by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells
For authors, the beginning of a new year is a natural time to reflect on what worked previously and what fresh practices will improve productivity moving forward.
While some personalities are more structured and list-making than others, everyone can establish beneficial habits that serve as guardrails guiding progress on efficient pathways. Effective habits that can be implemented simply include:
Self-care
Maintaining good health is the quickest way to increase productivity.
- Sleep: 7-8 hours nightly
- Solitude: Daily carve moments, monthly a half-day, quarterly a day away. Experience quiet and listen to your heart and the Holy Spirit. When we practice solitude proactively, there is less chance we will need a forced or reactive retreat when stress has built to a level that impacts our health.
- Stillness: What morning routines get your creativity flowing? What evening routines help you close out the day with gratitude and set up the next day for success?
- Sabbath: “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed,” Exodus 23:12 NIV. One day weekly, celebrate the Sabbath by doing what refreshes your soul.
- Move. Daily bend each joint and stretch muscles. Get your heartbeat elevated. Take ten deep breaths.
- Get outdoors. Studies show being outdoors for ten to 20 minutes daily has powerful benefits on our physical, emotional, and mental health. Multiply these benefits by being outdoors near water. Treat yourself to adequate clothing. Encourage getting outdoors by maintaining a bird feeder, planting herbs in an outdoor pot, cultivating a patch of flowers, or walking to the mailbox to exchange letters with a pen pal.
Destination
What goals do you want to accomplish this year? This quarter? This month? This week? Jim Collins of Good to Greatreminds that having more than three goals is to have none.
Break down your one to three goals into simple steps to achieve daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly.
At the close of your workday, record three things you feel grateful about, and list tomorrow’s three steps to move toward accomplishing goals. The next day, do the most important three items first.
Weekly, schedule 15 minutes to review the past week and set priorities for the upcoming week. On a scale of 1 to 5, rate where you are:
- Emotionally
- Financially
- Physically
- Relationally
- Spiritually
- Vocationally
Tracking
Monthly, review the past 30 days. Consider what worked and what didn’t. What goals were accomplished ahead of schedule? Based on results and personal values, is rerouting in order?
What we will not do is as important as what we will. Efficiency studies indicate that 20 percent of what we do produces 80 percent of preferred results. Of the 80 percent that merely keeps you sidetracked from the tasks that bring top results, what can you eliminate from your schedule?
What words and attitudes hold you back? Streamline your life by eliminating complaining, condemning, criticizing, and excuses. After spending too much energy complaining about marketing and managing my website, I’ve changed my words to reflect my ability and eagerness to learn these two highly beneficial skills.
As you shift into habits that nurture productivity, download the free yearly review sheet. This helpful tool can be used anytime to help clarify where you’ve been and where you want to go.
What habits help you be your most creative and productive?
TWEETABLE
This is good information— this is our time PeggySue
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for a creative, productive, and life-giving 2024.
DeleteWonderful tips and things to think about!
ReplyDeleteEliminating the three Cs and E was my life-changing first step. Every good wish for your 2024.
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