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” How the hell am I going to get this done? I had planned on finishing this within a month and it’s already three months past? I never have time to do anything? Work, home, kids, family and this side project. I should have never started, after all where is the time to ensure maximum productivity?”

Do you ever ask yourself these questions or sit in a corner and ponder? Well, that’s exactly where you are going wrong! Sometimes all it takes is a plunge towards reality to develope a strategy for staying productive. To be honest, the above statement relates very much to me as I used to think the same way. But I have made some changes in my life which has helped me stay on top of my productivity game.

Quit Complaining

I have found this to be the biggest obstacle when it comes to productivity. Complaining we don’t have time to do so and so only makes us miserable and we certainly won’t achieve anything. The best way to ensure maximum output from yourself is to have a peace of mind. There is only 24 hours in a day and no matter how hard we try or complain about this, it’s going to stay the same. It’s not going to change, just face it. It’s not the time we lack, it’s the management aspect of it that we haven’t been able to conquer.

I myself have been swirling and twirling with the fact that I don’t have enough time. But now I just try to go with the flow. There is nothing I can achieve by complaining when I can’t get things done. What I needed to do was, sit down, relax and get it done. Since I have quit complaining, I have definitely been able to do more in a lot less time. I now control the time not the other way around.

Analyze The Results

What are your goals after the project is done? What do you want to achieve from whatever you are doing? One of the best ways to get the productivity ball rolling is to picture the end result. When you know exactly what you want, you have a clearer picture of what you exactly need to do. This is where the goal setting aspect of productivity comes in. We talk about setting goals time after time but what are we trying to get? Results! That’s our ultimate goal to get out of any project.

Now, before I start anything I try and analyze the end result. Is it worth putting 6 hours a day or just 6 hours a week? If my end result isn’t upto my expectations for the time I put in, once again I have let the time control me. Since I started analyzing the end result and working towards a goal I have found myself working smarter, not harder.

Divide Your Time

Productivity is all about dividing time sensibly. Working 24/7 isn’t the best idea to ascertain productivity and I can tell you this from a personal experience. When I first started my residential cleaning company ( I sold it ), that’s exactly what I did. I was working around the clock. I already had a day job and was running my business on the side but it was a full time job in itself. I was taking calls and handling clients even when I was at my other job. As a result, I was so stressed out I decided to keep my job and let go off my slowly booming business. Biggest mistake of my life.

Dividing time doesn’t mean it has to be divided on only what you are working on. Dividing time to increase productivity means spending time with your loved ones, doing things you love, watching a movie, playing with your kids. Try it once! When you do the things that you love and start working on something, you will find yourself much more relaxed and ready to take over the productivity beast. I try to spend time with my family and read books to relax whenever I get a little stressed. I divide my time among things I have to do and I want to do . I take regular intervals when I am working on something. This has allowed me to relief stress and refresh while I am working on something.

Enjoy What You Have Achieved So Far

So you are working on something and it still hasn’t been done? What do you do now, sit and worry? I don’t think so. What you need to do is look back and see what you have achieved so far. This will allow you to look at things positively instead of looking at it with a negative attitude.
Take for an example,

You are trying to write a book on blogging ( 50 pages ) and you wanted to get it done within 2 months. It’s one and a half month and so far you have finished only 25 pages and you have 25 more to go. Although you might think you can’t achieve that goal, you can. How? Just look back at what you have already done. Use the past to shape your future.

There was a day when you were starting a project and although you would like it done at a certain time, you didn’t finish it. Try and analyze what you have done so far. I will be the first one to congratulate you on a half done project because most people don’t even take the step to start it. I have followed this mantra and this has been the greates boost. This alone allows me to probably increase my productivity by 5-8 folds. It’s an awesome feeling when you look at something half done instead of looking at the other half which is yet to be done. It all depends on how you look at it, change your perspective and you will change things that guide your productivity as well.

Create a Peaceful Environment

Ahhhh, this one is my favorite. I am not sure how many of you read the post where I wrote that I like to hide in the basement at times. It sounds a little creepy but it’s not that bad. Everytime I feel a little stressed out or burned out I simply go down to my basement. I have a corner where there is nothing but a chair and a table. I just sit there, light up a cigerette ( I know its bad for health ) and relax and focus on good things.

Create yourself a room without any distractions. Call it ” your room “, where only you go most of the time. Where there are no distractions, no TV, nothing but you and solitude. You will see what this will do to you. This is for yourself to find out once you do it. Give it a try! It certainly is one of the best ways to multiply your productivity time after time afer time.

There you go guys! Although there is more I can do to increase my productivity, so far I am happy with what I have achieved in terms of what I do. Be it blogging, my side projects, my family responsibility or my day job, these productivity steps has certainly made me choose a better way to do things and get more out of it.

What do you do to stay productive? Let us all stay on top of the productivity game by offering our own little ways on staying productive. Please share with us some tips and facts so we can all learn from each other!

Tags: Productivity //