I’m always looking for ways to improve my time management and learn to work smarter, not harder. I’m definitely not great at it! There are days that I feel like I never sit down, but still seem to get nothing accomplished. {Does this happen to you too?!} However, after much trial and error in my own life as well as observing others I’ve found that productivity is directly related to established habits. These 10 habits can help you to increase your productivity.
Don’t worry! If these habits aren’t part of your life now, they can be learned! Just make sure to add them in slowly. Making large changes in your life like these are much more likely to stick if you don’t try to do everything all at once.
I do want to note that these are the most common habits of productive people. I’m sure their are many, many productive people who do not fit into all, if any, of these characteristics. However, these habits may help you if you are struggling with your productivity and feel that you need improvement in this area of your life. I believe that if you attempt to slowly add in one of these habits at a time, you will begin to see higher levels of productivity.
1. Productive people set goals
They always have a plan for their day by creating a to-do list. They set daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and/or yearly goals. They base their daily to-dos off of these goals so that they can slowly chip away at them.
I’m definitely a daily to-do list maker as well as a short and long term goal setter. However, I need to improve upon making my daily to do lists line up with my short and long term goals. Breaking goals down into daily to dos makes them much more manageable.
2. Productive people manage their priorities, not their time
Productive people set priorities and give of their time to these things first. They don’t manage their time around everything that needs to be done, but rather manage their priorities around the time they have available.
Setting priorities first can help you decide where your time should be spent. My top 5 priorities are God, husband/marriage, children/family, my home, and my blog. {I would say my 6th would be my health. It should probably be higher on my list, but right now it’s not.} I try to give of my time to these priorities first and then fill in the rest of my time with everything else. These are the thing that are most important in my life so they deserve most of my time.
Rather than trying to squeeze in more than can realistic fit into a day and falling short on the things that really matter, productive people put their priorities first.
3. Productive people do the hardest task first
They wake up and get their hardest or most loathed task done first. They do no procrastinate and waste time doing mindless tasks while trying to put off this task. They get it out of the way in the beginning so they can be more productive later doing the things they love and enjoy.
Okay, I’m really bad at this. I really hate unloading my dishwasher, but I’m always, always more productive when I get it done first thing in the morning. When I put it off until later on in the morning {and even sometimes until late afternoon} I find that I find other ways to procrastinate on my household tasks.
3. Productive people follow the “Do It Now” principle
They don’t put things off for later. They are not procrastinators. They follow the “Do It Now” principle by getting things done immediately, rather than letting them be a distraction and source of anxiety.
I’m not always the best at following this strategy, but when I do I find my productivity greatly increases. I try to follow this principle not only to help with productivity, by also to help keep my house clean.
4. Productive people find accountability
They find a friend who will keep them on track towards their goals. Maybe it’s a spouse, a best friend, or someone in their life with similar goals. In the same sense, they don’t let other’s with opposite goals or opposite lifestyles bring them down or keep them from great achievements.
My accountability partner is my husband, Tom. For many aspects of our life (like our finances), we have the same goals so we help each other stay on track. As far as the more personal goals I set for myself, he is my biggest cheerleader, always encouraging me to keep going and better myself. An accountability partner is crucial in staying productive.
5. Productive people are realistic about the time they have
They don’t over schedule themselves. They have a good understanding of how much they can actually accomplish in a given amount of time. They no their own limits, their responsibilities, and their commitments and schedule out the rest of their time with realistic goals in mind.
How much I can actually accomplish in a day has drastically changed over the last 5 years. I went from a young professional with no children, to a stay-at-home mom of two little ones. I can no longer get done in an hours time what I could then. I have to be more realistic about what I can actually achieve each day when making my to-do list.
If I was unrealistic and tried to over schedule myself, I would constantly feel unproductive because I wouldn’t be accomplishing everything on my to-do list which leads into my next point…
6. Productive people stay positive
They don’t let bad days bring them down. They stay positive towards achieving their goals, even when life happens and their days don’t go according to plan. They have long-term aspirations and often times have the mentality of “tortoises always win.”
If you are a mom like me, you know that each hand every day is different and things happen. A major mess has to be cleaned up, a child gets sick, or a spur of the moment play date arises. All of these things can quickly change the course of a planned day. However, productive people look at the big picture and stay positive. {Plus, sometimes the best days are the unplanned ones!}
7. Productive people create deadlines
They set goals with deadlines. They give themselves end dates so that they can be motivated to work on their goals.
I love setting deadlines for things because it gives me something to work towards and look forward to. We are currently in the middle of some remodeling projects in our home and I really want to have a deadline for them to be completed. Not because they absolutely must be done by a specific day. But because it gives us a goal end date, something to strive for. By having a deadline, we are giving ourselves a time limit and, therefore, must work on it to get it finished.
8. Productive people get enough sleep
Productive people make sure to get enough sleep each night. They wake up feeling rested and ready to hit the ground running. They know how much sleep they need to feel rested and aim to get that much sleep each and every night.
I’m really bad at this one and have seen the other side to what a lack of sleep can do. My productivity falls by the wayside when I don’t get enough sleep. I feel too exhausted to accomplish any goals, I rarely make to-do lists, and I have trouble avoiding time wasters. Getting enough sleep can really improve your productivity.
9. Productive people set limits
They set limits for themselves, especially in areas that they find are time wasters. They don’t waste time on social media. They have routines and know when to ask for help. They set limits on items in their home and keep the clutter away.
I really love setting limits on items in my home. I hate clutter and really love the look and simplicity of less stuff. However, I find myself wasting time on social media more often than I’d like to admit. I think that setting limits on my social media time would be a good place that I could help to increase my productivity.
10. Productive people take breaks
They know when they are at their limits and allow themselves a break. They don’t work themselves into the ground with nothing left for their priorities. They take scheduled breaks as well as spur of the moment breaks when needed.
I love taking breaks when needed. One thing I’ve found that I need to take breaks from recently is blogging. I can easily spend more time than necessary writing, editing, researching, learning, and promoting for my blog. However, when I step back from it for a day or two, I always come back feeling more encouraged.
Productivity can easily be a learned habit. If you are looking to be more productive in your day to day life, try adding in some of these habits to see if you can become a better manager of your time!