As human beings, we are creatures of habit. We thrive on routine and structure. When we establish good habits and the power of routine, they become automatic and require less mental energy, leaving more room for creativity and productivity. A study conducted by Duke University found that up to 45% of our daily behavior is based on habit.
However, not all habits are created equal. Some habits can be harmful, such as smoking or overeating, while others can be incredibly beneficial, such as exercising regularly or meditating. Today we’re discussing the power of routine and how you can establish habits that keep you focused and productive.
What is the Power of Routine?
A power of routine is a set of actions performed regularly and in a particular order. It is a way of structuring your day and life around habits that make accomplishing tasks and achieving your goals easier. Routine helps to reduce stress and anxiety, improve focus and productivity, and create a sense of stability and predictability in your life.
Why is the Power of Routine Important for Productivity?
Routine is important for productivity because it helps to eliminate decision fatigue. Decision fatigue is the mental exhaustion that comes from making too many decisions. Every time you have to make a decision, you use up a little bit of mental energy. When your mental energy is depleted, you will likely make fewer mistakes and less favorable decisions.
Establishing a power of routine eliminates the need to make decisions about certain things. For example, if you habitually get up at 5 am, you don’t have to decide when to wake up; This frees up mental energy that can be used for other tasks throughout the day.
Additionally, the power of routine helps to establish good habits. When you perform a task repeatedly, it becomes automatic, and you don’t have to think about it. This means you can complete the job faster and with less mental effort, leaving more room for creativity and productivity.
How to Establish a Routine
Establishing a power of routine can be challenging, primarily if you need to get used to structure in your daily life. The good news is you can create a customized routine that works for you. Check out the tips below for establishing a good practice:
Start small:
Don’t try to establish a routine for your entire day simultaneously. Start by selecting a routine for one part of your day, such as your morning routine.
Focus on consistency:
Consistency is what makes the difference when it comes to establishing a routine. Try to perform the same actions at the same time every day.
Make it enjoyable:
Your routine should be something that you enjoy doing. You’re less likely to stick to it if you don’t enjoy it.
Be flexible:
Your routine should be flexible enough to accommodate changes in your schedule or unexpected events.
Track your progress:
Make sure you monitor your progress and make adjustments if needed if you fall off track. Monitoring your progress will help to keep you motivated and on track.
10 Productive Habits to Include in Your Routine Now that you know how to establish a routine, let’s look at some productive habits you can include:
Power of Routine
Wake up early: Waking up earlier has been linked to increased productivity and improved mental health. When you decide to get up before you accomplish tasks, the distractions of the day start.
Exercise: Exercise has numerous benefits, including increased energy, improved mental health, and reduced stress. Adding exercise or a fitness regime into your routine will help you to be more productive throughout the day.
Meditate: Meditation has been shown to reduce stress, improve focus and productivity, and increase feelings of well-being. Setting aside 5 to 20 minutes can help you to stay focused and calm throughout the day.
Plan your day: Planning your day can help you stay organized and focused. Take a few minutes each morning to make a to-do list or schedule your tasks.
Take breaks: Setting aside time for breaks throughout the day will increase your productivity and help you avoid burnout. Try taking a 5-10 minute break every hour to stretch, walk around, or do something you enjoy.
Prioritize tasks: Prioritizing tasks can help you to stay focused on focus on what’s most important to get done at the moment. Try using the Eisenhower matrix to help you prioritize your tasks.
Practice time management: Time management is an essential skill for productivity. Try using a timer to break your work into manageable chunks or using time blocking to schedule your day.
Practice good sleep habits: Getting enough sleep is essential for productivity. Ensure you get enough sleep each night and establish a consistent sleep schedule.
Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness is being aware of the present moment and tuning in on what is happening within and around you. Practicing mindfulness can help you to stay focused, reduce stress, and improve your overall well-being.
Limit distractions: Distractions can be a significant barrier to productivity. You can limit distractions by temporarily turning off phone notifications and working in a quiet environment.
Including these productive habits into your routine can help you to stay focused and productive throughout the day.
