Christmas has just passed, followed by an entrance to 2013. Normally we spend time with our families, eat lots of food, relax; this is important – you can’t work all year round. I’ve always found it hard to put my foot back into gear afterwards though, come January the 3rd (I’m always too tired on the 2nd), I find it hard to find motive and inspiration to complete tasks. If this sounds like you, have a read of the list below:
1. Set Goals. Everyone is more productive when they have a clear-cut vision of what they want to achieve, make sure you have that. Set a number of goals based around your tasks, you can set yearly goals, weekly goals, and most importantly – daily goals!
2. Reward Your Successes. I’ve talked about our brain’s ‘reward cycle’ before in another post. We feel good when we reward ourselves, it’s a great motivation tool. Having a reward in mind when doing something can be an incentive to work faster also.
3. Find Out What Works for You. Are you more productive in the morning? Or at night? Find out what works best and apply it, there’s no secret formula for being productive; everyone’s different.
4. Take Regular Breaks.
5. Set a Time Limit on Each Task. Setting time limits is essential if you’re sticking to a schedule, time limits also help us to finish tasks quicker – just make sure the quality of your work isn’t suffering.
6. Eliminate Distractions. This could be anything from Facebook being open while you work, to the tennis ball you have sitting near your desk. Get rid of potential distractions before it’s too late!
7. Clear Workspace Clutter. Leading on from the last tip, clearing workspace clutter leads to a more focused mind and therefore enables you to be more productive.
8. Don’t Wait for Anyone, or anything. If you’re expecting a call in 20 minutes to go ahead with something, then don’t sit around and do nothing. Find a small task that needs to be completed and do it, more often than not, the call will come in 40 minutes later and you’ll have wasted all that time.
9. Exercise. Studies have shown that regular exercise leads to increase productivity and higher focus, it doesn’t have to be high intensity – it just has to be something.
10. Set Reminders. Set a number of reminders throughout the day on your computer or cellphone with the text, “Am I working? Or am I looking for ways to avoid work.”
11. Take Cold Showers. What started off as a 30-day challenge for me, has become part of my lifestyle. There’s no better way to start your day than with a cold shower!
12. Simplify tasks by breaking them apart into smaller, easy to tackle sections.
13. Don’t make any excuses, have the “I can do anything” mindset.
Damn, You put it right in front of me: Eliminate Distractions, been failing with that all day today, although I got a shedload done, I’m off to bed waaayy too late!
I think if someone followed all those principles religiously, success is a guarantee! Awesome stuff Sam!
Well I was in the same situation, that’s why I put it in there! In fact, I actually had a tennis ball sitting underneath my desk, I kept finding myself throwing it against the wall, instead of focusing on more important things.
Thanks for the comment Nick!
Hey Sam,
Great stuff man. I’ve been traveling around for about two weeks and now that I am finally settled, I’ve definitely been finding it difficulty to get back into a routine.
These are some solid tips. Definitely need to get back into goal-setting. Before the trip, I had monthly, weekly, and daily goals. I was organized as hell lol. This will definitely help me get back into the swing of things. Thanks man.
P.S. Did you jump right into taking cold showers, or did you ease into it slowly? It’s something I have very seriously considered doing in my life.
Thanks for the comment Kevin.
Yeah there’s always times that you leave that state of organization, but life can’t be too structured right? We all have to have a bit of fun
At the moment I jump in to a cold shower straight away, mainly because it’s summer and I’m used to it now. When I started it was a bit different, I’d have a warm (not hot) shower for most of the duration, and then for the last 30 seconds I’d stick it straight to cold. Believe me, it was cold. I did this for about two months until I decided to jump in straight cold and realized it was fine. I’d definitely recommend it, there’s supposed to be health benefits as well but I’m a little skeptical.