Four Habits For A More Productive You

Keeping the momentum going means cultivating best practices. It involves a proactive managerial skillset, and you need to start by applying these habits to yourself. Want to get some serious work time in without taking the hits mentally and physically? Try these four tips that will give you good results, and an all-around better work-life balance.

1. DIVIDE AND CONQUER Three steps apply to this strategy. List your priorities for the week, starting with the most urgent. Once that’s done, short list what is an immediate priority, and be realistic in preparing your list of tasks to tackle today. Take it a step further and allocate windows for those tasks to make sure that they get done in a timely fashion. Now that you’re organized, tackle the most challenging at the optimal times for you. If you do your best thinking in the morning, start bright and early with that report you’ve been dreading. Follow the order of difficultly with all your subsequent tasks.

2. MASTER BIOLOGY Don’t know when to take your lunch break? You do now. Make it part of your regular routine to have something healthy and filling to eat every few hours, and more importantly, keep that schedule fixed daily. Also, knowing what you’ll be having for meals beforehand will save you some valuable time. Keep this up and you won’t be putting your energy levels to the test.

3. BUST A MOVE Proven to keep you physically strong and mentally resilient, working out is one habit that you shouldn’t take lightly. Make room for an hour of good, intense exercise to de-stress and give you your mojo back. You’re at the top of your game mentally and physically if you commit to giving yourself some gym-time. Don’t have time for a full-blown workout? Cardio for as little as 30 minutes per day can make a world of difference- try it and see.

4. LEAVE IT AT THE DOOR Whether it’s quality time with a friend, a good book, or meditation, give yourself the time you need to detach. Make time to relax and recover so that once it’s time to buckle down and work, you’re ready to put your nose to the grindstone. It’s been proven that letting yourself disconnect and relax for a while will help you both with problem-solving and with developing a fresh set of ideas. Win-win situation!