How to Be Productive: 10 Habits to Boost Productivity
For some of us, productivity can look like something hard to achieve. However, this doesn’t have to be necessarily true. I know cause I’ve been there. You ask yourself how to be productive every time you have to work on something, but don’t find the energy or motivation to do it. But don’t worry, I’m going to tell you how I stopped worrying about how productive I was and started working smarter.
Now, let me tell you something: you won’t create a habit in 21 days. Alright, let it sink in, I’ll give you a moment.
The internet is full of these “habit hacks”. Use a habit tracker and create a habit in 21 days, you can change your life in x amount of time, change your mindset and your life will change… and I could go on for ages.
Don’t get me wrong, some of these are partially right. Like, using a habit tracker can help you create a habit, BUT not in 21 days!! And changing your mindset is easier said than done.
Feeling like you can create a habit in 21 days could motivate you, but it won’t be long-term. We have to build a small habit every day so we can stay consistent with our goals. Something I learned from reading Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Alright, you want to know how can you be productive? It’s with the small habits, let’s get into it.
How to Be a Productive Person Starting Today
Productive People Prioritize
Whenever you have something to do, even the bare minimum, it is recommended to make to-do lists.
Making lists will help you be organized and stay focused on what has to be done. However, when we have many things to do, it’s a must to prioritize 3 or 4 things.
When prioritizing our tasks, we focus a lot more on what we must complete by the end of the day. And, it’s easier to avoid feeling overwhelmed since you’ll be working on 3 to 4 things instead of the mountain of tasks you might have for that day.
A tip when writing your lists is always to write down your priorities first, so you convince your brain that you must get that done ASAP.
Set Deadlines For Your Goals And Tasks
Let’s be honest here, if you don’t have a deadline, you’ll probably procrastinate all your work. And, even worse, maybe procrastinate your goals too!
In my post about setting goals the right way, I explained how important it was to set deadlines. So, as much as we hate deadlines because we might feel “under pressure” (idk about you, but I hate working under pressure) we also need them so we can get our work done.
Set Routines
Creating routines is a must when you’re being productive. When you set routines for everything, even for studying, you avoid losing time asking yourself what you’re doing next.
That’s why I have a simple morning routine, a creating content routine, and also a night routine. As someone whose anxiety goes over the roof sometimes, having routines helps me know what’s next and avoids overthinking.
When creating your routines don’t overwhelm yourself by thinking you must have a thousand things to be productive. Make a list of your priorities in the morning or night, and use that as your routine. Don’t complicate yourself with a 10-step morning routine, just keep it simple.
Remember, less is more if you know what’s important.
You may also like: My Realistic Morning Routine to Stay Productive All Day
Plan Ahead
When you plan what you’re doing, you’ll get a better result, it’s a fact.
Even if it’s the slightest thing, planning it with anticipation will give you a peace of mind you can’t even imagine. Furthermore, if you suffer from anxiety (hi bestie), it’ll help you keep yourself calm because you’ll already know what you’ve got to do.
Planning everything comes in handy with setting routines. When your day is structured in a certain way, you avoid the “what should I do next?” stress.
Don’t Let Technology Control You
Put your smartphone apart!! Instagram, Twitter, and even games can wait for you!
Having your smartphone next to you will lead you to notice it and take it “for just a bit”. Especially if you’re constantly receiving notifications.
We know just a bit isn’t always like that. We start with a picture on Instagram and finish scrolling through reels and losing more than an hour. Sometimes we even end up watching someone’s Live!
The same happens with our laptops. We open YouTube “just to watch a video” and end up watching funny dog videos for hours! So, if you like listening to music while getting some things done, use your Spotify or YouTube Music! This will avoid getting distracted with a video and end up watching someone’s whole playlist.
You Can’t Watch TV While Working
Don’t go in life trying to convince yourself that you can watch a series while getting something done. That’s not true!
