Diligent Productivity

Our lives are like a puzzle made up of pieces from our past. But the exciting thing is we are creating new pieces everyday. Our future can be shaped by what we decide to produce daily. Being productive is using our abilities to generate, create, enhance, or bring to life our goals. So each day our focus must be on producing something that's bigger than who we are today. I like the way Leo Rosten put it, he said, "The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to really matter, to be productive, to be useful, to make a difference in the world because we have lived."

3 - Tips to Productivity

1. Prioritize - Productivity is the result of intelligent planning and progressing towards our goals – not just doing more but doing the right things with the right amount of effort. We all have possibly tried to do more without getting closer to our goals. When this happens we might be experiencing a glitch in our schedules, which requires us to revaluate our priorities.

Take 15 to 20 minutes at the beginning of each week to plan your week. Then take five minutes to organize each day by - defining the top three priorities with the length of time you want to spend on them. This is not a time to be flexible. Minimize your distractions by staying away from the things that lure you away. Be disciplined about producing your goals. Demand yourself to reach a certain spot everyday. Remember, continuous baby steps in the right direction will get you to your goal in the long run.

2. Routine - Let's face it, we are creatures of habit. We can carry out tasks faster when we don't have to "think" about it. To be more productive we should work to assigning days of the week for certain things. Not everyone can control the bulk of their schedules, but with the time we do control we should apply structure or a routine. This helps us produce more.

Create your ideal schedule with the time you control. Make time slots for specific projects and tasks. Your productivity is based on how much time and energy you put into it. It can help to have an app on your phone or notebook to log the time and tasks you've worked on. You may find lots of wasted time. Correct this with implementing a routine that breads accomplishing your goals.

3. Magnify -  The Pareto Principle brings to life the 80/20 rule, that is 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of effort. How diverse are we? Are we spreading ourselves too thin by trying to do too much? If we narrow our focus, confine our time, direct our energy and channel our efforts to the areas that we do well (20%) we could be more productive.

Look at everything you are involved in. What can be cut to spend more time in the areas that project you towards your goal? A laser is not powerful because it harnesses all the light but because it takes a little light and magnifies it to be powerful. Magnify what you do well and your production will increase.

Summary – It is said, that a life without a plan is a life planning to fail. You can't be productive without having a plan, making the plan a habit and putting your time and energy into the right areas. Start thinking today about you goals and daily producing what it takes to get there. Think productive! Be productive! Accomplish your goals for your life!

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