So you want to be a successful person? Maybe you are already?
You know that there is always a room for some improvements to be made, won’t you agree? All we need is to stay open-minded and learn the best practices and techniques that work.
Successful people are not succesful by accident. They are successful because they plan their success and leave very little to coincidences.
Successful people have established their daily routines and daily road maps.
If you want and aim to be successful you need to develop good habits that will help and guide you throughout your every day. Here are the best ideas that successful people turned into their daily habits.
Know your best hours.
It is important to know that our minds and bodies are not productive at the same level and do not work at the same speed the whole day. In fact, they can’t. You can be an early bird, you can be a night owl, or you can be a bit of both.
Focus on the most important tasks when you are most efficient. Yes, I know. Easier said than done. Especially, when you are clocking from 9 to 5. But you can still try to organise your time to do things in the best possible order and according to your natural clock.
Forget about multitasking. Focus.
A new super important email just arrived in your inbox. A new notification on your phone – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, whatever.
How come you can’t finish your tasks and the day is too short to do anything?
Distractions pile up and your brain has to switch between them. As a result it loses its precious focus time when most good ideas are born. Your brain gets tired quicker and most of the precious energy is wasted.
Instead, try the Pomodoro technique. Switch you phone into Airplane Mode, if it is possible close yourself in a room, or wear earphones with relaxing music. Choose a task to do (for example writing a report). Set the timer for 20-25 minutes. Work on your tasks until you hear the alarm go off. Repeat.
Create a to-do list and follow it.
Get yourself a list of all the tasks you want to get done every day. Clearly note what you want to achieve each day so that you don’t waste time thinking what you should do next and you stay focused. So simple? Yes, usually the big problems have simple solutions. If you think too much but not set your goals, you will end your day without getting things done.
Do most important things first.
Do you remember to create to-do lists? Knowing what to do is not enough. We have to prioritise the things on the list. Start you day with closing most important thing – no matter how time consuming it is. It will give you a momentum and the feeling – “it will be a productive day, yeah”!
You are waking up with so many thoughts such as “Oh, yes I have to write an email to my client, call Mike, do the laundry, prepare myself for a presentation …” So many things, but what to do first?
Don’t go without a plan. Pick 3 most important tasks for tomorrow and start them right away in the morning.
Get important things done! Checked.
Unplug yourself last hour before bed.
Problems with falling asleep? You wake up in the morning tired? I have a solution!
Read a book. A novel with characters and a storyline.
Need an inspiration? Here you have the list of 100 books, you have to read before you die.
Reading will improve your memory, widen your horizons and stimulates your creativity.
Review your day.
Before falling asleep, a great idea is to think what you achieved today. It will help in making more realistic plans for the next day and know yourself better. Reflect on what you could have done better, where and when you wasted time.
Improve your physical health.
Do you remember that excellent feeling after a good workout? The blood flowing faster in your veins, a pleasant strike of endorphins in your brain.
Try to exercise for 15 minutes every single day. It doesn’t have to be in a gym, you can also exercise right after you wake up. There are many home workouts on youtube. Just have a look.
The benefits are numerous: not only you will feel better, but also you will think more clearly and without clutter.
Forget about perfection. Use 80/20 rule.
Perfection is not your holy grail. Focusing too much on details from the very start often leads on not getting the project done at all.
Do you know the Pareto principle? It is also known as 80/20 rule. It states that for many tasks, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. For examples, in business, “80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients.”
So, try to focus on 20% of the efforts which take you to finish tasks with the best results.
Delegate and share
You hesitate to delegate things because only you can do them the best possible way? Not everything is worthy your focus and time. You can achieve more when you collaborate, share knowledge and delegate.
Reduce clutter.
One of the reasons you’re not as effective as you want may be that you have too much clutter in your life.
Tidy your desk, give away books you will never read, throw away clothes you will never wear again, achieve your email inbox zero (if you don’t know the concept behind inbox zero- more about it in the next paragraph). Clean things around you, and you will have more time to focus on what is truly important.
Inbox zero.
Too many unread emails? Every each of them so important that you have to reply to it but have no time? You definitely need to unclutter your inbox and create inbox zero.
There are many techniques on how to do it and the combination of the following tips will help you:
- unsubscribe – if newsletters are not valuable for you try to unsubscribe – fewer emails, more focus
- create filters – try to arrange emails into folders using automatic filters based on their content.
- create folder for Read Later – you see longer, important emails and don’t have time to read them now? Move them to Read Later folder.
- create folder for Must Respond – Some emails should be responded to – It is easier to do it when you have them in one place
- archive emails older than 2 weeks – do you really think these people are still waiting for your response?
- write fewer emails – if you write more emails, you receive more emails. Closed circle. If it is possible, try to call somebody or use a messenger.
- don’t respond quickly – try to arrange and postpone emails – it will organise your tasks in time
Optimism is everything
Start your day with a positive mind. Not all tasks that you have listed are easy. This may include talking to your boss about your well deserved raise, tackling a complex project — or even just going to the gym. You may start thinking that your boss will say ‘No’. Or about all the obstacles you are going to face while working on the project.
It is all about having the proper mindset. Stay positive.
No matter, what point of life you are at now. These techniques can make your working easier, smarter, and you will achieve greater results. Follow them and you will be amazed at what you can do.