6 Habits of Highly Productive People

3# You are not afraid of criticism.

Being productive is rewarding most of the time.

You’re probably someone who loves to create content because it brings value to your audience.

That makes you a productive person.

It’s not everyone who is disciplined in their life, for some it takes years to practice (if they are new to it) and for others, it’s easy to be disciplined in their adolescence because they were raised by disciplined parents.

When you’re productive, you’re disciplined. You value getting things done.

Productive people have different personalities, tastes, preferences, and viewpoints in life but they all have a lot of things in common and I’m gonna tell you more about it.

1. They stick to their discipline

It doesn’t matter how much they need to do during the day. If they don’t have 2 hours to complete their task, they will at least spend 10 minutes working on their task before bed.

If you don’t have the whole day to meditate and you are in a rush, you’ll still spend 10 minutes meditating, because you promised yourself to stick to the plan.

Ask yourself; how much does your dream mean to you?

If you want something bad, you don’t forget about it the next day, because it will mean you don’t want it serious enough.

This could either mean you’re struggling with procrastination or went through self-realization where you found out the goal does not fit with your passion.

Small work a day will multiply into huge results.

My days can be in a rush sometimes but when I come home I listen to audiobooks or exercise in the evening before bedtime. I really don’t want to but I do it anyway. I go against my procrastination. I challenge my procrastination. Later on, I notice how accomplished I feel after doing it.

Stick to the plan and people will find you reliable.

It’s funny how your inner voice is like a child because it says “No I don’t wanna do this!” Your procrastination could be your inner child talking to you.

How many people say they want to achieve something then give up easily because it’s “too hard”? Well, having this mindset won’t work for you either.

“Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens.” — Jordan B. Peterson, Beyond Order.

Reminder: It’s important to listen to your body sometimes. Overworking will lead to burn out and your body needs rest to recover before you go to work or exercise again. Ignoring this will lead to a sudden collapse. Collapsing on the floor is your body saying “I give up I can’t handle it anymore. I need rest. Now.”

How to apply:

• Be aware of your excuses.
• Find out what time is best for you to complete your plan.
• Find out what strategies work and don’t work.
• Surround yourself with people with the same goal as you.
• See how much you’ve improved after 6–12 months.

Recommended source: 5 Ways to Tell When, and When Not, to Stick to the Plan

2. They work smart, not hard.

This one is similar to the above but it’s about how you stay productive in a smart way.

It’s better and smarter to work on the same goal 30 minutes a day than work 8 hours every day. If you work on your goal 30 minutes a day, you still have the energy for rest of the day. Work 8 hours every day and you will be drained out. This is not a smart method. You have to think in the long run.

If you work on your goal every day for 1 month, you’ll find yourself burned out and no time to for anything else.

When you stick to your dreams, it means you are loyal to your dreams.

The person who works on the goal 30 minutes a day will likely get the same result as someone who works 8 hours a day for 1 month. Think smart.

You’re not in competition with anyone so there is no need to be in the rush to complete anything in a short time span. Comparing yourself to others is the biggest mistake you can make.

Example: You may not get an immediate result if you train your body 30 minutes every day for 1 month with breaks in between.

However, you will see strong results after 1 month of consistent training. You’ll likely get the better or same result than the person who trains their body 2 hours a day for 1 month.

I know my previous articles have been written 30 minutes per day with breaks in between.

I am writing this article in 30 minutes right now, before writing for another 30 minutes the next day. I feel like this is the right routine for me and I get the most out of it more than ever.

I choose not to rush.

You have to enjoy the moment and give yourself a break. When I rush, my writings become dull and bad.

This is just like the snowball effect, the first phases are small. You take small steps a day to build something and you do it again and again until the results become a huge success.

You may not see it at first, but it comes faster than you think. You learn about patience and the worth of delayed gratification.

How to apply:

• Work on a task for 30 minutes a day.
• Set a timer on it, if you forget easily.
• Do not be distracted and stay focused.
• Do not be disturbed by people and sounds.
• We are most productive in the noon, so try that.

Recommended source: How 30 Minutes of Daily “Me Time” Improves Your Productivity

3. They are not afraid of criticism.

I never understood why people get so angry when receiving feedback. They take it very personally when it has nothing to do with them.

I admit I used to be one of them in the past until I realized how much the feedback I’ve received has helped me to become a better version of myself.

There is a difference between rightful judgment and unreasonable judgement.

Highly productive people embrace criticism, they’re willing to listen to people who can come with a better suggestion for them.

Two brains are better than one.

If someone told them how much they are complaining in life, they’d think of something like this:

“Okay, this person is probably telling me something about myself that I need to improve on. It’s time for me to listen, even if I don’t like hearing it. But it may be important for my personal growth in the future.”

