Many people today will overcomplicate productivity and tell you that it’s about installing apps, deleting emails, and ticking off to-dos.
However, Jim Rohn had brilliantly said: “Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.”
If you follow even just a few of these basic productivity fundamentals, you’ll get the most out of everyday. Here we go.
- Put the big rocks in first. If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. Jim Rohn had said, “You’re either running the day, or the day runs you.”
- Start before you’re ready. If you only start when you feel like it, then you’re probably not going to do very much. It’s key to focus not on the pain, but the results of what you’re trying to achieve.
- Shut out distractions. Whatever doesn’t move you towards your purpose will take you away from it. Remember that distractions are the enemy of productivity and they’ll keep you in mediocrity.
- Create necessity. Parkinson’s Law states that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. In other words, the less time you have for a task; the less time it will take.
- Focus on 3 big wins. It was Jim Collins who said: “If you have more than three priorities then you don’t have any.” Productivity isn’t about doing everything, it’s about doing the right things. Don’t get spread thin.
- Have firm boundaries. In almost every environment, you’re going to have people pulling for your attention. However, if you don’t get your work done, it’s not a reflection of them; it’s a reflection of you.
- Live everyday to the fullest. Pablo Picasso once wrote, “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” Tomorrow doesn’t exist, all you have is what you do today!
- Ditch the multitasking. Multitasking is good for doing multiple things wrong. However, if you really care for something, you’ll give it your all.
- Create a plan. What you plan is what you get. The quality of your days and life will often be found in the quality of your plans. As Benjamin Franklin had famously said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”
- Protect your sleep. If every hour of missed sleep loses you two hours of productive work time, then you’re really doing yourself no favors. Peak performance requires peak energy.
- Build a routine. Doing the same things everyday is how you remove choices and become 10x more effective. Says David Kadavy, “When you build a habit, you don’t have to waste mental energy deciding what to do.”
- Create accountability. It’s easy to break a promise you’ve made to yourself. However, it’s much more difficult to break a commitment you’ve made with another person.
- Track your progress. If you’re not tracking your progress, you’re probably more off-course than you think. Each night you should be looking at the things you did today and making the next day better!
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