You probably don’t want a boring life and want to do something exciting every day. But doing something good and exciting every day is not an easy task for everyone.
Most people waste their days on social media, surfing the internet and watching TV. You may have started your day with some of these things as well and found that you are still tired when you end up falling asleep in the evening.
That’s why today, I’m talking about “How to be productive?”. There is a quick solution to become a successful person without wasting time during the day.
Here are 8 effective tips to have a productive day without any distraction.
1. Schedule Out Everything
Do you know you should schedule every minute of your day to be productive? A lot of people would like to think so. The truth is, it’s important to get a good balance in life. That’s why you need to schedule out everything. Here’s how to schedule out everything for a productive day:
- In the morning, set aside enough time for exercise.
- Block out 15 minutes for meditation or early morning yoga.
- Schedule one hour to catch up on social media and emails.
- Set aside time to accomplish at least one task that was left unfinished yesterday. Many people accomplish their most important task of their day in the first hour after they start working.
- Schedule time in your calendar for some rest and relaxation. Even if you know you have a big deadline coming up, this won’t be a good day if you don’t give yourself time to refresh your energy stores and get ready for the next week of work.
2. Never Multitask
Most of us have been raised multitasking. We’re a generation of students that can’t read a book anymore, because we have our computer, a music player and a cell phone on the side.
Over the years I fell into that little trap too. I started to think that I was more productive when I was working on three tabs at the same time. However, since I started to only open one tab at the time, it’s actually helping me to get things done faster.
3. Leave Distractions in a Separate Room
Psychologist Susan Weinschenk from TED talk, explained why our brains are wired to seek distractions. She points out that boredom is actually an important human emotion. It’s when we feel a little bored we’re usually able to generate new ideas and come up with solutions to problems when we need to.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned pro or just getting started with writing, there’s always a tip or trick that can help your workflow.
With distractions like Facebook, Twitter, email and our friends always one click away on our phone, it’s tempting to start browsing or checking our email before we even get out of bed.
Instead, start the day off right by starting with a blank slate. By using mobile apps like Cold Turkey or Self Control to block distracting websites for a specific period of time, run an accountability app like Forest to hold you accountable for a task, or start your day with an empty browser, you’ll be able to focus on work that matters most.
4. Keep Track of Time
Too many of us have days that fly by and we’re left grappling to figure out how much time we’ve spent doing things we didn’t mean to.
For example, this morning for breakfast, John realized he had lost track of time. He had started to work on a project he didn’t really care about and had been sitting in front of his computer for hours. He was supposed to take his wife out for a romantic lunch and spend the rest of the day playing around with their new baby.
The problem was his phone was on silent and the clock was nowhere to be found. John decided not to stress out, grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down all the important stuff: the time he spent on an assignment, the priority level of the task, and a short explanation why it wasn’t completed yet.
John then made a list of all things he had to do that day, sorted them by priority and assigned them to zones in his home. He put things that needed to be done together with his phone and set an alarm to remind him when it was time to switch tasks.
One hour before lunch, John moved from his laptop to the kitchen table, placed his phone there and went to take care of things he had to do with his wife. Once everything was done, John got back to work by picking up the phone from the table and answering important messages or calls. This is how you can keep track of your time.
5. Make Small Breaks
You may be thinking, “But I just came into work, how can I possibly make a break?”. These breaks do not have to be long and can actually be as simple as taking a deep breath. This is a great way to take a small break and step away from your desk.
We all have a big dream in life and we need to have a productive day to achieve our dreams. There are lots of small things which distract us from achieving the goal. We all need to take small breaks to recover from stress, fatigue or unsuccessful results.
Most of the time, we forget the most important things due to the distractions from the small things.
So, in order to keep ourselves on track we need to focus on the next step and not get distracted by the small things.
6. Workout/Walk in The Park
Effective exercise and workout regime are extremely important to your success in the workplace and everyday business.