Your friend is probably upset at you for being rude to them without being aware of it and it’s important to be empathic when they share their opinion and expression about you. You may do something you can’t see. They see you in a third-person view, and you don’t. You only see yourself in a first-person view. They have a whole viewpoint of you.

How to apply:

• Learn to balance your emotions and rationality.
• Don’t take everything personally.
• Be confident in yourself enough to take feedback with grace.
• Reflect on the feedback you got before bed.
• Realize you are not perfect and still have a lot to learn about yourself.

Recommended source: Taking Constructive Criticism Like a Champ

4. They embrace imperfection.

The best thing a productive person can do is to give them all their best.

To work on a task again and again until it feels completed and there is nothing else to improve on. It’s better to complete the task than to make the task picture perfect.

Nothing is perfect, because honestly, what is perfect?

What makes something perfect?

To you, something or someone is perfect, to other people, it’s not perfect.

People perceive the world differently.

You’ll never be fully satisfied if you want everything to be perfect.

You should not care about perfection, you should care about getting things done. Don’t worry about perfection because it will come later in life when you keep completing your task every day with breaks in between. That’s when you’ve mastered the skill.

Strive to be better, not perfect.

How to apply:

• Accept yourself and the current situation you’re in.
• Do not change something that’s unchangeable.
• Find at least one thing you like about yourself and cherish it every day.
• Don’t change who you are too much or you will lose yourself.
• Find one beauty in another flawed person’s personality.

Recommended source: How to Overcome Perfectionism

5. They love trying something new.

Fearful are scared of trying new things and refuse to take the risk. Productive people are not afraid of experimenting with something new and leave their comfort zone. This could be you.

New experiences can always teach you something valuable.

You love taking risks and try new ways to see if they work. The courage is instilled in you. You want to see if you’ve found your new hobby.

Someone’s strategy may sound skeptical to you, but you are not afraid of giving it a try to see if it works. It’s better to feel failure than feel regret.

Children are more curious to learn something new, this is why they ask questions such as “What’s this?” but we forget our curiosity once we become grown-ups.

“Study the great, and become greater.” — Michael Jackson.

It’s better to ask dumb questions than to pretend you know everything.

You ask “dumb” questions because you want to know better and be more educated on various subjects.

You don’t care about bullies laughing at you for asking such questions. I remember teachers in my school year saying “There is no such thing as a dumb question.”

You are never too old to learn new things.

How to apply:

• Ask questions, even if it feels silly to you.
• Do not hesitate to ask questions.
• Stop giving a damn if people laugh at you for asking questions.
• Learn a new skill once per week.

Recommended source: Why You Should Try New Things

6. They have a morning routine.

A good morning routine consists of journaling, praying, exercising, clean up, or listen to an audiobook before starting your day.

These are some of the examples, but you can do anything in the morning that makes you productive or give you a good feeling.

When you feel good, you’re healing.

It’s important to eat breakfast in the morning before starting your day. You’re more easily irritated at everyone when you haven’t eaten anything in the morning. You get more grumpy. Food can make you happy. It’s weird but it’s true.

Exercising or practicing yoga briefly before work can make you more energized and engaged in your work. You have more energy for the rest of the day. You feel more alive. Coffee is a lifesaver. Seriously. It’s my backup plan if I wake up still tired and have work to do. It’s your instant energy booster.

Journal your life. Write your life story in the way you want. Act as if you’re already living that life by writing about how blessed your life is right now and how you’ve been employed to your dream career, even if you don’t have that right now. Imagination is powerful.

Find out what works for you in the morning before work and be consistent with it.

How to apply:

• Write ten things you’re grateful for in the morning.
• Eat your favorite breakfast in the morning with a cup of tea/coffee.
• Take a cold shower to beat procrastination and boost your energy.
• Be aware of your first thoughts in the morning, are they negative or positive?
• Meditate for at least 10 minutes with a quiet mind.

Recommended source: 10 Science-Backed Benefits of a Morning Routine

The final thought:

Whatever task you have, do it because it’s your passion.

What you’ve gained from this piece of article is that you know better. You’ve gained new information.

Delayed gratification is more rewarding than quick gratification. That’s why people say “Hard work pays off.”

Quick gratification teaches you nothing about hard work and consistency. Those who get it, are mainly spoiled and lazy people, but they don’t learn the valuable lesson behind it.

You don’t have to create something to be productive. You might as well just listen to audiobooks all day and that’s being productive. You’re learning and gaining information that’ll help to improve your lifestyle. It makes you smarter. You know more every day.

You do have a gift to create something meaningful that’ll make your or other people’s lives easier. All you have to do is acknowledge it and do something about it.

Being productive gives you a purpose in life.