The 7 Habits of Insanely Productive People.
Thinking about being insanely productive brings a sense of dread because how could you be doing more than you currently are?
You’re already battling to create this enchanting work/life harmony everyone speaks about, but you still cannot comprehend how to make it a reality.
Productive people realise it is not about more hours but how to create better hours. Better hours don’t mean filling them to the maximum capacity but being comfortable with doing less but better.
Here are the seven habits of insanely productive people, and by no means is this the comprehensive list but a good starting point if you want to begin to own your days.
Schedule your time.
If you want to be insanely productive, start with the basics. You may know this intellectually, but if I asked you to show me your calendar for the next month, would I get a sense of what is important, what skill you are building, what goal are you working towards and where you are creating space for deep thinking time?
Or is your calendar a sea of online meetings, and your inbox dictates your day? Failing to plan your time results in stress, overwhelm and a reactive mindset, and you will never make your best decisions in this state.
Clarity is what creates outstanding productivity. You can optimise and plan effectively when you see your week in totality and understand where you will spend your time. Don’t wait for the morning of your big meeting to start planning your agenda or what you will say. In the wise words of Bob Carter:
“Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine.”
Insanely productive people know the power of planning and building in time to think and focus on their specific deliverables. Create the habit of time blocking, where you block out chunks of time in your calendar to work on your critical projects.
It is important to remember that even if you have the most perfectly planned week ahead, life happens, and your plan will go out of the window. On these days, take a breath, let go and be as agile as you can to tackle what arrives.
Planning is essential because if your planned slot gets interrupted, you know you have time in the week to make up for it.
Protect your time.
Sadly, it is not enough to plan your time; the key lies in protecting it like a warrior. Let’s say you have blocked out time to work on an upcoming presentation, and in the morning, one of your colleagues asks if you have time to help them with a task.
This is where the truly productive shine – they understand that saying yes means they will be under even more pressure, and once that time goes, it is irretrievable.
Most people think they have a time management problem, but it’s a people-pleasing issue. The fear of letting someone down or disappointing them often overrules their better judgement to keep the slot for themselves.
If it’s a genuine crisis, show up to the team, but this should be an exception, not your usual mode of Operandi.
Can you practice protecting this time by responding – unfortunately, I have a meeting booked; how does Wednesday morning sound? You can also ask about the actual deadline because everything is urgent in your mind, but it is probably due in a few days or the following week.
Insanely productive people value their time and know that when they keep their promises to themselves, they are less stressed, more focused, and better positioned to help others once their work is completed.
Optimise for energy.
Even with the most perfectly planned calendar, you can only perform if you have high levels of energy. Focus on optimising your energy so you can maximise your hours. Energy management means taking regular breaks and recharging throughout the day rather than pushing through and crashing in the afternoon.
It’s going back to basics and doing what you already know you should, but common sense isn’t always that common in times of challenge.
I always smile when people tell me they are too stressed to meditate or exercise, but this is the best investment of their time.
Energy management is not only about a powerful morning routine; your morning should begin the night before. Can you audit your evening routine? What time are you going to sleep? If it’s past 10 pm, question whether this is truly necessary. Are you placing a false work deadline on yourself? Are you getting lost in social media scrolling? If so, how can you interrupt the pattern and prioritise sleep?
Without the energy to perform, you will constantly feel like your days own you. Decide on one thing you can do differently to become a time warrior, not a time worrier.
Manage distractions.
2023 belongs to the most focused. How can you begin to manage the environment of distraction? Some basics include switching off the alerts on your Outlook and social media and muting your personal Whatsapp chats.
You know Pavlov’s Dog, where the dog became conditioned to salivate when it heard the bell ring because he associated it with food. It feels like we have become conditioned with our phone pings and alerts. When we hear the ping, we drop everything and have to check every message immediately.
Considering how many alerts you receive in an hour and if you respond unconsciously to every single one, how much work are you really getting done? The worst part is you become a self-interrupter, never mind everyone else distracting you too.
If you can create the discipline to close your Outlook when working on something important, you will be amazed at how much time you build back into your day. The second part is to shut down the sabotaging self-talk telling you that you have missed something career-altering if you don’t check your mail every five minutes.
The truth is if something is that urgent, they will phone you. Close your mail, and once you have completed your task, it can be your reward for your efforts.
Bring the joy.
Author Brendon Burchard popularised the phrase, bring the joy. Highly productive people manage to create incredible outputs because they bring fun, creativity, joy and passion to their work.
If you arrive at your computer with a sense of dread and fear of being judged or imperfect, what kind of thinking will you bring to the task? Your fear will become so encompassing that you will inevitably procrastinate to avoid feelings of anxiety and discomfort.
The energy you bring to the work is as vital as the time you spend on it, even more so. Decide to bring the joy, even if it intimidates you.
Drop the FOTWM.
Author of Essentialism, Greg Mckeweon, says choosing what to ignore is as important as choosing where to focus. Even if you have blocked out time to work on a given task, there is always self-talk questioning what else you could or should be doing.
I call this having a fear of the wrong moment. It’s this constant mental game you play that the next thing will be better than where you are now, or you’re possibly missing out on something else.
You can’t be invested in a task with this mindset. Decide on what you want to do with your time and focus on nothing else. You can always schedule in blocks of time for the other options, so you know that you will get to them and nothing will be forgotten.
This is especially pertinent when making time for personal commitments like family or friends. If you are with your child or loved one, be fully present and not stress about the work you could be doing. Remember that there is no better moment than the one before you.
Embrace white space.
It sounds counterintuitive to embrace white space in your calendar because the fear is that I am not adding value if I am not busy.
The most productive people know that you bring value to the quality of your thinking. The higher up you go in leadership, your focus has to move from the daily tasks to the next quarter, year, or five years.
To add true value, you must block time to think, strategise and create without interruptions. It is not a waste of time; it is time well invested because it keeps you out of crisis mode. In the Eisenhower Matrix, it is spending time in quadrant two – important but not urgent.
Because this time is not so ‘clickable’ and packed with adrenaline, you may undervalue its importance.
When you see white space in the calendar, embrace it and welcome it rather than stress that you are not doing enough. You know you are being productive when you create it intentionally and protect it so you can spend time on your life’s work, not busy work.
Final thoughts.
Being productive is about owning your days and living by design. It is not the quest for more but bringing your whole self to the task with calm confidence. If you want to boost your productivity, begin to adopt these habits:
Schedule your time
Protect your time
Manage distractions.
Optimise for energy.
Bring the joy.
Drop the FOTWM.
Embrace white space.
When is now the best time to start? Right now. In the words of Harold Hill:
'You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.’
Here’s to owning your days,
Warm wishes
Lori