Productivity is the holy grail that people search for. If you run a business, you want to get more done. If you are an employee, you love it because it helps with efficiency. All seek productivity to gain more free time — productivity increases when you focus on it.
Here at Habit Stacker, we are obsessed with productivity and goal setting for success. We want to leave you with an extensive list to help your life — productivity increases when you do these things. The more you can do, the more the results compound. These changes do not happen overnight; you must focus on the long term benefits here.
Productivity increases when you take time to slow down. It increases your energy, and it focuses your attention. An excellent method to achieve this is mediation, but there are plenty of other things you can do as well.
Productivity Increase When You Manage Time - Build Energy - Focus Attention
These are the three significant components of productivity. I learned them from Chris Bailey of the Productivity Project. These are the three things that people want to do to be productive. You want to take good care of your precious time, increase your energy, and stay focused.
These three categories make up productivity. Not getting enough sleep hurts your energy levels, and so does eating a poor diet. Checking your phone ruins your focus. While not planning for each day, wastes a lot of your time.
Take Time to Slow Down
I know its hard to read that you need to slow down in an article on productivity. Most people that read articles like this want to learn how to go harder. Remember the goals of productivity. It's not about getting stuff done; you want to increase energy. Working non-stop with no breaks depletes all your energy.
Productivity increases when you take time to slow down. It increases your energy, and it focuses your attention. An excellent method to achieve this is mediation, but there are plenty of other things you can do as well.
The goal is to get away and do nothing for a bit of time each day. It's hard to think clearly about your work when you are in your work. Taking the time to step back allows you to think and rest your mind.
Productivity Increases When You Know Your Why
Productivity increases when you can make sense of all your sacrifices and give purpose to your day. You never gain anything without making sacrifices. If you don't know why productivity matters to you, these sacrifices will seem too high.
I am personally driven to be more productive because it makes me feel better about myself. I can also spend more time with my family. What is your reason why? Keep that reason front and center.
Be Ruthless With Prioritization after Goal Setting for Success
Here is the part of productivity that most people get wrong. You must be ruthless with how you set priorities — productivity increases when you know what needs to be done. The next step is to devote your attention to that critical task.
The word ruthless is there for a reason. The goals are to manage time, increase energy, and focus your attention. You achieve all three of these when you prioritize.
Other people in the world have their agendas, and they often need you to accomplish their goals. They would love it if their priorities were higher on your list. You must defend your priorities.
Know Tasks From The Night Before
As a simple way to manage your time is to write out your tasks for the next day the night before. Productivity increases when you can wake up in the morning and get to work without having to think of what to do. It's also way more comfortable to let the day's fires ruin your priorities when you fly by the seat of your pants.
Work Less
Productivity increases when you work less because of the increase in energy and focus. If you work 100 hours a week, you won't focus because you know how much time you have.
Cut that down to 30 hours a week, and it will feel like you don't have much time. Your productivity will increase because you will be more intentional with your time.
Productivity Increase When You Say No
Saying no is attached to being ruthless with your priorities. If someone asks you to do something and it's not a hell yes because it's a high priority, it should be a no. Saying no more sucks because it the moment it feels awkward, and you want to help people.
The second you say a yes to request you have to carry another load. It needs to be worth it. Most people say yes to avoid saying no. Make no your best friend! Your energy will not be drained from other people as much, and your time will thank you for it.
Write Stuff Down
The brain is not meant to be a filing cabinet. It's at its best when it's used for thinking. If you have something on the brain, you need to remember to write it on a notepad for the day.
You can always go back to the note pad and know what needs to be done. Otherwise, use the brain for being in deep thought.
Most breakthroughs in life come from thinking. You need time to think which is why the first point was slowing down. If you leave too much on your brain, it starts to affect your health.
Do One Thing
Do one thing every day but also chase after one thing in your life pursuits. The biggest killer of productivity today is trying to do too much. People approach the day with a task list of 15 things, and they get nothing done.
Doing one thing takes having a focus in your life. It requires you to say no to a lot of people.
You also need to develop a bit of grit because tough times will come. When they do, you will want to chase the shiny cool things that everyone else chases.
Productivity Increases When You Build Effective Habits
Productivity increase when you have effective habits. The reason the brain relies on habits is that it does not have to think about it. Imagine you get into the habit of using Habit Stacker to manage time.
You develop the habit of drinking the right amount of water to increase your energy. You develop the habit of getting the most critical piece of work done each day.
Habits put these behaviors in automatic mode, so each day, you don't need to think about them. Some habits are harmful, and they run in the background without your permission. You need to become aware of any habits that take care of your productivity and remove them.
Break a Sweat
The benefits of working out are tremendous — productivity increases when you work out because you get more energy and focus. Working out is an easy way to build up energy out of nowhere. Working out will make you healthier and build self-confidence.
Take Breaks
You can't work straight without taking a break. No matter how much your boss may say so, it's not the case. Your brain works best working on for 50 minutes and then being off for 10 -20 minutes.
Sometimes if you're in the zone, you can go longer than this and still feel good. Taking breaks allows you to increase your energy.
Remove Obstacles from Environment
Think about anything that can rob you of your time, your energy, or your focus and remove it from your environment. For example:
Work away from the TV
Block your internet
Restrict sites that are not appropriate
Turn off your phone
Remove books
Clear the walls
You don't need to do all the things above, but you do need to think through what robs you of productivity. Once you know, make it easier on yourself by helpfully building your environment.
Productivity Increases When You Sharpen the Saw
The reason I can even write this article is that I spend time sharpening the saw. You can spend 8 hours cutting down a tree, or you can spend 1 hour sharpening the saw and one hour cutting the tree down. Most people run off to work and start sawing off the tree without thinking about it.
You must look for the most efficient ways to do things. That means finding mentors who have been learning and have years of experience.
It could mean reading books, going back to school, or going to conferences. Either way sharpening the saw helps you to manage time and saver energy, but it does not seem this way at first.
Sharpening The Saw Can Help With
- Your Current Measures of Productivity
- Hour work vs Passive Income
- The quality of goods and services you produce
- Making the most of your work day
- Multifactor productivity
- Productivity Growth
- How school was created for the assembly line
- Labor productivity for your team
Plan For The Worst
Productivity increases when you plan for the worst because nothing throws you off guard. Most people expect everything to go perfect even though they know it won't. Instead of preparing for the worst and being ready, people are shocked by failing.
At first, It will not seem like it, but when the plan goes wrong, people who plan for the worst shine. They don't waste time panicking because they expected the worst and are already primed for it.
Productivity Increase When You Do This
Habit Stacker provides resources to help you improve your habits. The first way we do this is through our online course Habit Mastery. The second way is with the Habit Stacker mobile app.
Olympian and founder of Habit Stacker Ian Warner, teaches the Habit Mastery course. He walks you through practical techniques that you can use to improve your life through your habits. No fluff or non-sense! You get instant access to over 45 different videos breaking down how to build good habits and break bad ones. Goal setting for success is easier to track when you know what your habits look like.
The Habit Stacker app is what you use to live out your habits from day today. It's a habit tracker that lets you know what you need to do each day. The app sets your daily routine board for you each day, so you all you have to do is get the task done at the top of the list. You can look back and see your streaks for each habit.