You want to be more productive. That’s great! While strategies like time blocking, using a calendar and “eating your frog” first can help you achieve that, developing better productivity HABITS will take you much further in the long run.
So, stick with us today as we share five productivity habits that will make a huge impact, but you’ve probably not considered before.
Your Habits Affect Everything
[Theresa] Recently, Meghan and I produced an episode about the lessons I learned from my recent launches. I listened to it again and realized that I forgot to include something important.
I wouldn’t say it was a launch lesson, per se, but rather a confirmation of something I already knew — having strong productivity habits is crucial to achieving goals.
In other words, it would have been harder to achieve my goal of launching without the good habits I established.
[Meghan] I believe it. Your habits greatly influence how you think, act, and feel. And vice versa for that matter.
This is why it’s so important to establish good habits and break bad ones. So, keep listening if you want to:
- Think positively so you can perform at your best
- Act like the success you are and
- Feel good about what you’re accomplishing every day
[Theresa] The productivity habits you create will help you do these things. As a matter of fact, I will add that creating good solid habits is most important to your goal achievement. They are two sides of the same coin.
Inspiration vs Habit
Now, I’ll hedge a bet that you don’t even consider your habits when it comes to goal achievement. It’s also very likely that you believe what you need is inspiration to keep you motivated.
I’ll be blunt. Inspiration is only going to take you so far. What happens when you don’t feel inspired? That’s where having good productivity habits come into play.
Octavia Butler says it best:
To understand why this matters, let’s review what a habit is.
[Meghan] A habit is defined as an acquired behavior pattern that is regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary. It’s the brain’s way of automating tasks so that it conserves energy.
We’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. According to research done by Duke University, you spend about 45% of your day doing something automatically.
[Theresa] That’s significant! So imagine if you were able to create the productivity habits you need to be effective and make considerable progress in your business. It would be a game-changer!
So, build good habits because ultimately they are what will carry you to the finish line.
Hacks vs Habits
[Meghan] But, what productivity habits should you create? Well, we are going to share five of them with you today.
But before we do, we want to make it clear that we are not sharing productivity hacks today. A hack is a shortcut or trick that helps increase your output in a creative way.
[Theresa] Right. Habits are definitely not hacks. They most certainly aren’t tricks. They take time to develop and establish. How long? According to a University College London study conducted by Phillipa Lally, it takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days to actually form a habit. But on average it takes 66 days. (Sorry, 21 Day Fix!)
But, however long it takes, what you need is patience. The most important thing to remember is that you’re not looking for quick fixes here. You’re looking to create a behavior that will support a more productive work method.
Got it? Good!
5 Productivity Habits to Adopt Today
[Meghan] Awesome! So, Theresa is going to share some highly effective, possibly unusual productivity habits that you will want to create in your business.
These are not your typical “healthy habits” either. Can we just say that you already know you need to have good self-care, nutrition and sleep? Yes?
OK. Take it away, Theresa.
Establish Strong Daily Rituals
[Theresa] Habit #1 is to establish strong daily rituals. A ritual is like a routine, only with more intention and thought behind it. Here is how Michael Hyatt describes rituals:
“It’s best to think of rituals as prescribed procedures for achieving specific results. They don’t guarantee results, but they do set us up the best possibility of success.”
[Meghan] The keyword here is intention. The ritual you create should help you do, have or be something.
For example, if you want to function at your best and highest level first thing in the morning, think about creating a bedtime and morning routine that will support that outcome.
In other words, the ritual doesn’t mean your success is a certainty, but it gives you your best chance.
[Theresa] Exactly. Good daily rituals help improve productivity in many ways, such as:
- Improved mindset
- Better time management
- Greater predictability
[Meghan] Plus, creating rituals is fun and easy to do. What’s next?
Build Rest Into Your Day
[Theresa] Habit #2 is to build rest into your day. If you Google “rest and productivity,” you will find tons of articles and research on this subject. It’s become a really popular topic. Why? Because we are all exhausted!
[Meghan] There’s an understatement, right?!
You have a lot going on. Yet the habit you’ve created is that when things get busy, you work more, longer, and harder. And, you start giving up essential human behaviors like sleep, nutrition, play, and rest.
[Theresa] The habit of working through your fatigue will not help you be more productive. Instead, building deliberate periods of rest into your day and week will improve:
- Creativity
- Attention span
- Focus
- Willpower
- Memory
- Ability to problem solve
- Efficiency
- Decision-making ability
- Mental and emotional health
- Physical health
- And much more
[Meghan] So, REST! Even though you won’t actively be working, your brain will still subconsciously be working on your marketing and trying to solve your problems. To be your most productive, you need rest.
Do What Matters
[Theresa] Habit #3 is to do what matters. There’s no gentle way to say it. You are wasting time in your business on things that don’t matter to the success of it. Or the achievement of your goals, for that matter.
