How To Ensure You Have A Productive Day Everyday
A simple way to frame each day.
Having a bad day?
Can’t think of a way to push forward?
We often find ourselves in the position of having so many things to do, not knowing where to start, and then procrastinating tasks until the next day. This is often because we set unrealistic expectations for ourselves. We expect to complete an ‘x’ number of tasks each day instead of focusing on doing a good job on even a single task.
For example, we try to constantly learn and consume content. We play our podcasts at 1.5x, multitask at meetings, and skim through books. This means we may accomplish a lot but in reality, we are not very productive. We simply get things done to get done. Ask someone a question from a webinar whilst they are multitasking and chances are they may have missed that part. We are not wired to accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously.
Simply put, being busy is not the same as being productive.
Divide the day into two parts
If you look at any given day, there are two main components.
What you consume — scrolling social media, reading/listening/watching content, playing games, etc.
What you create — writing articles, closing a business deal, launching a website, etc.
Not only should we be more intentional with what we consume, but we can measure our productivity by this simple formula.
What we create > What we consume = Productive
In other words, we should ensure that the output we produce each day and create surpasses the content we consume each day or intake.
This simple mindset will ensure you always have a productive day. Instead of measuring your day by the number of things you accomplish or the unreasonably high expectations you have for what you can achieve, just focus on creating something every day. It may not be a lot but every time you create something you feel a sense of accomplishment that motivates you to be consistent and in turn create more.
For example, you could spend an hour scrolling through Instagram or you could spend an hour writing an article. The former is pure consumption. It’s easy to go down a rabbit hole and give up when we are having a bad day. But instead, take a deep breath and see if you can spend an hour writing and creating value for yourself. It doesn’t take a lot to be productive, all it takes is a mindset to churn out outputs every day.
Gear up for performance
If you want to take it a step further, focusing on creation in the first part of your day will typically yield the best results. Saving our hardest work for when we are most fresh ensures we have the enthusiasm to do it.
And not only that, when we accomplish it in the first part of our day we can live of that energy for the latter part of the day, which may have more meetings or idle time. It is for the same reason many choose to workout as soon as they wake up in the morning. It allows them to feed off that energy and high for the rest of their day. Creation provides the same high.
According to Charles Duhigg, author of Smarter, Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive, a good tip to be productive is to look for choices that make you feel in control. This could be just starting with writing down one sentence.
Frame the sentence so that it gives you the authority and power to keep going. This could be “I will complete this task by 1 pm” or “I am going to finish the first module of the XYZ project.” Taking control of our actions ensures we hold ourselves accountable for completing what we have in mind.
There is always more to be done than enough time in a day to do it.
In order to make your days productive remember to:
- Create more content than you consume
- Focus on a specific task vs. multitasking
- Focus on creating in the first part of your day
- Look for choices that make you feel in control
Following these simple tips will ensure you spend less time being busy and more time being productive.
