10 Productivity Hacks I Use Everyday and You Can Too
Time.
That simple small word is the one common denominator and the single most valuable limited commodity we have.
24 Available Hours Each Day and No More
That is all you get. That is all I get. That is all Everyone else gets too.
What makes the difference is in how we choose to use it.
With that in mind, I would like to share with you some of the things I personally do and have been doing for years, and that helps me do better each day.
While there is no single best way to do anything that is always the best way for everyone all of the time - there are definitely some things that work better than other things most of the time for most people. So feel free to consider each of the following and adopt what you like and forget the rest as you may choose.
1. Get Up Early - Six days per week I get up at 0430 (or earlier around 0400). That gives me several quiet uninterrupted hours of work time each day.
2. Shower Before Bed - I almost never shower in the mornings as it is a waste of time for me then, so I do it at night and am ready to go when I wake up.
3. Shave at Night - Just before bed, after my shower. Saves me the time and the trouble of doing it in the morning which is more valuable production time to me. Give it a try yourself.
4. Lay Out Tomorows Clothes Tonight - I hate looking for clothes so I don't do it. I lay everything out in order down to socks, and even put my belt in my pants at night. Getting dressed takes seconds - literally less than 1 minute.
5. Wear the Same Type of Clothes - Almost a uniform, but not quite. That means the same types of pants and shirts, just different colors perhaps - but it makes the process quick and simple and I care far more about productivity than I do about clothes. For years when I was a safety director, I wore the exact same color shirt each day (Black) and just had multiple identical shirts and that made getting ready for work quick and easy.
6. Use a Planner - As you may or may not know (depending on whether you read my blogs on my sites and here on a regular basis or not) I designed my own planner and productivity system over decades which I call Success Driven Systems. I use it every single day of my life to help me do better. You can use my system - or get a planner of any type that works for YOU and use that. Whatever you do use something - even if it is a simple and cheap spiral notebook. Plan your day and work your plan and you will be amazed at what you can do!
7. Review Tomorrows Plan Tonight - Right before bed, take a look at your planner and your schedule for tomorrow and have that in mind before you end the current day vs trying to figure out what you want and need to do in the mornings.
8. Excercise - I Practice what I call Functional Fitness routines. As soon as I wake up, after I go to the bathroom - I immediately do my morning exercises. Crunches, pushups, stretching, and maybe some curls. I keep it short and keep it simple and do it six days a week like a religious experience - and here is the key - I don't think about it. I just do it. you can too - if you like. Make it automatic and almost a subconscious part of your day, and by the time you get to having your coffee or tea or whatever and waking up you will have already completed your core PT for the day.
9. Avoid Facebook, email, and Social Media - I schedule the times I choose to check those things, and even that I limit. Ignore them all other times - otherwise, they become time wasters and productivity killers instead of production tools. I like being proactive as much as possible and avoid having to be reactive when I can - and so can you if you choose to do so.
10. Eliminate or Reduce TV - I personally hate TV and refer to it as what I call a BRD which stands for Brain Rotting Device. I turned my service off years ago and have never missed it. Instead, I watch movies, documentaries, shows, and of course YouTube videos of my own choosing and at times of my own choice. I am a little weird and perhaps a bit extreme - and I get that not everyone will want to model what I do - BUT - you can at least reduce the amount of time you spend with your own BRD and reallocate that extra time you save into better more productive uses (like building your own business!) as you see fit.
Final Thoughts and Remarks on Productivity Hacks and Methods
There are ways you can better use the precious time that you have. What it comes down to is how bad do you want whatever it is you want?
Only you can decide that.
But if you need more time to work on your business, then I guarantee you that you can find it if you want it bad enough. It is relatively easy to come up with an additional three hours per day if you try hard enough and want it bad enough to make it happen.
Time to complete your Wealthy Affiliate Courses
Time to build your sites and write your own blogs
Time to research and choose affiliate products to market
Time to post those links across your own digital platforms and more
Time to research and choose additional Income Production Opportunities
Time to Build Your Own Business Empire
Time to Build a Better Life...
