5 Things That Could Improve Your Productivity

5 Things That Could Improve Your Productivity

EXERCISE:

Exercising, for me, is an escape from the day before. I normally wake up around 6 A.M. and drive the 1 mile to my local gym. Once there, I plug in my headphones and go ham at the gym. I let go of all my worries and problems from the day before. Doing this restarts something in my brain and clears my slate for a new day. If you are worrying about things that happened yesterday then it can really inhibit your ability to focus and get things done today. Exercise is a proven way to relieve stress and get that weight off your back. Doing this at the start of the day, I believe, sets up a very productive platform to hit the ground running on the things you wish to complete, present day. 

GO TO BED EARLIER:

Now I know this topic is the least popular one because as a population, we all feel we have so much to get done, or so much socializing we feel we need. That is completely normal and acceptable to feel as if you must get everything done that day or to be as social as possible, even if that means hanging out until midnight every night, but getting sleep is oh so much more important in making you productive towards your life goals. Whether those goals are financial, career-related or family related, you need to be productive towards them, and getting sleep plays a big part in being able to focus. Like yeah okay, you went to the gym and now your mind is clear, but if you also stayed up until 3 A.M. on homework or talking to your friend, you will be falling asleep every time you try and do something productive. Your brain might be clear, but your body will not be ready. Go to bed, get sleep, and now that your mind is prepared, prepare your body. 

WAKE UP EARLIER:

I know this sounds contradicting to the previous topic, but it is true. Wake up earlier. If you wake up earlier (A.) there is more time in the day to get things done, duh, and (B.) you will not feel as groggy or have that popular 'slumpy' or 'unproductive' feel to your self. Getting the right amount of sleep to be productive is important and that proven range is between 7-9 hours per night. Everyone has heard this, everyone sort of knows this is a staple. Playing into the topic above, go to bed earlier, so that you can wake up earlier. Go to bed between 9 and 10 P.M. every night so that you are able to wake up between 5 and 6 the next morning. Waking up this early has its advantages. 1. You can get in your daily workout before most people arrive at the gym 2. You can enjoy the aesthetically pleasing sunrise, weather permitting 3. You have more time between now and the time you should shut off and give yourself rest, to get things done and be productive. Sleeping too much, for instance, can cause you to feel even more tired, giving you the same unclarity to your body as not getting enough sleep does. Go to bed earlier, Wake up earlier, reap the benefits in your productivity. 

EAT WISER:

I did not title this topic EAT HEALTHIER for a few reasons. I personally am on a fitness goal journey and have food goals and things that I have set for myself, and I personally have chosen to eat healthier and do fully believe it plays a big part in my productivity throughout the day. With that being said, I do also believe that not everyone has to eat a spic and span healthy diet to be productive, I just believe they should eat wiser. Eating an entire pizza and having a pint of ice cream before bed is definitely not going to make you want to sing with the birds in the morning...when you are waking up earlier :).....it will most likely make you want to feel like shutting the curtains and sleep until 12 P.M. Making a more wise decision on having food make you productive is maybe choosing one slice of pizza to eat and maybe trying to some frozen yogurt or even alternative healthier options to ice cream. You do not have to give up your pizza or your burgers if you are not on a fitness journey like me ( I have given up those things, sadly), but you could choose different ways to intake them smartly rather than just going ham and destroying 3burgers at a time. Eat for hunger, not for taste is my motto. If you go at something saying "I am eating this because it tastes so good and it is my favorite food", odds are you probably will not have that voice in your brain telling you that you are full, instead, it will be saying "give me more". Go to food with an "I am eating because I am hungry" stance because then your brain can decipher when it is not hungry anymore. Overeating, in any category of food, healthy or unhealthy can cause a big-time crash in productivity. This is why I titled this topic 'Eat Wiser' not 'Eat healthier'.

STOP PROCRASTINATING:

This should be a definite given anytime your brain is thinking about being more productive. Just do it, like Nike. Stop putting things off, saying you have time later just because it is not due until next week. If you find out you have an outline for a speech due next Thursday and its Monday, do it Monday while everything is fresh in your brain. Doing that one thing way before it is due can set off a domino effect in your brain that makes you want to go ahead and get everything out of the way. The hardest part of this topic is doing that one thing. Once you do it though, especially if you are a little OCD like me, you'll want to accomplish even more task t hand. It is like popping bubble wrap, once you've popped one or two, you can't help but pop all of the bubbles. Here is a little challenge, every time you get a task, write it down, and next to it, write if you told yourself you would do it later, and as soon as you tell yourself you will do it later, that should be the kick starter to doing it now. After telling yourself you would do it later, then make yourself do it now, write down when you accomplished it. At the end of each week, look back at what all you wrote down and see for yourself how much you actually got done, just by being disciplined in your brain. I am studying psychology and a big topic that almost all of my psych professors have tried to pull on our class was the topic of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Their way of telling us was saying that if we tell ourselves we will do good on their test we would, or if we said that we would do badly on their test we would. If someone says something about you, or you say something about yourself, you are more than likely going to live up to that "prophecy". So use this strategy here and keep telling yourself "I will do all my homework when I get home, I will be productive today, I will accomplish at least 5 task on my to-do
list today". It may not work 100% today, but by telling your self these every day can help you to stop procrastinating and becoming a more productive person.