I’m sure you have read the multitude of articles about habits of highly successful people, which make you more productive. You know the ones that urge you to jump out of bed at some ungodly hour, plan your day in 15 minutes blocks, structure, plan and make processes so that by the time bed time comes around, you’ve not only ticked off the whole to do list but a whole lot more?
That used to be me. Maybe not up at 5am or actually preaching about it but definitely straight out of bed with the alarm, happy and ready for anything. But a strange thing has happened. Maybe it’s age, maybe it’s something else, but I can’t do it anymore. Now the alarm is greeted with a groan and my lovely warm bed doesn’t seem to want to let me go.
At first it was alarming. My head would be full of thoughts like, “You are wasting the day!”, “How long does it take to shower?” and “Exactly why does it take me an hour to breakfast?” I would spend the rest of the day trying to catch up and wondering why I never managed it. Exhausting.
After a particularly tiring day and a late night, I knew I would be tired the next morning and thought, instead of beating myself up about the time I was wasting, why didn’t I just allow myself the time to recharge my batteries and try and enjoy it? So I set the alarm for an intentionally lazy day.
I woke before the alarm, got up leisurely, enjoyed my breakfast and 2 cups of tea before taking the dog for a walk. I took in and enjoyed my surroundings and the fresh air and when I got back home, I had another cup of tea.
What an amazing difference. Instead of feeling tired and lethargic, I was brimming with energy and full of ideas, which had germinated during the walk. When I started work, I tackled my massive To-Do list with way more enthusiasm than normal, completing it and much more besides. What a difference it made when I wasn’t carrying that monkey on my back!
So here are my 5 tips for a productive day:
- Get good sleep. If you start the day tired, it is always harder to turn it around. Sleep is not only essential to reboot, it is now linked to preventing dementia and all sort of health-related issues.
- Try starting with creative tasks so that you don’t lose your energy on the more mundane, like emails.
- Break your tasks down in to smaller ones so that nothing feels insurmountable.
- Don’t be afraid to switch off the emails for an hour or 2 so you are able to concentrate on the task in front of you without interruptions.
- At the end of every day, take a few minutes to think about your successes of that day. Whether big or small, that feeling of achievement will help you start again the day after.
Whether you do for a living and especially in business, it’s importance to be happy. What do you do to help your day go with a swing?
Let me have your tips and tricks in the comments.