7 Simple Ways to Make Your Life More Productive

Time is the one factor that no one can beat. No one can create time. Everyone is limited to 24 hours each day. You can only make the most of the time you have each day. How well do you use your time? How much do you accomplish each day? 

Imagine how your life would transform if you were significantly more productive. How would that affect your bank account and your life overall? 

The power to be more productive is within your grasp: 

1. Know your goals. It’s hard to be productive if you’re not 100% clear on your objective. That means knowing what you’re trying to accomplish over the next hour, day, week, month, year, or even several years out. 

• Each time you decide how you’re going to spend your time, you’re either making progress toward something important or you’re not. Even if you’re making progress, are you sure you’re making progress toward the right thing? 

2. Have a plan. Try a little experiment. For the next week, avoid going to bed until you’ve made a fairly detailed plan of what you’re going to do the next day. Plan out your day instead of waking up in the morning and trying to figure it out on the fly. 

• Notice how much more you get done. You’ll be hooked on living your life this way. 

3. Stop wasting time. When you sit down to work for an hour, how much time do you actually spend working? 

• After you subtract out the time you spend daydreaming, checking your phone, reading an email, using the restroom, getting a drink, staring out the window, and having a quick chat, you’re probably doing a lot less than an hour of work. 
• Set a timer for an hour and decide to spend the entire time working. 

You’ll be stunned by how much more productive you are. 

4. Get help. You don’t have to do it all alone. Delegate. Ask for help. You can get a lot more accomplished with another set of hands. Avoid being embarrassed to ask for assistance when you need it. 

• Be especially motivated to ask for help with things outside your area of expertise. You can save a ton of time this way and perform at a much higher level. 

5. Get an early start. The most productive people tend to get up early and get busy early. Consider getting out of bed earlier and accomplishing something worthwhile while the rest of the world is still asleep. 

• The momentum this creates is hard to believe. It’s not easy to get out of bed earlier, but it’s a power tactic. 

6. Improve your ability to focus. Staying on task is an important skill. A lack of focus leads to wasting time. You can only become good at focus if you practice. Set a timer and focus 100% for 10 minutes. Once you can do that consistently, shoot for 15 minutes. See how much you can improve over time. 

7. Identify the most important tasks. You can be working on the right thing but fail to make significant progress. There are plenty of things you can do to get in shape or to market your business. However, some of those tasks are much more effective than others! Spend your time on the most relevant tasks. 

Productivity is about using your time as wisely as possible. This requires knowing your goals, creating a plan, and focus. Identify the most important tasks based on your goals and spend most of your time doing those things each day. Anyone can be productive, but not everyone will be productive. 

What are you trying to accomplish?