2022 is right around the corner. These 5 tips will help you take on the new year with the confidence and structure to have the best year possible.
Photo by cotton-bro on Pexels.com
1- Stop Multitasking – The old thought process was, if I can do multiple projects or work on several tasks at the same time, productivity would increase and I would get more completed during the day. This is NOT the case. According to Harvard, business review our productivity goes down by as much as 40%.
No one multitasks, they switch tasks. The bottom line is you start multiple projects or tasks, but never get them completed as you are bouncing around trying to work on multiple processes. Stop the myth of multitasking.
Prioritize your project and tasks and tackle them one at a time, with all of your energy and focus. You will get things done quicker, without error and you will realize that you get more things taken care of during your day.
2- Wake up Earlier – For some folks, this is a tough thing to pull off. Most people value sleep more than a lot of things in their lives. The good news is once you get in the habit of waking up earlier the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Stop hitting that dreaded snooze button. Get up and get at it.
Waking up earlier allows for your body to wake up without being jolted to a start. Think about how you rush around, trying to get your day started because you hit that darn snooze button 3 or 4 times. If you wake up earlier, your body gets adjusted, while keeping your stress levels low.
It allows you to control the morning. This will help you be more upbeat during the day. Give it a try.
3- Eat the FROG! – It is proven that we are at our best early in the day. We have all had those things hanging over us that made us feel apprehensive or uncomfortable. Maybe it is a hard conversation with a peer or customer. It could be a that hard phone conversation, explaining that you made a mistake and that it will result in the customer missing a project deadline. We all work hard to avoid these situations, however, we all know they will still occur from time to time.
Take on the hardest task first and knock it out. Then repeat. You will realize that once these are completed, you will not have that dark cloud hanging over you for the rest of the day. It frees up your time and sets you up to win!
“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day. Mark Twain
4- Find an accountability partner – Accountability helps keep one on track to complete certain goals or tasks, while also setting yourself up to do the things that you say you are going to do!
Accountability partners can keep you motivated and create an energy that will help you take on even the toughest of tasks. They can be your sounding board, offering advice from a neutral standpoint. One of the greatest perks is they can remind you of your goals and keep you on the right course to be successful.
One key point to having a positive accountability partner (AP) relationship, is looking in the mirror and not taking what your AP says as a negative. They are there to help you achieve greatness. This only works if you allow yourself to listen and grow from the feedback.
5- Capture your to-dos as they come in – One of the biggest mistakes we make is not capturing things that need our attention. This is something that is overlooked by most of us daily. It does not matter how you capture the information, using your phone, using a journal, or writing it down on a sticky note, the main thing is to CAPTURE it so it does not get away and we do not miss out on a project or tasks that need to be completed.
Think about it. How many times have you taken a phone call, read an email, or had a conversation that required you to take action and you simply forgot because you did not capture it? You thought you could remember it. Take the chance out of it. Capture the task.
Bonus Tip
Building Routines – The single biggest advantage of building routines is the fact that you will never be surprised! That is right. If you have routines in place you know what to expect. Think about how knowing what is next could help with your stress level each day.
Some folks like the thought of having routines in place while others can’t imagine being under the guidelines of a predictable schedule. During times of stress, however, having a solid routine will help you feel more in control.
The key is to add structure to your day by utilizing routines so that you feel more in control while lowering stress levels and being as productive as possible. Find out a routine that works best for you and stick with it. You will feel better, be more productive and increase your free time so that you can enjoy the life that you want to live.