You’re either unclear on what you need to do to make progress on your goals or you’re plagued with shiny object syndrome — ie. I have to try all the new things that come my way. Neither of these scenarios makes for productive work habits.
[Meghan] Instead of doing the right work at the right time for the right reasons, you instead try every strategy and say “yes” to every opportunity that falls into your lap.
It’s easy to do. We won’t say how we know that. LOL
Your habit essentially becomes, “When something new comes my way, I have to try it.”
[[Theresa] And when you do that often enough, you can wake up one day and find yourself very far from where you intended to be. So, start by establishing clear goals. The goals dictate the action you take.
And while it’s important to do the right work, or do what matters, it’s just as important to identify what NOT to do.
[Meghan] So, when those shiny objects show up to distract you, pause and ask yourself “Will this get me there?”
If it’s a clear “no,” then move along. This process helps you create the habit of staying focused on what really matters.
Assess Yourself Regularly
[Theresa] Habit #4 is to assess yourself regularly. This is a critical habit to incorporate into your weekly schedule.
[Meghan] Yeah, you can’t possibly make improvements to anything unless you look at what you’re doing. This is the only way to make helpful changes.
As I always say, per my dad, “what isn’t inspected, isn’t respected.” And that goes beyond analyzing data and includes self-assessment.
[Theresa] I attribute the improvements to my business and overall happiness in my life to the fact that I am constantly assessing. I have time blocked on my calendar every Friday afternoon where I plan for the next week. That’s the first habit I established. Then I added a simple assessment to my planning ritual.
I look back at the week and ask myself these four questions:
- What went well this week?
- Why did it go well?
- What didn’t go so well?
- Why didn’t it go so well?
That’s it. It’s not a complicated process.
[Meghan] So, Theresa stacked together the habit of planning and assessing. This has allowed her to understand her behavior and make adjustments. In doing so, she’s more effective and productive. Brilliant!
And, I think we’ve made it to the last productivity habit?
Work with a Mentor or Coach
[Theresa] We have! Habit #5 is to work with a mentor or a coach. This brings to mind this African Proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
And let’s be honest, you’re probably not “going fast” on your own either. But, retaining the services of a coach or mentor is a great way to make sure you go far.
[Meghan] You might be wondering, how on Earth is this a productivity habit? That’s fair. Hear us out, though.
One of the most difficult things for a solopreneur to do is ask for help or invest in themselves. The mindset is, “I have to do everything myself.”
When you adopt this mindset, you end up being busy attempting to do “all the things” instead of focusing on what really matters to your progress and improvement.
In the process of thinking like this, there are many habits created. For example, you can create the bad habit of skipping meals and sleeping when things get busy just so you can work more. Or, you can create the habit of quitting when things get hard.
A good coach or mentor can help you navigate these issues.
[Theresa] Exactly. Also, the act of hustling hard doing “all the things” in and of itself is a habit. Doing everything is not the same as doing the right things.
And, if you’ve been unable to identify what those right things are and hold yourself accountable, having someone who’s been there and can guide you is invaluable.
Plus, they can help you create more effective habits, too.
[Meghan] And, you know, it’s tough when you’re in the weeds and don’t have the 100-foot view of what’s going on. it’s much easier for someone on the outside looking in to see your problem areas or opportunities for improvement. I think mentors or coaches are so helpful for this reason.
Start Building Better Productivity Habits
Anyway, building good productivity habits on purpose takes time and patience. So, we want to remind you to start small. In other words, don’t try to establish all of these productivity habits at once.
[Theresa] Absolutely! Choose one to start and be mindful about why you are building the habit. Understand what it will help you do, have or be. And don’t give up too quickly. There are days where it will seem easy and other days where it feels like a struggle.
[Meghan] Believe me when I say that I know how wonderful it feels when things go smoothly! But the reality is that most of us deal with frequent struggle. Messy moments are part of the process for sure.
[Theresa] Alright friends, that is a wrap!
We’d love to know which productivity habit you’d like to develop. Let us know in the comments.
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This is an excellent podcast/blog post. Thanks for making your show notes so detailed. I’m going to make some changes in my weekly work habits thanks to you. One of those is returning to my weekly assessment appointment with myself. I used to do these on a regular basis and then got lazy. Thirty years ago, I came up with these questions from someone I don’t remember (Covey?)
1. What do I like about what happened this week?
2. What do I need to do differently?
3. What additional resources do I need?
4. What opportunities were created?
However, I like your weekly assessment questions and I will try them for awhile. I may keep the 2nd question as it helps me change course if I need to.
Stay awesome! Great podcasts!
Hello Glenn! We really appreciate your compliments and thank you for your comment. Paying attention to your work habits can make such a difference in productivity. It sounds as if you’ve got a plan – great job! Also, thanks for sharing some of your questions with us – we appreciate you! – Meghan