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You want to be more productive?
My guess is that you want to achieve goals that move your life forward. You want to accomplish the objectives that take you to new levels.
I believe we should always strive to develop effective strategies to move the needle in our lives. Reason being—when effectiveness meets opportunity, that’s what ultimately turns dreams into reality.
Let’s first realize that productivity has less to do with everything going on around you than it does with what’s going on within you.
We can’t get in the habit of blaming distractions for why we procrastinate, put things off, and don’t get things done.
Productivity is an inside job.
There are two components that I have found to improve productivity. When used effectively, they both fuel your daily output and push you towards achievement.
I’ll sum it up by saying this: Productivity is driven by purpose and priority
The more productive you are, the more purpose and priority you have pushing and driving you.
Let’s break this down…
PRIORITY
What has the most importance in this period of your life?
What matters most to you?
What significant goal are you setting out to accomplish?
Where do you want to be a year from now?
What leads to extraordinary results is knowing what matters to you and taking daily steps of action in that direction.
When what you do daily matches what matters most to you, you establish rhythm. If your life seems to get out of rhythm, it could be that you’re doing things that aren’t moving you forward.
We’ve all had that feeling when your day can seem to move nonstop, but when it ends you feel like you didn’t get anything accomplished at all. (I know I have.)
This happens because we didn’t prioritize our day in a way that enabled us to give our goals the attention they deserved.
You said YES to everyone else’s wants, but said NO to your own needs.
Instead of going to the gym to work on your fitness goals you binged on that new Netflix series.
While working on your new idea you got sidetracked and spent hours scrolling through timelines, newsfeeds, and instastories.
Everything around us is asking for our attention, but we have to remember that great success is created when time is devoted to the essential.
Determine, establish, and make decisions based on what’s important to you.
When you know your priorities you’ll establish rhythm. When you have rhythm you have flow, momentum, and eventually create progress—and progress is what leads you to success.
Remember, success is not spontaneous…it happens in sequences. When your goals remain a priority and you take daily steps towards achieving them, this leads to improved productivity.
PURPOSE
High achievers are productive not only because they stay true to their priorities, but also because they never forget the purpose behind their goals.
You become more engaged when you find meaning to what you do.
When you realize the importance of your efforts and how you can better your life and the life of those around you, this motivates you to stay consistent with your goals and be more productive.
…not only that, but purpose is a source of power.
It helps strengthen your conviction and fuels your perseverance.
When you stay reminded of the purpose behind your goals, even if the effort becomes challenging, difficult, and frustrating, you’ll remain productive because of the emotional connection you have with your goals.
TRY THIS
Write down on a notecard a goal that you want to accomplish a month from now. Be specific. Then, write down the purpose behind this goal:
What are the positive consequences that will come from your goal? How will you and your life be made better when you achieve your goal? In what way will your goal better those around you?
Read this note card out loud EVERY day until you achieve your goal. Read it in the morning, set a reminder in your phone to prompt you to read it in the afternoon, and read it at night. The key is to keep your goal a priority and to never forget the purpose behind it. Structure your day around achieving what matters most to you. This will improve your daily productivity.
You want to run your day by design and not by default. When you run it by design you become more intentional, focused, engaged, and determined.
Remember: Productivity is driven by purpose and priority