The new year is the time of year when many entrepreneurs and individuals sit down and decide what their resolutions will be. Getting fit, getting more organized and getting started in a business are many of the things that top the lists. How to be productive in the new year is something that tops the list and we’ve put together some actions you can take to help you achieve that goal.
Remember, it takes twenty one days to be invested in a habit and to make it part of your daily routine. Don’t give up!
How To Be Productive In The New Year
- Put your phone away and silence it. If you want to complete a task, you can’t do that if you’re waiting for a chime from your phone. Turn off alerts and put the phone out of reach.
- Look for a task that you can complete in five minutes or fewer. This will give you a real sense of accomplishment and will keep you moving forward.
- Guard your “planning time.” Set aside time every day to plan the day ahead, the week ahead and the month ahead. Guard that time and use it only for planning.
- Know your most productive time and guard that zealously. If you get your best work done at 5 am, don’t go to the gym at that time. If you are on fire creatively at 9 pm don’t turn on the television or plan evenings out. Know yourself and know your best work times of the day — we all have them, you just need to find yours.
- Reward yourself for doing a task you don’t want to do and one you’ve been procrastinating on. This is the carrot on the stick principle — work done, reward earned.
- Put your to-do list in order. Just as you might categorize your shopping list you can do that with your to-do list for maximum efficiency.
- Manage your inbox, don’t let it manage you. You can either react to emails or you can batch time to look at them and be proactive. Turn off email notifications when you’re working. If you feel it necessary set up an “away message” and let people know at which hours of the day you respond to messages so they aren’t waiting for an immediate response.
Be compassionate with yourself. If getting more productive and being more efficient is new, you will have times when you want to give up. Don’t. Give yourself grace to fall off the wagon, but pick yourself up and start over again. It’s a new year, there are so many possibilities to make it great!