In Summary Power of Routine
Establishing a routine is an essential part of staying focused and productive. Eliminating decision fatigue and establishing good habits can free up mental energy and increase productivity. Remember to start small, be consistent, make it enjoyable, be flexible, and track your progress. Incorporate productive habits into your routine, such as waking up early, exercising, meditating, planning your day, taking breaks, prioritizing tasks, practicing time management, practicing good sleeping habits, practicing mindfulness, and limiting distractions. You can quickly establish an effective power of routine that helps you achieve your goals with practice.
Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Goal setting is essential to achieving success, whether in your personal or professional life. However, it is about setting goals and aligning your time management strategy with your goals. A time management strategy ensures that you are focused, productive, and able to accomplish your objectives within the stipulated timeframe.
This article will explore the best practices for goal setting and how to align your time management strategy with your goals.
Define Your Goals Clearly
Setting goals is different for everyone, but one common thing among most is defining your objectives clearly. Be specific and ensure your goals are measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. These are most commonly known as SMART goals.
Defining your goals lets you break down what step to take next and gives you a roadmap. It also helps you to prioritize your tasks and avoid distractions.
Break Down Your Goals
The first step is to break your goals into small, daily tasks – this is crucial to aligning your time management strategy with what you aim to achieve. It helps create a clear action plan and makes your goals more manageable. Setting your intention towards accomplishing your goal is also helpful.
Start by breaking down your long-term goals into short-term ones, then break them down into daily or weekly tasks. Taking time to break down your goals into manageable chunks makes it easier to track your progress and adjust your strategy if necessary. Be sure to keep note of your progress.
Set Priorities
Setting priorities is essential for effective time management. You must prioritize your to-do list for your time management strategy to be effective. Depending on the level of urgency, identify tasks based on the level of importance and complete those items first.
It is also important to delegate tasks that are unimportant to achieving your goals, as this frees up your time to focus on more critical tasks.
Use a Time Management Tool
A time management tool such as a calendar, planner, or task management software can help you stay organized and on track. These tools allow you to schedule tasks, set reminders, and track progress.
Find a time management tool that works for your needs and incorporate it into your daily routine to help you stay focused and productive. Here are five popular time management strategy tasks to keep you on track.
Time Management Strategy Tools for Efficiency & Task Management
1. Trello – Trello is a visual organization and project management tool that allows entrepreneurs to create boards, lists, and cards to keep track of tasks and projects. It has a user-friendly interface and integrates with various other productivity tools.
2. RescueTime – RescueTime is a time-tracking tool that allows entrepreneurs to monitor their time on their devices. It provides detailed reports on how much time is spent on different websites and applications, helping entrepreneurs to identify time-wasting activities.
3. Pomodoro Timer – Pomodoro Technique is a time management strategy method that involves breaking work into 25-minute intervals, separated by short breaks. Several Pomodoro Timer apps help entrepreneurs implement this technique in their daily work.
4. Google Calendar – Google Calendar is a popular tool for scheduling appointments and keeping track of meetings and deadlines. It integrates with other Google tools, such as Gmail and Google Drive, making it easy to manage all aspects of your schedule in one place.
5. Evernote – Evernote is a note-taking tool that allows entrepreneurs to capture and organize their ideas, notes, and to-do lists. It has various features, such as voice memos, web clipping, and handwriting recognition, making it a versatile tool for managing information.
Track Your Progress
Tracking your progress is essential in goal setting. It helps you to identify areas where you need to improve and adjust your strategy if necessary.
Use a progress tracker to record your progress regularly. Tracking progress can be in a spreadsheet, a journal, or task management software. It helps you to stay motivated and focused on achieving your goals.
Stay Focused
Staying focused is critical in achieving your goals. Although multitasking may come to mind when you have several things to get done, remember that focusing on one assignment at a time is more effective. Don’t get caught spreading your attention across multiple items at once. To be efficient, you’ll need to prioritize whatever job is in front of you. Focusing enables you to give full attention to the task, ensuring it is done correctly.
It is also important to eliminate distractions like social media, email notifications, and phone calls. These can derail your progress and reduce your productivity.
