Last Updated on Mar 12, 2020 by James W
When people ask me is how I manage to stay on top of everything in my life, I always respond with a simple: ”I’m a productive person”. In most cases, no one actually understand how to become a ”productive person”. Lot of people even ask me things like: ”How much time do you spend working like 14 hours maybe?” The truth is simple; I work less than them, earn more and live a better life. The key is not becoming a 24/7 machine who will outrace everyone else. Key is to create a simple life. Combine personal life with career and be happy about it everyday.
One thing is sure- we all get 24 hours each day. No one can prove different. Some people think that if they decide to work 10 hours instead of 8-9, they will become better at thing they are doing. And in most cases, they are terribly wrong. Simply because someone adds an extra hour, it doesn’t mean he will do more work or do better. People have wrong perception of time+work managing. If you think for a moment on some tough project which takes lot of time and it involves brainstorming, thinking, writing, organizing etc… you will probably start feeling anxious about it. Even before you start doing it. And now you imagine adding an hour of extra work on that.You are getting a heart attack when thinking about it.
And when you start thinking on such things, you are lowering your productivity levels to zero. Your subconscious will keep reminding you on what work is waiting for you and you will never be productive. So adding up extra hours each day won’t bring you any good.
The truth is I only work 6 hours every day! You wouldn’t believe. On weekends, I work around 3-5 hours. Which is not a lot and I still think it’s way cooler than not working on weekends at all.
I’m going to give you my 10 productive habits:
- Always take 8 hours of sleep.
- Take one hour of late Sunday evening to take a look at week you spent and make a plan for next week.. Place goals and you will feel more oriented when you start rolling on Monday.
- Say NO to things that will take lot of time and energy. I used to spend around 4 hours everyday playing video games. That was wasted time. I play only with my friends now.
- Turn off your emails, your social media accounts and focus on your primary task for that day.
- Plan your day around what’s really important not what is really easy.
- Set a timer when working. I usually work 45 minutes and after that I make a 15 minutes long break. And so on through my whole day.
- Put some music on! You will have more energy and feel happier.
- Unclutter your desk- I really don’t know why this is not on the first place
- If you are angry, take TV and start smashing it! I’m serious. You will lose anger and what’s most important, you will lose TV and stop spending time watching stupid commercials.
- Be happy. You are alive. You have roof over your head. You have nice meal in your fridge. You have bed. Remember, some people don’t have such things.
