How to Be More Productive in Life: 10 Simple Tips
So how did 2020 go for you? Or 2021? What about 2022? Did you accomplish everything you set out to or did you fail miserably? Are you desperately trying to figure out how to be more productive in life so you can achieve some goals?
You don’t really have to answer any of those questions.
2021 was a ridiculous year. For everyone. Myself included. It literally was just a repeat of 2020, same crap, different day. 2022 seemed a tad better but I honestly feel that as I get older, I’m more responsible and focused, if you will.
No matter how much we planned or tried to adapt to what was going on around the world, it was just so hard to keep up and stay focused. Period! Independent of the pandemic, I still had goals and productivity tools to help me stay on track and work.
Did I use any of them? Well…
But listen, we all did have a crazy year in 2020 and 2021 with major setbacks and I feel 2022 was the year everyone tried to get their sh*t together. It’s super hard to stay focused on your goals and dreams when one thing after another keeps smacking you upside the head, amirite?
Like a pandemic, businesses closing and people losing jobs. Oy. It sure hit us hard.
Do you remember starting 2021 thinking, “This is gonna be my year!!” and then poof. It was no one’s year. I think at this point, we’re all just trying to do the best we can with what we have.
But we can’t have another repeat of 2020 or 2021 where we felt hopeless and defeated. We still have to stay strong and keep forging ahead. And besides, I don’t want to make this about the pandemic anyway…so let’s move on.
Today I want to share some awesome tips on how to be more productive in life so you can finally feel you are accomplishing things and kickin’ some butt!
(this post contains affiliate links so if you make a purchase I make a small commission-affiliate disclosure)
Why Do I Struggle To be Productive?
That’s a good question and the answers may surprise you. Can you remember being called lazy maybe by your parents when you were growing up? A negative term that doesn’t go away. Plugged in for a lifetime.
You never needed to prove anything to anyone because you were lazy. That was your label and you wore it well. These labels stick with us as adults too. Unless we heal the demons from the past.
Another reason why you may struggle to be productive is that everything was always done for you and you never really had to be responsible or do anything.
And one more reason is that we fear failure. If we try to do something, reach a big goal, and fail, we will feel like losers. So we don’t even try.
How Do I Start Being Productive in Life
You have to make the decision to start. It’s up to you to decide you want to be more productive in life. Take inventory of your life (there’s an exercise below to help with that) and see where you are falling short of being productive.
Then decide you are going to change that. Pick a date on the calendar if you have to. Just make the decision to start making changes. Reading blogs on how to be more productive in life is a good start! hehe
How to Become More Productive and Motivated
It’s easy!
Ok, that’s a bit of a lie, it’s not really that easy but the hardest part, honestly, will be to stay dedicated to your goals and planning. That part isn’t always so easy.
It’s not just about learning how to be more productive in life and motivated. You have to apply what you’ve learned.
but……
Things get in the way. Life gets in the way. Then it’s the end of the day and nothing got accomplished. I get that.
I came across this super cool vid on YouTube from the Top Think channel (great channel by the way!) that I think you might enjoy. Take a few minutes to listen to this guy talk about how to be more productive in life.
How to Live a Healthy Productive Life
We all want to succeed in something in life, whether it be our career, our romantic relationships, our spirituality, or our physical health; whatever it is, we want to succeed. We keep setting these goals in hopes that we can actually achieve them.
Most of us, many of us, don’t, though. And that’s the problem right there. When we stop setting goals, we stagnate, nothing changes, we don’t progress in life, and we don’t grow.
When we fail to set goals, we simply just exist. That sounds horrible to me. Maybe we’ll talk more about setting goals in another blog but I wanted to shed some light on it simply because when we do set goals, we strive to achieve them and we do whatever it takes.
It’s important to include productive lifestyle habits into your daily routine in order to stay on track and keep focused on your goals.
In turn, we become more productive, and life is beautiful.
And how do we do that? Here I share 10 tips with you on how to be more productive in life, but first…
A Little Productivity Exercise!
In order to find out how to be more productive in life, we need first to see where we aren’t. How are you using up all your time in the day?
I want you to take one week and track all your actions starting from the time you open your eyes to the time you go to bed and see where you are spending/wasting all your time and how productive you are/aren’t being.
This is a real eye-opening exercise.
It’s important you complete this exercise so you can see what your calendar really looks like. And now on to the good stuff!
Once you complete this little productivity exercise you just may be really surprised. You’ll see maybe that you’re not as organized as you thought you were and maybe you need to learn how to be more productive at home!
How to Be More Productive in Life: 10 Simple Tips
Here I will share productivity tips for work and life. These are my favourite 10 ways to be more productive but feel free to check for more tips on productivity online! You do whatever it takes to make every year kick some butt and reach your goals!
1- Make a list
As simple and as cheesy as this sounds, I feel like I need to list this as the #1 tip. Most people don’t make a list. I never used to but I sure do now.
On Sunday nights I sit back and reflect on what I accomplished the prior week and what I really want to accomplish in the upcoming week.
Make a list and make it realistic. As you make your way through your week, check off the things you got done!
2- Set a timer
You’ll love this one. It’s called the Pomodoro Technique (no we aren’t making pasta sauce!!). So all you do is take one of the things on your list, set a timer for 25-90 minutes, work on it for that time, no interruptions and then stop.
At the end of your time, take a small break, get up and walk around, do whatever, but you need to take a mini-break.