Consider this - 3 hours per day is 15 hours per week (based on 5 days), 30 hours per every two weeks, and 60 hours per month. That is more than a full workweek gained each month for most people!
Would that much extra time help you?
It is certainly enough to be of help for most people. It is more than enough time to be life-changing over the course of enough time, let's say two years or so (which is how long it is likely to take you to build a REAL business that makes a consistent stable equivalent to a full-time income) - which can move you closer to financial independence and a much better life of your own in the process.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Feel free to share what you think below - along with any ideas, hacks or methods you currently use that you find effective.
Until next time, always remember;
Choose Your Own Course, Build a Better Life
Best regards,
L.D. Sewell
Recent Comments
67
Three hours a day....now that is something I can do. To plan, is something new for me. I dont usually plan anything. Yet, I do understand the concept.
When you plan and set aside time to do things, you actually have more time to do the things you want to do.
Three hours a day, my new mantra!
I like my morning shower, reflect and open my mind up in there. TV has been out of my life for many moons now. Planners seem to work great, I have Zig Ziglar's Performace planner and Brendon Burchard High-performance planner. I still prefer Zig's planner overall at this time, however, it has been a learning curve for most of my life I have lived in improvize land.
Making and sticking to a schedule has been invaluable to me, A planner sure helps one create that for themselves. That and routines, like you exercising in the morning, it just happens after it is a routine, no cognitive skills required anymore.
In the summer here it is easy for me to get up early, going ot be very hot in a few hours so time to get after it now so to speak. In the winter with my room cold, I prefer my room cold at night, sure makes it cozy under those blankets in the morning. So now I use a space heater that turns on an hour before my alarm. That makes it much easier for me to get out of bed on time and even before schedule.
Great post, got me to thinking about my routine and how to improve on it. Got to check out your planner now.
I like the space heater on a timer idea, and that makes excellent sense.
Even though I have a planner of my own design - I have always said and always will say, the best planner is ANY planner that works for you and that you will actually use on a daily basis.
Right now the only version I have available for sale is pages and page sets (POD and build your own), and it does work great - but only if it is used.
That part is the downfall of most planners - and it's not that they are not good (many are excellent!) it is simply that people buy them and then won't actually use them consistently.
Thanks for your comments.
Best regards,
L.D. Sewell
Hay, I agree with you that waking up early in the morning is necessary to achieve something. I get up at 4, and the first thing I do is do my yoga routine.
There is a story ahead of you; if you can't wake up, you should think about the first thing that you like, remember right away, move on in that spirit, and then wake up doesn't seem so difficult. I learned this trick from a book about how to become a millionaire.
I am like you, I actually look forward to getting up and am excited and eager to get to my morning routine and my work too.
Years ago I did P90X (3 times back to back until I passed out at a conference my wife was conducting out of exhaustion - but that is another story ; )
It had a yoga sequence and that was the only time I have ever done any Yoga.
Yoga does seem to have some interesting benefits - from what little I actually know about it.
Thanks for your comments.
Best regards,
L.D. Sewell
You get up at 430. What time do you go to bed? I really hate it, but I need 8 hr/night of sleep. I wish I didn't and I can get less a few nights but it catches up to me. I think I'm catching up from my sleep deprivation when I was raising my kids.
The planner though - check
Less TV - check
~Debbi
Up by 0430 most mornings - and often by 0400 (My cat likes to think she is an alarm clock between 0415 and 0430).
As far as when I go to bed, usually by 10 - sometimes a bit earlier and I try to avoid being up beyond 11 at the latest. I should also mention that years of military experience and many more in trucking taught me that sleep is a precious commodity - and as a result, I can shut down my body and be sound asleep within 5 minutes of the time my head hits the pillow.
Thanks for your comments Debbi!
Best regards,
L.D. Sewell
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Thank you LD
Basic necessary life skills - & well presented.
I have bookmarked your post, & am determined to knuckle down & achieve a plan & work my day/night.
My big problem is concentration. I start on a topic & then my mind wanders to another thing altogether.
I will also work on self discipline - a must for me.
Denis