Our Productivity Habits Define Our Quality of Life
Productivity looks different for all of us. Some of us have huge dreams and goals that are dependent on us being complacent with certain habits. Most of us simply seek to see an overall improvement in our lives, whether that be in our professional life or even our health. Our productivity habits determine who we are and the direction we will take in life, and this is why it is so important that we remove any bad habits, and make the necessary changes to automate the habits that will take us to where we hope to be in life.
How Do Habits Work
Everything we do today started with a simple action. The way you have your coffee daily, how often you check your phone, and even how you greet people over the phone, are all a result of habit formation. Habits were an innate way in which humans would repeat behaviors that sustain their overall life expectancy and maintain satisfaction. Today, we are still choosing habits primarily for our sustainability and satisfaction, however, this can work negatively just as much as it can have a positive effect.
The science of habits has been simplified into 4 step by step behaviors that lead to habits sticking by us. This includes a cue, craving, response, and reward system which overall is the reason why habits see a constant cycle. The cue initiates the behavior, the craving is the motivation behind performing the behavior, the craving is the anticipation of revealing a reward, and the final reward is what gives us the knowledge that we will benefit from repeating the behavior in the future.
Habits that stick with us will go through this process, and if any of these links are broken or can not be maintained you will not continue the habit.
How to Get More Done
Whatever genre of productivity you’re trying to improve, it would be extremely beneficial to look at your current habits to see if they align with what you want. Productivity is the idea that we can create the most effective results within a shorter time, as it is estimated that out of the 100% of work input, it only takes 20% on average of that work to produce the anticipated outcome. What if we could prioritize that 20%, avoid messing around, and be the most productive and effective versions of ourselves? Well, here are just a few tips on how to get more done.
6 Powerful Factors That Increase Productivity
#1 Set Your Intentions
First and foremost, you have to set your intentions. Manipulating your habits to be better and more effective is great, however, in practice, this will be challenging trying to force yourself out of automated behaviors you have been completing for perhaps years. Setting your intentions and goals for why you want to implement these habits will be an essential contribution when learning these new behaviors and eventually making them not so difficult.
For example, if you wish to start the habit of waking up and going to the gym in the morning, it would be wise to consider what you hope to achieve from this habit. Are you aiming for a certain body transformation, or are you trying to improve your memory and cognitive health? Whatever your reason is, make sure that it is plastered on a note in your head, and don’t forget it along the way!
#2 Trial Habit Stacking
Habit stacking is exactly what it sounds like. Essentially, it is an effective way to form habits by pairing the new behavior with an existing one, making the new habit automated.
For example, if before bed you grab yourself a glass of water, you should make sure that your gym leggings and clothing are laid out and ready to attend the gym in the morning. Or perhaps if you wish to drink more water, you make yourself have a glass of water before you spend time on your phone each day.
The idea is to make your current habits which you intend to keep combine with your new desired habits. Keep it simple at first, and slowly build up the stack until you are performing your healthier habits without thinking.
#3 Rank Your Tasks
As mentioned, we spend a lot of time on habits that provide us with no benefit and also have zero valuable purposes. If you have tasks that need to be completed during the day, you should start listing your tasks, ranking them from most important to least important.
The most important tasks should not be simply jobs you like the most, they are more than likely the tasks you will be avoiding doing, but it’s imperative to be completed that day. The least important tasks should be tasks that can wait another day or two to be completed, therefore there is less guilt when the other tasks are not completed. You are getting your priorities straight and focusing more time on the most important task that will make you the most productive version of yourself.
#4 Make A 1% Change
Each beneficial task and habit you do should be completed with 1% more effort each time you do it. This might sound silly and less effective but think of it this way, if everything you do is completed 1% more effectively, you will see a 100% increase in productivity with these combined tasks. This might be as simple as adding in an extra rep in your workout or perhaps eating one more piece of fruit or veg in your diet. It might be as small as waking up 10 minutes earlier. Your choices are endless, just make sure that 1% change is spread across all of your beneficial habits.
#5 Never Miss 2 Days
Another valuable law you should place on your new habits is to never skip a habit twice. It is completely normal to feel tired and not like yourself, hence why we might get lazy every so often to give ourselves time to build the motivation back up. However, when a habit is skipped twice, or across two days, you will find it harder to commit to the habit once more. You are essentially telling yourself that you can not commit to new habits, and therefore condition yourself not to stick to these things. Only let yourself skip your new habits once, and get back to it the day after.
#6 Don’t Confuse Productivity And Business
The final tip for boosting productivity and manipulating habits is to not confuse being busy with productivity. It is easy to take up most of the day with meaningless tasks which take up valuable time which we could be using for the most important things. Keeping yourself busy and avoiding the tasks that will take you to the next level is easy to do, but you should avoid this at all costs if you hope to be the best version of yourself.
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Writer Bio
Amy Jones is a freelance health and wellness writer. She loves researching and writing about new health trends and topics, as well as keeping up to date with the latest health news and eco friendly brands, When not writing, you can find her taking long walks in the countryside with her dog or browsing her nearest bookstore.
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