5 Simple Habits That Will Make You Extremely Productive
The Secret to Getting More Done
Everyone has the same number of hours in a day, but not everyone gets the same amount done.
There are people out there who accomplish more in a day than what some do in a week.
It’s not that they’re better or smarter; they just have better systems in place.
That’s the secret to becoming ultra-productive…
You must put systems in place that enable you to form good habits.
I started putting some of these productivity systems in place last year, and now I get more done than ever before…
Namely, I write 16–20 5-minute plus Medium stories monthly alongside my full-time freelance career and coaching while managing my Dad’s car business.
This would have been too much to handle before I learned about these 5 simple habits:
Habit 1: Plan your day the night before
Estimates state that the average adult makes around 35,000 remotely conscious daily decisions.
Here’s the catch: the more decisions you make, the more physically, mentally, and emotionally depleted you become.
By planning your day in advance, you get to reduce the number of conscious decisions you make throughout the course of the day.
For example, I don’t have to think about:
- What I’m going to wear to the gym the next day
- What I’ll be working on in the gym (i.e., legs, back, etc.)
- What I’m going to eat throughout the course of the day
- What to post on LinkedIn and X
- What to write about on Medium
All of these decisions are made ahead of time.
This means the energy I would have used consciously thinking about what to do in real-time can be put towards executing my most important tasks.
The same is true for you.
By planning your day the night before, everything will feel simple as you’re better prepared to start executing.
Habit 2: The 2-minute rule
The 2-minute rule is your best defense against procrastination and allowing small matters to pile up.
The rule states you should embark on any new habit for just 2 minutes or less.
“When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”
– How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the “2 Minute Rule,” James Clear
The main objective here is to master the habit of showing up.
Once a habit has been established, it’s much easier to improve and extend it.
Habit 3: Create a routine you follow in the morning
The brain is wired to take the path of least resistance.
One factor that contributes to a path being easy is extreme clarity — this is when you know what you’ve gotta do without thinking about it.
Here’s where routines come into the picture…
Routines are a sequence of regularly followed actions.
It’s similar to planning your day in advance since you’re preserving your mental bandwidth for the most important tasks, but it goes a little further…
According to Northwestern Medicine, an effective routine can help reduce stress, leading to better mental health, more time to relax, and less anxiety.
This is because introducing structure to your mornings means you’ll spend far less time feeling overwhelmed while you think about what you have to do when you wake up.
TLDR: Routines help you feel prepared.
It doesn’t have to be overly elaborate – it should just get you in the mood for work.
Here’s my morning routine:
- Wake up at 5 a.m. and leave bed immediately
- Journal for 15 minutes
- Strength training for 1.5 hours
- Cold shower
- Small breakfast
- Start work at 8.30 a.m.
Steal it and tweak things to make it suitable for you; remove anything that makes you feel less energized.
Habit 4: Follow the 80/20 rule
20% of the activities you participate in yield 80% of the results you achieve.
You can remove 80% of your activities and still be extremely productive.
… so do it!
Invest the majority of your energy and time into the tasks that create the most impact on your bottom line.
If you spend more time on activities that matter most, you’ll be more productive.
The only catch here is you must have a clearly defined goal and plan you’ve committed to, or else it won’t work…
You’ll struggle to define your 20% since your most important tasks are derived from the objective you wanna achieve.
For example, if your goal is to reach 100,000 followers on Medium, spend most of your time and effort on building there. Reduce your time engaging in activities that don’t move you closer to 100,000 followers.
Basically…
Once you’ve defined your goal, created a plan, and committed to it, strip away the 80% and prioritize the 20%.
Habit 5: Get enough rest
Tons of research suggests there’s a strong relationship between sleep and health.
One study, published in the National Library of Medicine, even went as far as stating sleeping too little at night increased the risk of early death according to their findings.
The message is clear…
Your body needs sleep.
It needs it as much as it requires oxygen, food, and water to function at its best.
Sleep allows your body to heal itself and restore its chemical balance.
It also allows you to forge new neural connections in your brain and solidify your memory retention.
Without good rest, your body and brain won’t be able to function at their optimal capacity.
This can impact your quality of life and your productivity levels.
The main gist is you should get enough sleep.
I’m not into the debate on whether that’s 6 hours or 8; what’s most important is that you feel refreshed and ready to put your energy into getting stuff done.
Final thoughts
It’s possible to get a helluvalot more done than most people if you’re willing to implement systems that enable you to form good habits.
Those systems should make it easy for you to:
Habit 1: Plan your day the night before Habit 2: The 2-minute rule Habit 3: Create a routine you follow in the morning Habit 4: Follow the 80/20 rule Habit 5: Get enough rest
By adopting these habits, you’ll be far more energized, which means you can put more effort into the tasks that matter most.
… And if you do that, you’ll get more done.
Thanks for reading!
Grab your FREE copy of my short e-book — Don’t Just Set Goals, Build Systems.
