Written By Pavan Punja

It’s the end of the financial year and your manager invites you over for a quick performance review.

The biggest discussion point in the meeting is – productivity. Questions like –

• We expected better productivity from you
• Your productive levels have depleted
• Why aren’t you as productive as XXY and YYZ?

Unfortunately, we can never achieve the productivity levels of a machine.

Fortunately, we never have to become a robot to achieve success.

Productivity is defined as action or work that is performed to be efficient in boosting output.

In simple terms – it’s getting things done to achieve our goals.

Today, we showcase 7 habits of highly productive people and how you can mimic their ways in your lifestyle.

1. Overcome Failure

Productivity breeds success. With success, comes a series of failures. To endure these failures without quitting is a key habit of highly productive people.

Risks are a part and parcel of life and to evolve, one needs to take a calculated risk.

Remember that failure always offers an experience to never repeat the same mistake twice.

To become fiercely productive, you need to overcome the challenge of failure.

2. It’s Alright to Say ‘No’

When we are given power over a decision, we almost always say ‘Yes’. To avoid hurting people, we answer with a positive.

Time is an important and precious resource. Highly productive people say ‘No’ when the situation doesn’t coincide with their beliefs or benefits.

Here are a few examples of situations when we say yes –

• When your friends call you out (and you have deadlines to hit)
• An office colleague asks you a favor (you can’t fulfill it due to lack of time)
• A close relative asks you for a loan (you don’t have enough savings to afford lending)

Even when the answer is as easy as saying – No. We think twice and go with ‘Yes’ only to avoid being rude.

To become a highly productive person, start saying ‘No’ when you aren’t up for the situation.

3. Incorporate a Healthy Diet

The most productive people are the ones that choose the best foods filled with nutrition. Clean eating is a habit that’s hard to start but a necessity to acquire to boost your productivity.

Key reasons why healthy eating boosts productivity –

• Adequate nutrition improves energy levels and keeps us awake through the day
• Avoiding sugary foods lets you avoid serious illnesses like diabetes, stroke, and heart issues
• Nutrition also boosts brainpower to memorize and absorb information
• Healthy eating keeps you in a physically good shape which is key to a strong personality
• Better quality sleep due to proper intake of food
• Live longer and improved productivity over time
• Good nutrition is linked to happiness and satisfaction

To avoid a constant irritable mood, switch to healthy foods and avoid binging on snacks.

4. Seek Advice Often

Reaching the point of success breaks out into two paths. One path leads to success, the other takes you back to the beginning.

Productivity paired with ego is a bad combo. It’s impossible to know everything that the world has to offer. Seeking advice helps us grow and doesn’t make us look vulnerable to others.

When you seek advice, you show the world that you’re human. You open up to stronger and healthier relationships.

Also, when you learn from someone, it’s crucial to give back information to those that are in need.

Returning the favor is your way of showing gratitude for the advice received.

5. Work Smart Not Hard (Automation)

Productivity isn’t about working hard, it’s quite the opposite. It’s about saving as much time as possible and getting work done.

In a digital age, if you’re still putting in manual efforts that can be automated, you’ll lose out on productivity.

Take this example – You are a writer that also edits and publishes your blog posts. Let’s say you take 4 hours to write, 3 hours to edit, and 1 hour to publish.

That’s you losing 8 hours of your work.

Now here’s where automation comes into play. Use a spellcheck and editing software to correct most of the errors. Using an auto-publish tool, you can schedule all your posts to publish at a specific time.

This saves you 4 hours of your work time. You’ve just cut your workday in half forever!

Today there are tools for everything. For marketing, designing, emailing, customer service, etc.

Your time is better spent doing things that can’t be automated like – creative direction and brainstorming.

6. Goal-Setting Mindset

Goals help us move our careers forward. When we don’t have goals, we have no progress. We remain static.

Every goal that we set must have measurable progress.

Let’s say you have to lose 10 kilos in 5 months.

Set a small goal of losing 2 kilos every month. Half a kilo a week for even smaller milestones.

Breaking down goals and making new ones is a crucial habit of productive people.

Stay focused by tracking the progress via apps.

Setting goals that you can complete is hugely satisfying.

7. Plan the Night Before

A core habit of highly productive individuals is the ability to plan for their new day before they sleep.

Not planning, lets the thoughts of tomorrow run wild in your head. This affects the quality of your sleep and you wake up feeling anxious.

Take 10 minutes every night to write down tomorrow’s tasks.

When you wake up, you’ll have a good idea of what the day ahead is.

This also saves you from sleepless nights of tossing about in your bed.

Conclusion

Indeed, productivity is a hard skill to master but with consistent efforts, it’s easy to habituate.

Productivity comes directly from your energy levels and your willpower. The most successful people have both – high energy levels and remarkable willpower.

Productivity can decay often, but it’s up to you to bring it back to your optimum levels.

Have a personal success mantra that’s always worked to improve your productivity? Share it with us!

We wish you a productive and profitable life!