Celebrate Your Achievements
Celebrating your achievements is essential to staying motivated and focused on achieving your goals. Self-recognition is important, so highlight your accomplishments with a well-deserved pat on the back. Celebrating your achievements helps you maintain a positive attitude and boosts your confidence in achieving all you’ve set out to accomplish.
Summary Time Management Strategy
In summary, aligning your time management strategy with your goals is essential to success. Define your goals clearly, break them into smaller, achievable tasks, set priorities, use a time management tool, track your progress, stay focused, and celebrate your achievements.
Following these best practices can create a roadmap to success and accomplish your goals within the stipulated timeframe.
Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Organization Tips for Entrepreneurs – Have you ever been in a situation where no matter how hard you tried you never seem to get things done on time? One thing you might be lacking in your work-life is organization. General organization and having a clear view of what you are going to accomplish for the day can make all the difference in your productivity. Here, we will discuss a few tips that will help you organize your workday.
1. Write Things Down
The first thing is to write things down. Just write the tasks you are going to do for the day or make a to-do list. As you complete each one, cross that out. It also helps you keep things in check, and you don’t have to recall them repeatedly throughout the day.
2. Prioritize Things
We’ve all been guilty of prioritizing tasks that aren’t as important as we make them out to be. Make a schedule for the day in which you will write about the tasks in order of priority. Do the tasks & assignments that are most important first. Practicing a habit of prioritizing also releases work stress, and you perform better.
3. Delegate The Tasks
Get into a habit of delegating work and tasks to the people in your circle who can assist you with – you can’t do everything and you shouldn’t want to. In order for you to be successful, start working towards delegating people for different things. As stated above, you cannot handle the whole workload on your own, so don’t overwork and overwhelm yourself.
4. De-Clutter
Organization Tips for Entrepreneurs – Clutter and mess, whether in your personal life or your work life, can hinder your prosperity. If you feel like there are things that are of no use and are in your office, put them aside. Even people who are pulling you down and becoming an unnecessary intervention in the way of your success; cut your ties. The fewer, the better!
5. Don’t Procrastinate
Lastly, don’t procrastinate. You will be surprised to know that 84% of us face procrastination. It is that one thing that makes you put off your work for no reason. The best way to deal with it whenever you think of doing something later, get up and do it right away. Your taking action is what will fight this.
These are our tips that will help you organize your day a bit better. Check out the video above and try these tips. We’re sure they will be the core factors in your success after hard work.
Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Maintaining high productivity is a struggle we all face.
As I sit writing this now, I can’t help but see the city skyline bathed in sun through the windows which line the room. The warmth eeks through the open doors and windows and the urge to nip out for lunch swells inside me.
At the same time, the political scene recently has been a flurry of big moments and captivating narratives – the headlines call out to me.
But I have to write.
I have to focus.
How do I keep my focus when surrounded by distractions? The answer I’ve found which keeps me pinned to my chair and my fingers glued to my keyboard is the art of following a process.
I’ll explain to you why I’m such an advocate for processes, what processes I use, and how you can build the processes you need to drive you forward each day.
Why processes are vital to your productivity
Let’s start with a simple stat.
According to Kermit Pattison, writing for Fast Company, interruptions are costing you a lot of time. In fact, the average time wasted as a result of switching tasks is 23 minutes and 15 seconds.
If you’re trying to complete multiple tasks per day, you put yourself at risk of losing a considerable amount of working time. In short, your productivity could be taking a nosedive.
By following a process, you can keep your mind focused not just on the task at hand but clearly on what task you’re going to do next. Instead of finishing one item on your to do list and wondering about what to get cracking with next, you flow straight into the following item.
This fluidity and clarity in your workflow seems almost too simple to make any meaningful change. I mean, it’s only careful planning, right?
Well, yes. But planning is crucial to your success.
Most of the time we don’t recognize the weaknesses in our own workflows because we’re so engrossed in them. So, here’s a tip. Check out a tool like RescueTime which you can install on your computer so that it tracks everything you do. It will see what websites or programs you’ve been using and then generate a report for you to show you how you allocate your time.
Don’t build your work practices on what you think you’re doing, build them on what you’re actually doing. You’ll see your inefficiencies more clearly and be better equipped to tackle them.