You’ll get distracted every single time you think something important is happening (which might be almost all the time). I’ve been there! I used to think I was more productive with a movie on the TV, while I was losing plenty of time.
Just focus on your task. If you’d like some sound, you can play some music or a podcast in the background.
Make Yourself a Priority
One of my favorite productivity habits, I mean I’ll never get tired of reminding you how important it is to practice self-care.
Do you think you’ll focus if you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed? Well, spoiler alert: you won’t.
Also, see it this way: if you’re fine, happy, and healthy, you’ll be productive, motivated, and organized. That’s why I always recommend putting yourself first when it comes to getting things done.
You may also like: 10 Habits to Improve Your Life
Use the Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro technique is a classic. Whenever someone’s making a list of habits of productive people, it will show up because it’s an excellent tool to focus.
The technique consists of giving yourself a limited time to complete a task and then taking a little break. Depending on what you gotta do, you can take from 25 minutes to an hour. The Pomodoro technique works so well because the brain feels the pressure of getting something done before the time’s over.
Productive People Prioritize Sleep
Sleep your 8 hours if you want to boost productivity!!
There. I said it. I wish I started taking my sleeping schedule seriously a little bit sooner. Not sleeping well and not sleeping enough will lead you to be too tired to focus. You’ll be irritable all day, and your body will be crying for help.
If you don’t sleep enough, you won’t get anything done! So, instead of “sleeping less to get more done”, start sleeping more so you can be more productive in the time you’re awake.
You may also like:
–Habits that’ll Change Your Life
–My Productive Morning Routine
And that’s it! These are 10 habits of productive people that you should copy from today!!
Now, tell me about you. Do you have any habits that help you be productive? Let me know in the comments!
And don’t forget to save this post for later so whenever you forget how to be productive, you can come back!
Yes to making myself a priority!!! <3 Thank you for the helpful tips!!!
Yess! Making ourselves a priority is a must!
The last one! I’m much more productive if I wake up after a good long sleep with a to-do list which was decided the previous night. Thanks for sharing!
Sumedha | the wordy habitat
Yess! I love doing my to-lists the night before too, like that, I have more time in the morning!
One thing at a time is my golden way of not overwhelming myself and getting everything done. Balance is key to productivity so having routines is also a big help in encouraging healthy ways of life to become good habits. 🙂
Yes! Balance is key. Thank you so much for passing by <3
These are awesome tips. It’s always good to Set deadlines for your goals and tasks. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you found them awesome. Hope they’re helpful!!
These habits are great to introduce into your routine, I am somebody who does like to multi task but sometimes that isn’t the best way to be! A great post x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Good luck implementing these habits!! They’ll be pretty helpful!! <3
These are some great habits! I need to stop trying to multitask… because when I just take one task at a time I manage to achieve SO much more!
Katie | katieemmabeauty.com
That’s so true! It happens to me too, achieving a lot more when I do just one thing at a time <3
These are some great tips. Personally for me, I don’t just stop at the no tv but I also sometimes prefer intrumental music when I really need to focus. I often listen to movie soundtracks. I feel like if the song has lyrics sometimes my mind is focusing on those words rather than the task at hand. But that’s just me and I know for some people that doesn’t bother them in the slightest 🙂
Kate | asimplesliceofkate.com
Happens to me too! That’s why I’m always listening to lo-fi music. I tend to sing more the lyrics than focusing on what I gotta do.
Great list with good reminders! Pomodoro technic is how I roll. Unless something is urgent or needs to be done asap I always put it off. Really bad habit I need to change!
That used to happen to me. But I’ve been working on that too. Good luck!
Yup these tips are very helpful and agree with the whole write down everything you need to get done and prioritise them. This always helps me whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed with tasks.
Xo
I’m glad it’s helpful for you! Thanks for passing by!
