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Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts

Why You Should Be A Morning Person


What is one thing most successful people have in common? They get up extra early and make the most of the morning. Here’s why:
Waking up early gives you time to think before the buzz of the day begins. To put it simply, the early morning is “you time” — a time to lay out your priorities for the day and make progress against them, before others are demanding your time and attention. It puts you firmly in control of each day.
Of course it is awfully hard to get out of bed, but that’s exactly why early risers have the competitive advantage over everyone else. They tackle the day while others hit the snooze button.
Here are just a few examples of ultra-successful early risers:

  • Virgin Founder Richard Branson wakes up at 5:45am, even when he’s on his private island, and uses the morning for exercise and breakfast before starting work for the day
  • First Lady Michelle Obama starts her day at 4:30am for a workout before her kids wake up
  • Apple CEO Tim Cook gets up at 3:45am every day to catch up on email, hit the gym, and make a Starbucks run before heading to the office
  • Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz gets up at 4:30am to get a workout in (often a bike ride with his wife) — and of course to make some coffee to get his day going
  • Disney CEO Bob Iger rises at 4:30am and uses the early morning to read the paper, exercise, listen to music, catch up on emails, and even watch TV
  • Vogue Editor-In-Chief Anna Wintour wakes at 5:45am to play an hour of tennis before work demands hit
  • GE CEO Jeff Immelt wakes up at 5:30am and gets in a cardio workout while reading the paper and watching CNBC

Did you notice another consistent trend among all of these ultra-successful people? Everyone’s morning ritual includes exercise as a key component.
In addition to the overall health and fitness benefits, studies have shown that moderate-intensity exercise for 20+ minutes produces a mental and emotional boost for the following 12 hours! This means that these business leaders are likely more clear-headed, effective, and productive at work as a direct result of their morning workout. The exercise time also allows them to think and problem-solve without interruption, so they hit the ground running once they get into the office. Morning exercise is an incredibly efficient use of time.

In addition to waking up extra early and exercising, here are a few more morning habits to get your day moving in the right direction:
  • Drink 16 oz. of Water Upon Waking — Rehydrate after your 7–8 hours of sleep
  • Make Your Bed — Making your bed every morning is correlated with better productivity throughout the day
  • Eat a Healthy Breakfast — Fuel your body for the demands of the day (led by energy-packed fruits and vegetables)
  • Drink 1–2 Cups of Coffee — Give yourself a morning boost while reaping the proven health benefits
  • Catch up on the News — Use the quiet time to know what’s happening in the world around you
  • Prioritize Your Day — Establish your top priorities and think about how to tackle them
All of this sets you up for success before your “work day” even begins, whatever form that may take for you. Being a morning person isn’t reserved for just C-level execs. Everyone will benefit from implementing these good habits.
Think it’s not possible for you because you need the extra sleep? The experts would say to get to bed earlier the night before to make the early wake-up call tolerable.
These tips and success stories help motivate me to get out of bed when all I want to do is sleep a bit more, and hopefully they also inspire you to make the morning your secret weapon!
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How to Be Productive

We've all been there: lots of stuff to do, but finding ourselves distracted, floundering, procrastinating, unable to get things done. Are you tired of wasting time? If so, then it's time for you to get productive!


  • Method 1 of 4: Be Organized

    1. Make a to-do list. Write down everything you would like to accomplish for the day or week, or keep a running list of tasks you need to get done. To-do lists are tried-and-true productivity tools, but they only work if you use them correctly. 
    • Be as concrete, specific and reasonable about your tasks as possible. For example, don't just write "clean the house." Instead try "pick up living room," "vacuum rug" or "take out trash"—smaller, more discrete tasks are better.
    • Don't let yourself get intimidated by or distracted by your to-do list. If you are spending all your time thinking of things you need to put on your list, that can be just as bad as not keeping one at all. Try to create your to-do list in one sitting and don't let yourself add to it throughout the day unless you have to.




    2. Make a plan. 
    Figure out what things on your list you can reasonably accomplish, and decide what order you are going to do them in. If you can, make a schedule for the day that includes when you are going to work on each task and when you are going to stop to eat or take a break. 

    • Be aware that tasks will often take more or less time than expected. Don't beat yourself up over this, and don't let it throw your whole plan out of whack. If something doesn't go as planned, just do your best to adjust your schedule and move on with your work.



    3. Prioritize and do triage. 
     Have just way to many things on your plate to get everything done in a timely manner? Decide which things are most important and do those. You might have had big dreams of doing your taxes and washing the dog, but one or the other might have to wait. Trying to take on too much at a time is the fastest way to end up overwhelmed and unproductive. 
    • If there are tasks you have been meaning to do for a long time and never get done, don't let them hang over your head forever. Set yourself a deadline or pick a day to do them—or else decide that you can get by okay without them.


    4. Set goals. 
    Whether cleaning, studying or working, set reasonable but challenging goals for how much you are going to write, read, or create in a day. Don't let yourself quit until you've accomplished that amount. Try to be positive about your goals and don't let them intimidate you. Know that you can accomplish them if you stay focused. 

