There are those people who seem to get a lot done without breaking a sweat and still give high-quality results. How CEOs can be everywhere all the time and at the end of the day announce mind-blowing company profits is something we admire.
How do they do it all? They are not magicians. They just learnt the skill of fusing their desire to succeed with effective methods of accomplishing their goals. Even with a huge workload, highly productive people show up at work with infectious enthusiasm and unfathomable energy.
Let’s look at the habits that distinguish highly productive people from the ordinary career worker.
They eat their frogs early
Mark Twain said: “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” For highly productive people, frustrating tasks are taken care of first thing in the morning when they are fresh and full of energy. By doing this, the rest of the tasks will seem less challenging as the day progresses. The same theory has been reemphasized by motivational expert Brian Tracy. If you want to evade productivity traps, challenge yourself to eat your frogs first thing in the morning.
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Mornings are golden times
Studies have shown that our minds are more creative in the morning. Early risers make most of their mornings to get their minds prepared for the day. They organise themselves before they have to respond to client requests and concerns.
Career experts regard waking up early as a game-changer in your career. However, it all depends on your motivation. It won’t turn you into Mark Zuckerberg overnight but it will help you change your concept of time. Once you make it a habit, you will get a lot more done. Wake up early, be more productive during the day. By the end of the day, you will want to sleep early as you will definitely be tired. Since sleep is equally important for your health, this cycle begets a more suitable sleeping pattern for you.
They round up an arsenal of productivity tools
For you to handle your workload effectively, you need to arm yourself with the right tools. Use technology to outsource services to get more work done. There is a growing online working platform in Kenya where you can outsource services as a way of delegating. Build yourself a network of trustworthy service providers who will uphold your reputation when their services are sought. Additionally, utilise automation tools when you need to reach out to clients in bulk.
Automation if used wisely gives a welcome easier route to communicate to clients and investors. This saves not only time, but it also gives you shortcuts you will not feel guilty about.
They schedule their tasks
Studies have indicated that multitasking actually misleads us that we are getting a lot done. In the actual sense, multitasking hinders our cognitive processing and slows down your productivity. Scheduling their tasks and weeding out unnecessary distractions, allows supper productive people to quickly finish off their tasks and move on to the next item on the schedule.
That way, they do not scatter their time and thoughts. They take the shortest time to get things done.
When it’s time to switch off, they do so without reservations
One of the most crucial parts of a successful career journey is to know when to take a break. Time off work helps us to get mentally refreshed and keep burn out at bay. We sometimes find solutions to difficult situations when we are in a relaxed state. Some people have come up with brilliant ideas when they are daydreaming. We have heard of musicians whose hit songs came to them as they were having a shower.
The good thing about relaxing the brain is that it helps us to process and retain information. Highly productive people allow their brains to wander off to find solutions to difficult situations instead of forcing themselves to focus.
