Five Productivity Habits from Billionaires and Olympians
#LeadandLift | Episode 60
Do you sometimes wish that you had more time? You, me, and everyone else, including successful people, are all given the same 24 hours. Somehow, people become successful despite being given the same minutes.
In this blog, I will share five tips from a book I found called “15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management” by Kevin Kruse in order for us to learn how we could best utilize our time and find success in our own lives.
Focus On Each Minute
Time is your most valuable and scarce resource. Each day we have 24 hours, that’s a total of 1440 minutes.
Think about that when you wake up and as you go about your day because that will put your life into perspective.
Successful people see days in minutes while you and I may think of days in terms of hours. They guard their time and their mind. They establish habits in order to better utilize their time. Habits create shortcuts in our minds that help us finish tasks faster.
Work From Your Calendar
A to-do list is like the Duracell bunny, it keeps going and going. No matter how much you scratch off that list, there are always more things that you need to add to that list. That could leave you feeling like you haven’t accomplished anything at the end of the day.
Do you find it hard to sleep at night? Maybe it’s because your mind is reminding you of the things that you didn’t do.
Instead of using a to-do list, use a calendar and schedule your items and tasks so that there is blocked time to do that activity.
Once you schedule your tasks, respect your calendar and treat those blocked times like appointments that you cannot miss.
Make sure to schedule time for breaks and times to recharge as well and honor those just as you would honor the blocks of time where you have work to do.
Always Carry A Notebook
Do you struggle to shut down your brain at night? Or have you ever struggled with remembering important things that you’ve thought of earlier in the day? If you have struggled with those things, then a good practice is to cultivate a habit of writing things down.
If you don’t write something down, you will forget it. When you write something down, the chances of you being more likely to act on it goes up. That’s why we always hear that successful people journal. They have a notebook to keep their ideas and thoughts to process their feelings and brainstorm ideas and they do it by hand instead of through a device.
When you write things down in a special notebook, it gives you confidence that you have things organized and it clears that item off your mind. Therefore, you are able to focus on other things that come up from your notebook, you then schedule these items on your calendar so that you are always on top of things.
Meetings Don’t Work
Schedule meetings as a last resort, when all other forms of communication won't work.
The truth is that meetings just waste a lot of time for a lot of people, we’ve seen it over and over in the corporate world. Time is scarce and therefore precious, not just yours but others' too.
We waste a lot of productivity, energy, and therefore money when we waste time. Here are some tips for you to make better use of your time:
● Have a no-meeting day. Schedule a day in which there will be no meetings so that people could focus solely on their work.
● Set a visible timer during meetings. Set a time for each agenda item so that everyone sees how much more time is left.
● Steve Jobs recommended that standing up during meetings and taking a long walk with the person you need to talk to helps with having a more productive and successful meeting.
● Richard Branson mentioned that a meeting on one particular topic should not last more than five or ten minutes.
Shorten the time of the meeting to 20 minutes. Set an agenda and focus on it. Give yourself 10 minutes after that meeting to recharge and get ready for the next meeting.Managing Your Time By Managing Your Energy
Productivity is about energy and focus, not time. Having more time doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be able to do more. When you say that “I wish I had more time” what you really mean is that you wish you had done more.
The only way to get more done in the 24 hours is by maximizing your energy.
Tasks take more time to complete when you’re tired mentally and physically. Things just keep coming up constantly. You need to understand how much energy you have each day and how to amplify it to higher levels so that you have the stamina to achieve your goals.
Here are some tips you could apply in order to manage your energy:
● Sleep at least eight hours per night and you’ll wake up feeling more energized.
● Exercise daily. Moving our bodies is how we generate energy. Start with something simple, five minutes on a treadmill each day or walking outside for 30 minutes.
● Have a healthy diet and drink more water.
● Work in sprints. Practice the Pomodoro technique.
● Lastly, schedule half an hour at the end of the day for you to recharge and reflect. Do your journal, write down your gratitudes, and sit in quietness.
Do you want to move to the next level? The answer is in your habits. Adopt the habits of the world’s most successful people. It worked for them, so it will definitely work for you. All you’ve got to do now is to take action. Choose one of the five tips I shared and set up a time in your calendar to take action starting today.
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Author
Chabidaye Jaglal Ramnath
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Hi! I'm Chabidaye Jaglal Ramnath, your Certified High Performance Coach. You know when high achieving moms in leadership desire more joy, fulfillment and confidence in their personal life and business? I deliver that through high performance coaching. I am so happy that our paths have crossed!
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