If you’ve ever wondered what are some habits of productive people, this article is for you.
The majority of your success will come from your daily habits. The things you do most frequently dictate the results that you produce. You know that some of your habits are helpful, others not, and this is why it is so important to acknowledge your bad habits and do your best to replace them with new habits which will improve your life.
What would your life be like if you woke up late every day, spent a lot of the time chatting with friends, surfing the internet, eating junk food and hanging out five days a week. If you have these habits you can stop right now thinking about becoming productive as you won’t have enough energy or time to focus on your work.
In order to achieve a high level of success you have to develop productive habits and drop any habits that stop you from getting results. There are seven habits that are essential to achieving high productivity. You may already follow some of these but there may be others that you can develop and have a better chance of achieving success.
7 Everyday Habits Of Productive People
1. Quality sleep – at least 7 – 8 hours per night
You must have woken up at some point feeling exhausted, and this is usually because you have not had enough sleep. Being sleep depraved makes you feel fuzzy and also affects the part of your brain that is responsible for judgment, forethought, impulse control and organization. When you have not had quality sleep you cannot perform at your peak level and you are far more likely to make mistakes.
Your body and mind need to rest to recharge and sleeping for six hours or less simply isn’t enough. In order to wake up feeling refreshed you need to have got your full quota of sleep. Watching TV and surfing the internet can make it difficult to fall asleep as you are thinking about what you saw or said.
Getting up early in the morning can also boost your energy levels which gives you that extra morning boost to get results. Waking earlier also gives you more time for the important things.
2. Stop checking emails first thing
Checking your emails and social media as soon as you wake up can take a lot of your time. Before you know it, one or two hours have passed. You are now aware that your highest energy levels and willpower peak first thing so you need to use these first few hours to tackle your priority list.
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3. Eat a good, healthy breakfast
Morning is when your body needs the most energy, but you need to make sure it is the right kind. This is why breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The majority of us just want something quick so we grab the nearest thing to hand however this is usually processed or junk food. This is why you may experience a mid-morning slump and lack focus and mental clarity as well as being confused and forgetful.
A healthy breakfast (1) provides your body with glucose which the brain needs to function after a night’s sleep. Studies show eating a proper breakfast improves memory, concentration and makes you feel happier as your stress levels are decreased. Therefore to improve your productivity with focus and increased energy a healthy breakfast is key.
4. Challenges come before lunch
We have already seen that you should do your most challenging tasks when you have the highest energy levels. Putting your most important tasks first will also see you make huge progress towards your goal. By completing the challenges first thing you don’t have to worry if your energy declines in the afternoon as you will still have had a most productive day.
5. Regular exercise
Doctors believe that anything that is good for your heart is good for your brain. Exercise increases the heart rate and pumps more oxygen to your brain cells. Morning exercise has been shown to increase brain activity and therefore sets you up for the day ahead.
Taking regular aerobic exercise or cardio appears to boost the area of the brain that is involved in verbal memory. Walking, jogging, dancing and swimming are all good examples of aerobic exercise.
Make it your goal from now on to spend 20 minutes at least 3 times a week on some sort of aerobic exercise. Stop at an earlier bus stop and walk part of your journey to work or park as far from your workplace as possible.
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6. Read good books
Reading has multiple benefits particularly those books that give you knowledge and you can draw on to tackle your challenges. Reading a book is an excellent way to improve your focus and reduce stress as it gives you the practice at focusing on one thing at a time.
There are people who for one reason or another don’t enjoy reading. If this sounds familiar a good way to develop a habit of reading is to set yourself a goal to read for 20 minutes a day. Whilst this doesn’t sound a lot it adds up quickly and imagine the knowledge that you can gain by making this a habit. If on the other hand you enjoy reading set aside 45 – 60 minutes per day to dedicate to your book.
7. Try something new
A trait that is shared by the majority of successful people is that they are willing to try new things (2). By taking the risk and trying something you will get a result one way or another. If the risk pays off you have a new skill or knowledge that you can use to your advantage and if it doesn’t at least you have had the opportunity. Once you have learnt something new it is important to put it into practice otherwise you run the risk of forgetting what you have learnt.
There you are the 7 habits of productive people. These are not merely tips that you should try sometime in the future; they are habits that you should practice every day until they become routine. Following these habits consistently will help you to produce better results in all areas of your life.
Summary
What you do frequently dictates the results that you get from your life. Understand the habits you are adopting are the first steps to developing new productive behavior.
Thank you for reading this article about habits of productive people and I really hope that you take action my advice.
I wish you good luck and I hope its contents have been a good help to you.