    • Consider creating rewards or punishments for yourself around your goals. Promise to treat yourself with something you want if you are successful. Threaten yourself with an undesirable consequence, such as donating money to a cause you disagree with. This works best if you can hand over control of the reward or punishment to a friend who won't let your welch on your agreements.




    5. Be mindful of your effectiveness. 
     Don't get caught up thinking about how productive or unproductive you are being in the moment, but later do reflect on how well you stayed focused, how much you stuck to your plan, how accurate your schedule timing was. Note unexpected problems or disruptions to your workflow and think about what you can do to improve next time.

    • Consider keeping a journal to jot down what worked and what didn't work at the end of each day.



    6. Keep your tools and materials organized. 
    Nothing will slow you down like not knowing where to find some vital file or object, or having to search through emails to remember the time of an appointment. Create robust systems to file information, store instruments, and record your appointments.

    • Method 2 of 4: Stay Focused

      1. Remove distractions. 
      We live in a world with endless opportunity for stimulation and distraction. From TV to blogs to instant messaging, not to mention friends, family and pets, it is so easy to spend just a minute on this and a minute on that and find the whole day lost. Don't let that happen! Keep your eyes on the prize by removing as many distractions and opportunities for distraction as possible.
      • Close your email and social media sites. Turn off any notifications that will interrupt your work. If you must, budget a few minutes into your day to check your inbox and updates for anything important, but having them open while you work is sure to lower your productivity.
      • Use browser extensions to block time-wasting websites. The Internet if full of interesting pictures, .gifs, videos and articles that will eat away at your day if you aren't mindful. Install a browser extension like StayFocusd, Leechblock or Nanny that will limit your time on distracting websites or keep you from checking them for certain periods during the day. Do whatever you can to put the temptation to check the news, browse your favorite blogs or watch cat videos out of reach.[1]
      • Turn off your phone. Don't answer calls, don't check text messages, nothing. Don't keep it near you. If it is important, whoever is calling will leave a message. If you are worried about emergencies, set aside one minute to check your phone every hour.
      • Tell friends and family not to interrupt you. Keep your pets out of the room if they are going to be a problem.
      • Use background noise to block out annoying noises and distractions. Constant background noise such as white, pink or brown noise but also natural noises such as the sound of rain or a river can help you to stay focused and boost your productivity. Use tools like Noisli
      • Turn off the TV or radio. Depending on you and the nature of your task, a little background noise might by fine—especially music without lyrics—but any kind of media on around you will usually lower your productivity if your task requires mental focus.


      2. Tackle one thing at a time. 
      It's a common misconception that multitasking can make you more productive. The truth is we can only really do one thing at a time, and when we try to multitask we are just switching back and forth between different projects. Every time you make that switch, you lose time and focus. To be truly productive, pick one task and work on it until completion, then move on to something else.

       

      3. Keep your home or workspace tidy. 
      Yes, cleaning up all the time takes time and effort, but a big mess can be distracting and you may end up losing more productivity than you saved. Keep your desk, house or workspace neat and organized, without clutter and with a minimum of loose objects to catch your eye. 






      • Method 3 of 4: Take Care of Yourself



    1. Go to bed early and get enough sleep. 
    Being tired or sleep deprived will make you more distracted and less productive.


    2. Set your alarm, and get up as soon as it goes off. 
    Don't hit the snooze button over and over and end up oversleeping. Oversleeping even a few minutes can throw off your schedule and leave you out of sorts all day.


    3. Eat healthy meals. 
    You may not notice it at first, but if you don't keep yourself nourished you will soon find yourself more distracted, stressed and scatterbrained. You will make mistakes and have to redo your work. Make sure you set aside time in your day to have full, healthy meals. 

    • Avoid heavy meals that are going to make you sluggish and want to nap. Digestion takes energy, and processing a large, greasy meal will sap your strength and focus.
    4. Take breaks. 
    Don't exhaust yourself or force yourself to stare at the screen until you are a zombie. Every 15 minutes or so take 30 seconds to stretch and rest your eyes a bit. Every couple hours take five or ten minutes to do some exercise, have a snack and replenish your resolve.




    • Method 4 of 4: Analyze performance and improve



    Be Productive Step 14.jpg
    1. Use performance measuring tools and review yourself each week.
     
    Be Productive Step 15.jpg 2. Identify shortcomings and distractions.
     
    Be Productive Step 16.jpg  3.Make targets and recheck your performance each week.
     
    Be Productive Step 17.jpg
    4.Get feedback from your peers and seniors to validate that work style improvement is apparent.
     
    Be Productive Step 18.jpg 5.Maintain your enthusiasm and performance.

    Tips

    • Prioritize. If one task is more important than another, do it first! It also helps to finish difficult tasks before the easy ones.
    • If you have a lot to do, set aside a day that you don't have any plans and make it a productive day!
    • Don't let yourself become overwhelmed with the amount of work. Take short breaks to calm down and break huge tasks into smaller ones if you feel you need to. Get up early, have a nice breakfast and relax.


    Soure : wikiHow
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