The processes I use to write these articles
At Process Street, we have a rule that you must make a process for any task you expect to do more than twice.
Let’s look at two of these processes. One general and one task specific.
The general one is how I approach my working day. I use Trello for my task management and each day I start off by sorting through my tasks to see what I wish to accomplish that day. I then take each task which I want to complete and move them into my To Do column.
Anything in my To Do column gets done that day. Anything not in my To Do column does not.
This act of defining what I need to focus on helps me gain focus. I can then go into each task and think about what needs to be done to accomplish my goals. If it’s a research task then I will put a short checklist in my card outlining the steps I expect to take. If it is a common task like writing then I know I will use one of my premade processes to follow.
In each card I note the amount of time I expect the task to take and I order my cards to clearly show which I’ll do first through to which I’ll do last.
This initial planning starts my day off with a moment of considered thought and saves me probably an hour or more each day.
If I’m going to be writing an article that day for our blog, I’ll specify which of my custom built processes I intend to use. Our pre-publish checklist is one which we share across the team and have all contributed to building.
This checklist is engineered to make sure every article we publish adheres to the high standards we set ourselves. There are a lot of small steps involved in this quality control:
Check every link points to the right place
Make sure all capitalization adheres to our style guidelines
Run spell check in American English
Make sure all images are coded correctly with keyword optimized alt tags
There are 30+ steps in our pre-publish checklist. That’s a lot of steps to remember without a process. Time after time our process guides us in the right direction and makes sure we don’t miss simple mistakes.
This process gives us quality assurance.
How can you build processes which work for you?
Building processes is a long term strategy.
Not just because these processes help create consistent quality or garner small productivity gains every day which add up over time, but because processes exist to be improved.
Start off by noting down all the steps you can think of which contribute to the completion of a task. This is your base process.
If you work within a team, it’s a very good idea to collaborate on this process creation. You can compare approaches and priorities which can improve the overall performance of the team, while moving toward a standardized approach to establish consistency and improve the scalability of your team, in case you look to hire further members.
Begin following the documented process you have drafted and take note of a couple of key variables:
How long does this take me?
Are there any tasks which I’ve left out?
Have I included unnecessary tasks?
What does my team think of the process?
Each of those questions will tell you something different, and each will point you in a different direction for optimizing the process.
Once you’ve systemized your business through these processes, it is much easier to create performance metrics to target – ones which are realistic and don’t negatively impact on quality.
With better performance metrics you can more accurately predict output and, in turn, overall company performance.
Understanding your own productivity and knowing how to measure it is the first step to really understanding your own company and recognizing effective ways to improve performance.
Build processes, productivity, and your company
Don’t take my word for it.
I’ve given you the necessary tools to test your own performance for yourself. I’ve laid out the steps required to begin to implement processes and to track their performance.
Try it out for yourself and see what the results are.
The most successful companies in the world are ones with strong operating practices. That’s no coincidence.
Use your own productivity as a base from which to systemize your business, and start today!
Have you used process optimization in your business before? Let me know your success stories in the comments below!
Staying motivated is one of the keys to staying in business. When you don’t give yourself enough of a push to get things done, things start to fall off track. Think about an unmotivated version of yourself to the highest degree – not answering phone calls, deciding to stay in bed all day. How productive is that?
Normally motivation is something that starts to slump off slowly, though. It starts with small shrugs and ignoring your to-do list for one day, but it soon snowballs into something else: full blown apathy.
This is only compounded in a setting where others are also at risk for losing motivation. You can try your best to keep yourself and your employees motivated, but a big problem is that what drives all of us is totally different. Someone in their 40s might find their children and spouse to be what drives them to perform every day, but someone younger may find motivation in the form of trying to pay off those student loans.
What doesn’t change for everyone, though, is general motivation – the kind of motivation that tells them to keep doing what they’re doing for success. This three resource areas can be what kick you and your employees into motivation overdrive.
Trade Shows and Conventions
Sometimes what keeps someone from being motivated is they feel like their job or business is stuck in a rut. It isn’t trying new things, so why should they? As a small business owner, you have the power to show them the possibilities are endless, but it can be hard to do this through talks and conversations alone.