Remember you probably have quite a few things on your list and if you spend too much time on one thing and not take breaks, that’s actually not being really productive. I mean it is but it isn’t.
The day will end and you will look at your list and say “oh damn, I spent 6 hours on this project, I didn’t take any breaks, and I didn’t tackle anything else on my list”!
Does that kinda make sense?
3- Eat your frog
Ew, right? Just the visual of doing that is kinda gross but you know we’re not actually talking about a real frog. This phrase means just this:
Take that one task that you keep putting off because you really dread doing it, and do it, first thing in the morning. Eat your frog first thing in the morning.
Maybe it’s a phone call you’ve been putting off, a meeting with the bank, a paper that needs to be signed, whatever it is. You know what it is. Eat it. Get it done!
4- Grab a buddy
An accountability buddy that is. If you’ve never had one before let me tell you, they are amazing! Provided you find a good one and not someone who is struggling with the same issues you are, a partner will be the best thing you add to your productivity tools.
You can reach out in Facebook groups, mom groups, your own town at a ‘meet-up meeting’. It actually isn’t hard to find one but you want someone who is reliable. Ask some questions first before deciding on an accountability partner.
You don’t want to waste each other’s time, you want to enhance it.
5- Avoid multitasking
Easier said than done, I know, but multitasking doesn’t necessarily mean you are being productive. You are doing one task really well and the other tasks are getting half your attention and not being done well at all.
Focus on one thing at a time. It’s so important to give each task 100% of your attention. This way you know you will have done it well!
6- Get rid of clutter
If you’re an office worker or work at home have a look at your desk. Is it a cluttered disaster? I sure hope not. Clutter, any clutter in any area of your life, is all negative energy.
Negative energy will bring you down and slow you down so you definitely won’t be as productive as you would like to be. It also causes stress and anxiety, two things that def don’t work with being productive.
Clear your desk, clean your office, clear your clutter!!
7- Reach out for help
We’re not machines. We are human. If you find you have too many things to do and you start feeling overwhelmed don’t be shy to reach out to someone for help.
People love to help. The problem is, we don’t like to ask for help. We like to think we are super-humans and we can do it all. We aren’t and we can’t.
Reach out for help, and delegate tasks if you can. Don’t try to do it all yourself. You will burn out and it won’t end well.
8- Learn to say NO
Don’t say yes to everything. So many of us are people pleasers and we have a hard time saying no to people. Start saying NO to them and YES to you and your goals/dream/time.
How many times have you said yes to someone only to get back home at the end of day and realize you got none of your own stuff done because you were busy helping someone else? I’m not saying helping others is bad BUT you can’t help everyone either.
Learn to say NO sometimes.
Don’t feel guilty if you have to say NO because you are giving someone else a chance to say yes! Purely a win-win!
You might like this mini self help eBook I recently wrote on how to set boundary lines so people will respect you more.
9- Shut down Facebook
Did you just cringe? And I mention Facebook, but it could be Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or whatever. Remember that exercise you did up above? The ‘where is all my time going’ exercise? How much of your time is spent/wasted on social media?
Mm hmm. I know. Facebook is my nemesis. I always tell people, “oh, I do a lot of work on Facebook (running a Facebook page), so I need to be on there”. Truth is, I don’t really need to be on there all day.
I’ve learned to completely close it up once I’m done with my scheduling or whatever task needed to be taken care of. There is absolutely no reason to keep Facebook open while I’m working.
So I shut it down now. You need to do that too. You know you do, I know you do. Set a time to go on and check your feed, pin some cool pins, and tweet out a message. Then close it up and back to work!
You won’t believe how much more work you will get done when social media is staring you in the face.
Trust me on this one!
10 – Reward Yourself!
Saving the best tip for last. Reward yourself for any job well done, no matter how big or small. Take yourself out to dinner, get a mani/pedi, whatever floats your boat really but definitely treat yourself.
We reward animals for good behaviour and doing good things, why can’t we reward ourselves too??
Set a goal, write out what your reward will be if you accomplish it and then get it done! And then…treat time! yay!
You might also like these articles from this site:
How to Get Out of Rock Bottom-12 Tips to Give You Hope
35 Examples of Personal Goals You Need to Set
6 Simple Things to do Today to Live a Happier Life
How to Start Over at 50 With No Money
Tips to Be More productive
The above list contains only a few really good tips to be more productive. There are probably a million more super cool tools to help increase productivity and smash your goals.
If you want to learn how to be more productive by some people who know their stuff check out Robin Sharma.
Robin Sharma is the king of goal-setting and smashing and he is definitely worth checking out. You can find him on any and every social media platform. Watch one of his videos.
Consistency is key. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. At least give it your all for 21 days and watch what happens!
I actually purchased a printer this month because I downloaded a yearly planner, and I prefer paper and pen type work. Get yourself a planner, download one, and print it off if that’s your thing.
How to Be More Productive in Life at Work and Home
And you really want to reach your goals, try these 9 tips and then I’d also like to suggest you follow a mindset or success guru. Robin Sharma is a good one, as is Tony Robbins. I love both of these guys.
All these tips I share with you apply to both work and home. We have chores and tasks we have to do at home as well but it’s so much more fun to sit and binge the latest Netflix series.
Remember you have to really want to change your life and achieve your goals. 100% commitment by you is absolutely required.
I hope you liked this article on how to be more productive in life, and please share it with your peeps!!
You can do this!!
