When considering how to maximize productivity for many the idea of “free time” is a foreign concept. Fueled by new technology designed to simplify our lives, how is it that our productivity and motivation seem to have fallen to an all-time low?
The mounting pressures of modern life, daily responsibilities, and societal obligations have left us feeling overwhelmed and underperforming. With the challenges of a pandemic and a general sense of being swamped by daily life pressures, it is no wonder that personal productivity has been on a decline in the last year.
There’s good news though; The only person in control of your personal productivity is, in fact, you. The Power of Personal Productivity is Yours!
Within each of us lies the ability to maximize our productivity and reclaim hours of our lives back each week. Your ability to save time and achieve more in your daily life requires minimal shifts in your behaviours and mindset, but the results are remarkable.
As we explore simple shifts to get the most out of your daily life, consider what your life might look like if you had hours of reclaimed time every week. Envision what each shift would look and feel like as you get on the pathway to regaining hours in your life:
Shift #1: Mindset
The mind can either be a powerful ally or a destructive force for achieving your goals. The need to embrace a positive mindset is critical for long-term success. For years, studies have shown that individuals who develop a positive mindset are more likely to achieve their goals and experience more positive outcomes.
Shift #2: Priorities and Goal Setting
With your positivity in play, it is time to set your intentions. What is your desire? What is your goal? What is your drive? Is it more free time? Is it reduced stress? Is it to close a big deal at your company? Is it to go back to school for a new degree? Identify and write down your desires, goals, and dreams and then write down what your life would look like if you achieved it. How would you feel? Proud? Accomplished? What would it do for your life? Give you financial security? Protect your health? Write your goals, intentions, desires, and dreams down – and revisit them often. This is your first step in changing your life forever.
Shift #3: Planning, Preparing, and Scheduling
Just as a successful carpenter doesn’t build a house without blueprints, building your dream and achieving your goals will require precise, concise, and detailed planning. After creating your timeline while identifying your goals, it is time to put yourself on the calendar. Create appointments for yourself and your specific goals – and do not under any circumstances, skip those appointments.
Create a visual map of your goals, your checkpoints, and your timeline. Put these check-in and objective dates in your calendar and work hard to meet your deadlines without fail. By creating a clear plan with easily identified timelines, you can save hours every week.
Shift #4: Focus
There is no shortage of distractions in this world, from mobile phones to television, world events, adorable puppies, unfinished projects, and so much more. Distractions are more prevalent today than at any other time in our history. When combined with our endless to-do lists and social obligations, there never seems to be enough time to do anything, let alone everything.
Success is more closely tied with focus than any other aspect of personal productivity. Do not overlook this shift! Focus leads to creativity, which leads to realization, and realization leads to results.
Shift #5: Organized Space
Every shift has led up to this: Organizing your space. You have adjusted your mindset and identified your goals; you have prioritized and removed yourself from distractions. Now, it has come to arrange and coordinate your space. In the Lean Manufacturing model, the key to efficiency is to eliminate items that don’t serve a purpose and make the things necessary to your success immediately accessible. By creating space that is well organized, your ability to maximize your efficiency, boost your personal productivity, and regain your time skyrockets.
Lastly, time is a resource that we can never get back, and every moment wasted to stress, anxiety, and frustration is time that is lost forever. While these shifts may be simple, they take discipline, however when you maximize productivity the results are liberating. Organized hours lead to organized years, giving you more time to achieve your goals and live a more fulfilling life.