What’s the solution? Invest in taking your team to a convention or a trade show. In this environment, you can both take notes as a SMB owner about future possibilities while simultaneously showing off to your team that change is possible, you’ll just have to figure out how to implement it.
Motivational Speakers
This may sound cheesy, but motivational speakers CAN work for your team. You need to get rid of the stereotypical motivational speaker image from your mind – the energetic man on stage, screaming faux-zen self-help adages at an audience.
In reality, motivational speakers are often very business savvy. Their main audience is one that is in the business industry, thus they put a business spin on their advice. Topics like success, communication, motivation and confidence are common topics that these speakers cover, and their sermons often include tips and tricks for a more fulfilling business life.
Literature
There are a ton of motivational books out there that are geared towards business, but sometimes a problem arises: much like you may not have wanted to read the required reading in high school English class, your employees may feel no incentive to read any books you recommend.
The solution is to invest in a class set, of sorts. Buy enough books for your employees and schedule in meetings or time during existing team meetings to talk about a chapter or concept from the book. This puts more emphasis on the necessity to read the book while also making it a discussion about the motivational, helpful aspects of the book.
Growing a business is hard work on your own, and that’s why you hire employees to help. It’s often, though, that businesses in their early stages are generated from a lot of pro bono help and nourishment. Entrepreneurs often get their friends and family to help volunteer for advertising, product making and other tasks that need to be handled when there’s not enough money to pay yourself, let alone an actual workforce.
Your family might be an easier sell, but your friends could use some warming up to. Some friends will jump at the chance to help, but you can’t blame someone for wanting something a little more. There’s an art to convincing your friends to go in with you on a business venture, even if it’s just in the capacity of handing out fliers.
Work the Tit for Tat Angle
Not many people are willing to give something away for free. In this exchange model, your friends are giving away their time for you. What are you going to offer them in return?
Whenever your friends help you out, give them something in exchange. It can be free product, a future cut, or even something more creative, like naming a future product or service after them. When you give someone an incentive to help, they’re more likely to do so.
Make it Fun
Sometimes all you need to do to entice someone to help you with your business is give the activity a competitive edge. Get your friends to all try and refer people to your business. Whoever gets the largest number of referrals wins free product, and everyone gets to have a night of drinks to celebrate the success.
Word of Mouth
One area of marketing that people don’t focus enough on in this digital age is the power of the word of mouth advertisement. Your friends have friends, and that’s something you can use.
Tell your closest friends about your business venture, and all you ask of them is to tell their friends. This kind of pyramid, trickle down advertising is how early grassroots movements got started, and the same can be said for your new small business.
Capitalize On Togetherness
Being with your friends is a fun experience in and of itself. When you want to do something for your business, involve your friends not only to help you work, but also to have something to do together. People are often happy to organize fundraisers, make product and commit to other business activities if that’s what they think of it as – an activity.
Ask for Advice and Opinions
When you have friends, you have the perfect opportunity for case studies and beta testing free of charge. For instance, say you have an ad campaign you want to start running. Shoot it by real people you know first before taking it out of the family to market to others. Ask for their real opinions. They may be more likely to be frank with you than a stranger.
Have you ever noticed how successful people do so much? Maybe that seems a little redundant or silly. Of course they do a lot – they’re successful, aren’t they? But have you ever sat back and thought about the correlation there? Successful people don’t get a lot accomplished because they are successful. They became successful because they were productive in the first place.
CEOs and entrepreneurs didn’t get to the position they’re in now without being productivity gurus. The good news? Everyone can get on their level. Adjust your thinking – don’t think that people are born productive and successful. Anyone can learn some simple skills and lifehacks that can make them more productive than the common man.
The following are a smattering of mental adjustments and tips you can start thinking about every time you look at your to-do list. The more you utilize and internalize them, the further you step onto your path towards success.
First, start being more positive. Negativity can be what stifles you more than anything. Start thinking that you WILL succeed and you’ll be amazed by how much more you’ll get one in a day.
Start getting organized. This is super basic – but it’s also something that many people don’t do. Spend a day clearing out your desk and setting up an organization system. You’ll thank yourself for it.
