highly productive people begin the day with exercise, meditation, or some inspiring or motivational activity, such as prayer or reading.

You’ll be surprised to know that these successful people do not check their email first thing in the morning. Author Julie Morgenstern details the damage this one activity can have on the productivity of your day in her book, Never Check Email in the Morning. When you begin the day responding to email, she claims you’ll “never recover” from the requests, interruptions, unexpected surprises, reminders, and problems included in those communications.

Answering emails puts you into a reactive mode, which means you can’t or don’t proactively pursue your goals for the day. Instead, you get caught in other people’s agendas.

Spend an hour (or more) after your morning rituals focused on on a project you want to accomplish. Your whole day will become more productive.

3. Play blocks all day

Once you can focus your attention on your priorities, you can go one step further. Manage your calendar.

Think of your schedule as a series of 15 to 60 minute (or longer) blocks of time. You have all day to play with these blocks!

Block time for the things you want to accomplish during the day—everything from exercise, meditation, your book proposal, laundry, and spending time with your kids. For example, exercise from 9 to 1o a.m. Work on your new book from 12 to 1 p.m. Then stick to this schedule.

4. Plan your priorities

Get clear about your daily priorities. In fact, choose one priority—not many—and get that done first each day. Move anything else on the to-list up to priority status after that. Keep knocking off one priority item at a time.

And get those priorities on your calendar. Block time for them. Then focus your attention on accomplishing that one priority in the designated block of time.

5. Energize your mind and body

If you feel tired and low on energy, you’ll have a tough time accomplishing tasks during the day. Exercise helps energize the body, as do healthy eating habits. Meditation, breathing exercises, Tai Chi, and movement, in general, can help raise your energy.

Make sure you sleep at least seven hours each night (eight is better). You will feel better in general and have more clarity, focus, and energy to produce the results you desire.

Most of us don’t drink enough water or breath deeply enough during the day. These two things alone can increase your physical and mental energy, which results in improved productivity.

Also, take frequent breaks from work. This advice sounds counterintuitive, but if you stop work every 50 minutes to take a five- or ten-minute break, you’ll find yourself more productive when you return to your desk. Use the time to do breathing exercises, drink a glass of water, and get outside for a few minutes. Then come back to your task with a clear and energized mind and body.

Put these strategies to use in any area of your life, and here’s what you’ll discover: You’ll achieve heightened and sustained levels of productivity. You will become more productive, which will allow you to fulfill your potential and purpose and create—and enjoy—the life you desire.

What makes you more productive? Tell me in a comment.

Photo courtesy of Peter Zsuzsa