The desk chair is a wonderful creation, but it’s about time you tried something new. Workout or walk in the park to have a productive day. Data says that taking an early morning walk in the park will help you relax and also help you to overcome a stressful day.
What you should do:
- Walk/Run in a park.
- Read/listen to a book, magazine, newspaper.
- Meditate.
- Meditate and listen to calming music or an audio book.
- Take an early morning yoga class or tutorial at home.
- Go for a morning swim/river bath.
- Do gardening activities such as watering plants, pulling out weeds from your garden, sowing seeds etc.
- Do exercise in the park or gym such as walking, jogging, running, stretching, cycling, swimming and so on.
- Join team sports where people play together and motivate each other while they play games like netball, football, cricket, basketball and so on.
7. Get Quality Sleep
Many successful executives attribute their success to getting quality sleep. Business Insider writes, “Sleep is the most underrated productivity booster.” Tim Ferriss, four-time New York Times best-selling author and creator of the 4-hour workweek, explains that most people need 6 to 8 hours of sleep each night to be optimally productive.
Sleep is important for everyone. But it’s especially true if you want to be productive the next day. Here are some quick ways to get a good night’s sleep so you can wake up refreshed, full of energy and ready to conquer the day ahead:
- Make sure your sleeping environment is conducive to sleep. Keep it cool and quiet, and remove any distractions.
- Use the bed only for sleep and sex. Don’t do work, check email or play video games in bed.
- If you can’t fall asleep within 15 minutes, get out of bed, go into another room and do something boring until you feel sleepy again. Then return to bed when you’re ready to go to sleep.
8. Keep Motivated and Consistent
Keep motivated and consistent to have a productive day. It’s hard to be productive on some days; even the most ambitious people have lazy days. It would be nice to have an alarm that tells you to get up, but what if you don’t have time for that? I’ve been using a really simple solution for a few weeks now, and it’s been working well for me.
It’s amazing how much you can get accomplished when you start a day off motivated. It’s amazing how much you can get accomplished when you get enough sleep.
Keep a pen next to your bed. You should make a to-do list to stay on track throughout your day. You must also make sure you have what you need. For example, having the right amount of coffee and food in case you are hungry or tired will help you be more productive.
Make sure you have good posture. Bad posture can lead to back pain and having pain can make it harder for you to concentrate.
A good way to stay consistent is to set an alarm for every two hours. Whether it’s an actual clock or just your phone buzzing, set reminders for yourself to take a break.
A great way to stay consistent is to reward yourself for completing small tasks or checking things off your list. These rewards will help you maintain motivation because you will see how far you are progressing in completing your goals and how rewarding it is.
Even though you may be motivated and consistent, there may be times when things don’t go as planned. That’s okay! When things don’t go as planned, a lesson learned is a phrase that can make anything better.
When something challenges you or something doesn’t work out how you wanted, instead of sulking and regretting not doing anything “right” when the problem occurred, say a lesson learned and remember that these problems happen so that you know what not to do the next time so that it doesn’t happen again.
Key Tips to Have a Productive Day
- Plan your meals for the day and for the week
- Make sure you get at least 8 hours of quality sleep so that you can be energized the entire day.
- Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.
- Walk in the park to stretch your body.
- Workout to burn fat and boost energy.
- Drink lots of water to keep your body hydrated and your skin glowing.
- Put on your best clothes.
- Don’t be idle.
- Wash your face before going to bed. This will help you go to sleep easily, because having a clean face creates a peaceful environment in which you can fall asleep. In addition, when you wash your face before going to bed, your face is clean so you can sleep peacefully without having to worry about getting up to immediately clean your face again.
- You can also wear an eye mask and listen to calming music or use an aromatherapy diffuser with lavender to relax after a long day at work.
We all have those days where we just feel like we weren’t able to get as much done as we wanted. And it’s not just on weekends, either. It can be difficult to finish all your tasks, whether you’re at work or at home.
The good news is that by identifying the tasks that need to get done and prioritizing them, you can have a productive day. I hope these 8 tips to have a productive day will help you to stay motivated throughout the day.