Scheduling is a big part of being successful. When you set up certain periods of time each day for each of your tasks, you’re more likely to accomplish all of them.
How do successful people do it? They have people to help them out. You may not make enough to have five personal assistants, but you do have family and friends to keep you on task. Set up a system that gives you a productivity buddy or two. When you have someone there to help make sure you’re following through, you’re more likely to be productive.
Successful people also utilize technology to help them succeed. Whether it’s through a calendar service or apps that help them plan and optimize their day, start saying yes to technology throughout your day – just don’t get succeed into time sink sites and apps.
Another trait that successful people have is they’re goal-oriented. While it’s good to be productive just based on principal, you have a better chance at overall success if you have a reason for being productive to begin with. Whether it’s a business venture or a more personal goal, have a reason for your productivity in order to drive yourself to commit to your good habits.
Stop being afraid of failure. Successful people have all experienced a bump or two in the road – but does that get them down? No! This may seem a little cheesy, but it’s true. Your probably don’t realize it, but you’re likely afraid of fear and get harder on yourself when you don’t live up to your own standards. Accept failure, learn from it and make the experience something to reflect upon instead.
Lastly, successful people stay ahead of the curve. Don’t be afraid to be innovative or try new things. One of the best ways to be successful and productive at the same time is to always look for a new way to optimize your day.
We all do it. Whether you’re someone who wastes time watching YouTube videos or simply finds other, more desirable chores to do other than your most important task you keep finding ways to avoid. Procrastination is an ailment that plagues all of us from time to time. Some of us are occasional victims to a bout of laziness, while others are habitual procrastination professionals.
Instead of letting procrastination take over your life, it’s necessary to grab your ability to pay attention by the horns and steer it in the right direction. It can be difficult to control your procrastination impulses, though, so it’s important to find exercises and habits that can help you get things done in a timely manner.
Productivity is a great attribute to have as a person. When you’re productive, you’re happier – while it might feel better to push off your responsibility in favor of more free time, you’re just prolonging a hidden sense of anxiety.
This is especially true of projects with deadlines that you put off. While you might be able to get all your work done on time despite procrastinating, no one likes that sense of stress they get when they’re burning the midnight oil the night something is due just because they put off their work until the bitter end.
Stop living like this. Use these three effective strategies to start being productive when you should be instead of slacking when you shouldn’t be.
Use a “break it down” method.
One of the biggest reasons we put off tasks is because they’re too arduous to us at the moment. Think about two different to-do list tasks: sending 10 emails for a charity you’re running a function for or cleaning out your two-car garage, packed with junk.
It’s much easier to just sit at your desk and shoot off some emails instead of spending the whole day trying not to be crushed by stray hockey sticks and boxes of old clothes. This is because you’re looking at the large picture, not the big one.
Instead of thinking about cleaning the whole garage, focus on the idea that you only take care of a small section or portion of the work every day. Spend one day stacking all the stray boxes lying around, then another sweeping the floor. The smaller the tasks are that you’re working with; the more likely you are to get them done. Eventually, the bigger project will be accomplished.
Don’t get down on yourself when you don’t succeed.
Everyone procrastinates – even when they’re trying not to. Even the most steadfast and productive person will slack off from time to time. Does this make them a failure? Does this mean they’re doomed to fall into a lazy groove and never accomplish anything? Ever?
No.
This is another reason many people don’t accomplish tasks – they’re too hard on themselves and the idea of failure. Think about it: if you have a task you need to accomplish but you feel like you won’t succeed, how driven are you to complete said task?
When you procrastinate or fail a task, don’t think of it like it’s the end of the world. Think about it in a positive light. You might have fallen, but you can get up and start again.
Find your perfect planning method.
We know and understand that it’s a little insulting to tell you to write out a to-do list or start using a planner to map out your day in order to beat productivity – you can hear that advice anywhere. Of course you’ve tried a planning method!
The advice not often given is that every person has a planning style that fits them. Some don’t do well with to-do lists, while others swear by them. Don’t throw in the towel just because one system fails you. Try different methods out – post-it notes, apps, to-do lists, etc. You’ll find something that works for you eventually.
