- Wake Up Early
This might sound unnecessary but it’s so important. Imagine sleeping and then waking up at 12 noon. There’s this laziness and discouragement that just sets because in your head you’re just like, “the day is already gone..” I’m sure you’ve experienced this before.
Waking up early gives you more time to get things done. One of the reasons why is this, in the mornings there are usually less people awake which would help you reduce distractions around and focus on work.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook is known for getting up early and many CEOs and top-level executives wake up in the early morning. What is holding you back?
This very factor has the potential to be your most productive part of the day. When you wake up early you’re able to achieve more and you’ll have enough time to take breaks during the day and then get back to work.
- Write out your goals for the day
When you wake up each day, have a list of what you want to accomplish. Write it down or have an app where you can list it out. This will help you focus during the day.
There’s a good sense of accomplishment that comes when you’re achieving tasks on your to-do list for the day. Not only does it feel good, it gives you that extra drive to achieve them all as soon as possible.
It also helps you to be more organized. When you have a lot to do and they aren’t outlined, you’d spend most time thinking on which one to do or not to do and you could just get overwhelmed by having so much to do that you achieve nothing.
But when they’re written down, at least you can start from one task at a time and win at it.
- Keep your goals in view
Did you make goals for the year? For the week? For the day? Keep them in view always. Paste sticky notes on your wardrobe, your mirror, your doors and everywhere you go frequently.
This helps you remember them and stay focused on the goals you have set. When you keep your goals in view, your 24 hours will definitely be more productive.
- Stay Hydrated
Liquid does a lot for your body. When you’re putting in the work and all the hours to achieve your goal, you need your body to perform at its best and to do that you have to stay hydrated.
According to the Mayo Clinic, not drinking enough water can lead to dehydration which means that your body doesn’t have enough liquid to carry out as many things as you’d love it to.
Whenever you feel tired, stressed or overwhelmed, try drinking a bottle of water and notice how much it helps. It’s very advisable to make sure to drink 8 glasses of water per day and you will see your energy levels increase.
- Keep distractions away.
Has this ever happened to you- you get on Instagram with the intention to just check something out or just be on the app for 10mins and when next you look at the time, an hour or even more has gone by??
Lol, you’re not alone. No, they didn’t swear for you and life is not pursuing you. Social media apps are addictive, they are wired that way.
The onus lies on you to be intentional about your goals. You need to know that sleeping and spending long hours on those social media apps means the creators are achieving their goals. Think about it for a minute.
So while you’re there whirling away time on an app, the owners are achieving their goals. It’s time to wise up on behalf of your own goals.
Be strict with your work time. Keep distractions away. Put your apps on downtime for some hours in the day and dedicate them to your goals for the day.
If you decide to take breaks and check social media for 15 or 30 minutes, that’s fine. Just make sure you time yourself and control yourself as well. When the time is up, go back to your work. Don’t ignore your alarms you set to remind you to go back to work. Because that just means you’ll spend more time.
It can wait, all the posts will not run away. Your friends chatting you up will not run away if you focus on your work and then reply later.
Nobody will say, “oh because she was chatting with me when she was supposed to be achieving her goals let me build her a mansion or send her one million or achieve her goals for her..”
As a matter of fact, everyone will just face their own and then be asking you who sent you not to focus on your goals. You should even know that those people might be on their break and free time right now and they’re chatting you up, while you’re on your own productive time, chatting it away.
Prioritize your goals. Let them be important to you and let people know they are. It’s okay to let them know that you’re not able to reply now but you will as soon as you can.