10 Ways to Improve Your Productivity for Tomorrow
Get ready to crush tomorrow.
Big day tomorrow? Do you have a routine set in place to make sure you hit it out of the park? Below you’ll find ten tips that will help you quickly prepare for your big day. Every tip listed requires little to no effort to fulfill, cost nothing, and can be implemented by anyone.
1. Get a good night’s sleep.
This is first and foremost. There are very few people who can function well on little sleep. And of those people, they will surely benefit from more and better sleep. Here is my advice:
- Go to bed a reasonable hour
- Take honey before bed
- Give yourself 30 minutes before bed with no electronics or bright lights
- Drink water before going to sleep
- Ensure an optimal sleep temperature
- Make your room as dark as possible
And if you’re not convinced, check out this TED Talk talk from Russell Foster about sleep.
2. Craft an amazing morning.
I outlined this in detail here, and while you can’t establish routines in one day, here are some simple tips:
- Get everything ready the night before: clean up the house, set your clothes out, get your lunch ready.
- Eliminate rushing around by creating realistic expectations of your time management and what can be accomplished with the time you have in the morning (this has been HUGE for me).
- Eat a healthy, nutritious and filling breakfast. Fuel you body right and it will repay you handsomely.
3. Light exercise first thing in the morning
Soon after you wake up, get your body moving. You’ll be able to shake grogginess and invigorate yourself for the day to come. I usually spend about 10-15 minutes each morning running through a series of calisthenic exercises. I do enough to wake myself, but save the full workout for a little later on.
4. Have an agenda.
Make sure it’s realistic and focus on tasks that truly have to get done tomorrow. Review it the night before and the morning of. Make of list of things that need to be completed, and in order of their importance. Go through the list in order to ensure the most vital tasks get first attention. Also take this time to define what a successful day looks like for you. What do you need to accomplish today in order for it to be deemed a success? This will help you in tip #10.
5. Turn off notifications
While it’s a great tool to have access to information whenever we need it, you also know how distracting it can be. Turn off your e-mail notifications, social media updates, news feed alerts, all of it. Check them when you need to, not every time there is a status update.
6. Review you goals.
Visualization can be powerful. Review your goals and use them to illustrate why you are working so hard. Picture in your mind with vivid detail what your life is going to be like when you reach those goals; make it as real as possible. When you take a hard look at your goals, you will understand why they are so important to you life, and how crucial their completion is to your success.
7. Drink plenty of water.
Your body needs adequate amounts of water in order to function. It can be incredibly difficult to remember to drink water when your attention is focused on work. But let me tell you, you are killing your productivity if you don’t take the time to drink enough water throughout the day. Find more information here.
8. Take a nap.
I love working hard and getting things done, but man do I love taking naps. However, there was a time when this wasn’t so. I used to think they were a waste of time. How could I get anything done if I was sleeping? I think the real question I should have been asking was, how can I get anything done if my mind, body and willpower are depleted? If you feel brain fog sneaking in and you just cannot focus, perhaps it’s time to step away from your work and lie down. 20-30 minutes is usually sufficient. I find that during that time, I don’t always fall asleep. But I do let my mind and body rest. I pull myself away from my work and give everything a chance to reset.
9. Know your limits and schedule breaks.
Don’t burn out. Don’t try to push through every amount of fatigue and lack of focus that comes your way. Our minds and bodies can only stave off distraction for so long — after that your work will be counterproductive. Set aside specific times for you to take breaks. Setting aside this time will do a couple things for you:
- Establishes the right expectations. You know when and how long your breaks are. This ensures that you take a proper break, but also forces you to get back to work when the time comes.
- Anticipation of a break period will help you work harder. Knowing that you are just an hour or so away from stepping back will allow you focus more and work harder.
10. Reward yourself.
Look at your agenda — did you meet your level of success? Allow yourself to have a clear reward for taking care of business.
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