These 3 Things Allow Me To Be Extremely Productive Every Day
If you implement them into your routine, you’re going to start seeing incredible results.
People suck at imagining their future selves.
Research says when we picture our future self, the brain regions that become activated are similar to the ones activated when we think about strangers.
Hal Hershfield, social psychologist says,
“When people think of themselves in the future, it feels to them like they are seeing a different person entirely, like a stranger on the street.”
This is probably why most people make irresponsible and unproductive decisions in the moment — they don’t take into consideration how it’ll actually affect them the following day, or later on in the future.
However, this particular strategy of envisioning my future self is the #1 thing that has allowed me to completely change my life around and start making the right choices to fulfill the goals I set for myself and live a life of purpose.
A few years ago, you’d catch me partying at a club every weekend, drunk on tequila, probably not even knowing what day of the week it was. I jumped around from job to job, with no passion for the work I did, and little to no understanding of who I was meant to be.
Now, I’m a full-time content creator who actually gets paid for doing what I love on a daily basis, and my goal every single day is to improve, grow my business and create a better life for myself and my family.
If you’re interested in changing your life and you’re curious about what I do to be productive and get things done that genuinely benefit me, read on for some helpful and applicable tips.
My mornings are centered around myself and my most important tasks of the day.
I wake up every morning between 5–6 am because it allows me to not only get a head start on essentially everyone in the city, but it also allows me to fit way more things into my day.
I make coffee and listen to an audiobook or some light music. The coffee aroma fills the entire house. It’s my ritual every morning.
Once I have some coffee in me, I catch up on everything that happened overnight online.
I always have a game plan because the night before, I jot down 2–3 tasks to work on so I don’t waste too much time agonizing over what to start with. Writing is the most important thing to me, so I start with that after reading.
After I get a good chunk of work done, I go workout.
The first few hours of every single day are mine. I do my favorite things. I drink my favorite beverage. I read from my favorite authors. This allows me to feel satisfied and fulfilled, enabling me to feel 10x more energized about the day and what it has to bring.
I’m able to bring forth my best self when I start the day by filling my cup.
How you can implement this:
Whether you’re a morning person or not, try getting up an early or two earlier and do something purely for yourself. Whether that be reading, journaling, taking a walk, going for a workout — whatever makes you feel good.
I always feel more productive throughout the day when I get the opportunity to spend some quality time with myself, which is why I choose the mornings to be centered around myself — with no socials, no texting, no calls, etc.
Remember, getting up earlier allows you to get a head start on most people. While they’re waking up, you’re finishing up.
I have mental decluttering sessions.
We all have thoughts and opinions we often keep to ourselves out of fear of being judged or looked down on.
I feel like I have so many thoughts in my mind that it’s overwhelming. And sometimes — I just want to pour all of my thoughts out, but not exactly to have someone respond to them. I just want to get them out of my mind, which is why I have mental decluttering sessions almost every morning.
I pull my journal out and brain dump everything.
How I’m feeling, what’s been going on in my life lately, thoughts I have on things going on in the world, opinions I formulated over dinner with friends that I didn’t want to voice. You name it. I write it.
This allows me to approach my work with clarity. I don’t have anything weighing me down; I feel like a messy whiteboard that’s been wiped clean.
I don’t go about my day thinking about 7 billion other things because I took that time to journal my feelings out, and sometimes this even helps me come up with fantastic content ideas — like this exact piece I’m currently writing now.
How you can implement this:
Do you ever have thoughts you don’t really want to share with anyone? Whether it be out of fear or simply because they’re your own private thoughts.
Grab your journal, turn on some low background music and dump everything out on that paper. Don’t filter yourself. Allow yourself to be as raw as possible.
Consider it a venting session or a very cheap therapy. Nobody is going to read it. Your coworker won’t know you called them an idiot. Your boss won’t see how much you hate your job and how you want to quit every day you walk in through the days.
You have no idea how much more productive you’ll be once you get your thoughts and ideas out.
I set ultra-specific goals.
I set daily, weekly, and monthly goals for myself. My planner is covered with notes to myself and random thoughts I jot down during my work sessions.
My main goal is to make writing and video-creation my career and not have to rely on contract or any freelancing work, which means every single day, I have a certain quota to hit.
This might be writing a specific amount of pieces, or editing videos, or filming in general. Whatever it might be, I try and get as specific as possible, which allows me to put all of my time and energy into that.
By setting ultra-specific goals, I have little to no time — or energy to do things that don’t align with my main goals. I don’t think about posting on Instagram or scrolling through TikTok because I know what has to be done that day, and until I complete those things, I don’t do anything else.
How you can implement this:
What is your main goal in life? Once you identify that, figure out the necessary steps you need to take in order to achieve it.
For example, I want to be a published fiction writer. For me, this means I need to grow my audience and write — a lot.
By growing my audience, it’ll be easier to sell books. By writing a lot, it’ll be easier for me to pitch myself and provide a good and valuable piece of work one day.
Be specific. I can’t emphasize this enough. By being specific you’ll always know exactly what you’re doing and what you’re working towards.
The great thing about the tips mentioned above is that they benefit your future self as much as they benefit your current self.
Giving yourself the ability to envelop yourself in your mornings and focus primarily on yourself and your wellbeing gives you the mental energy to move forward with the day and bring forth your best self.
You can’t pour from an empty cup, which is why it’s imperative to have quality time with yourself first thing.
Giving yourself mental decluttering sessions allows you to have more clarity on what you’re working on and the value you’re going to provide.
And finally, setting ultra-specific goals will keep you on the right path and prevent you from getting distracted and doing things that don’t align with the bigger picture.