What a great list of habits to adopt to be more efficient! I also think that being organized is the key. This is what prevents from being scattered among several tasks or distractions. To manage time, it’s also possible to adopt Franklin Covey’s grid, i.e. classify tasks by urgency and importance (Important/urgent, not important/urgent, Not urgent/important, not important / not urgent. It ‘s another way of prioritizing and this tool can be combined with a planner for better results. Thank you for sharing.
Corinne
Thank you for sharing that tip! I think I’ll put it into practice and see the results by myself!
Setting goals with a timeline is so important. Thanks for sharing!
It is! Thanks to you for passing by!
Definitely a good sleep is a key to be productive.
Awesome ideas..
Definitely! Hope you found it helpful! And thanks for passing by <3
This is such a great post, and is filled with great hints and tips. I always find I am more productive in the evenings so I will spend the afternoons relaxing and not stressing about things that need done and then when I am ready I go to my office and can get everything done. Rather than trying to force myself to do it in the afternoon.
That’s so good! It is always key to find when we’re more productive. Work smart, not hard they say.
Watching TV is definitely my worst work from home habit, I never should’ve started haha. It’s so addictive ?
Hahahaha, I feel you! It happened to me <3
What a great list!! I love the fact that you’ve put sleep on here as well. I’ve been using the Flora app on my phone which works really well to make me mindful of how much I’m picking it up but that’s definitely one to keep away from you. Just signed up so looking forward to checking out your planner – thanks!
That sounds like a good app! Think I’ll give it a check!
Thank you so much for subscribing!
Great post. I like to plan ahead. I think I learned that from my dad. He likes to plan ahead have things done early. You are so correct on trying to watch tv or even look at something on YouTube as it is a challenge and make it hard to focus.
That’s a very good thing to learn from your parents! Thank you for passing by <3
This is very helpful for myself as I am always looking to improve my productivity!
I’m so glad they’re helpful!
These are all great tips! Planning ahead helps a lot, I still struggle in focusing on one thing at a time, but it’s a work in progress! Thank you for sharing x
Yes! Planning is key! Thanks for passing by <3
Thank you for sharing all of these tips! x
That’s my job! Thanks to you for passing by <3
Great advice! As much as I try to adopt these, I’m not that great with being porductive. But I’ll definitly have to sit down and attempt to improve.
Yes! Hope you can improve that part of yourself. Thanks for passing by <3
Great tips! I totally agree about planning and putting away technology. I can’t get anything done if I’m near my phone, lol. Thanks for sharing!
Our phone’s always a temptation! Thanks to you for passing by <3
Yes to all of these. To-do lists help me be more productive and getting to tick the completed items on my to-do list is such a relief. To do lists help me stay focused on what has to be done and they motivate me to get things done. Setting deadlines is a big one too. Setting deadlines help a lot. When I set a deadline for myself and I know that I’m literally meant to complete a task before that deadline, I do my best to make sure it is done before that deadline. I personally like to get things done all at a time but I have learnt to chill and just take things one after the other. Sleep is so crucial. I hardly ever get 8 hours of sleep but I’ll definitely be making effort to change that.
Thank you so much for passing by and commenting! YES to everything you said! I love deadlines since they help me a lot on focusing, and let’s be honest, everyone’s a lot more productive after a good 8 hours of sleep.
Yes to all of these points! I’m so terrible at getting distracted with my phone. But you’re so right about to-do lists, every time I write one, I get more done xx
Thank you so much for passing by! Yes! The phone is some people’s biggest distraction, and to-do lists are life saviors! <3
Great post! My productivity is always all over the place. I go through phases of crazy productivity which thankfully I’m in currently. Siobhan ♡ | Vegan Babe Life
That’s so good to read about!! <3
Great list! Honestly, I definitely don’t follow a lot on here lol but I guess productivity is different for everyone. This helps a lot of people! Thanks for sharing xx
Lynn | http://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com
Yes! Everyone’s completely different!
Love the way you explained it. Thanks a lot. We really need to adopt these habits according to our energy!
Yes these are all great points but I wrote some of my best essays in front of the TV.
Oh! Really?