What You Can Do Every Night To Make A More Productive Tomorrow
We’re used
to living life in segments: 24 hour days, 7 day weeks, 365 day
years. Work, play, sleep. Morning, afternoon, night.
The way we
segment our lives determines the activities that we select to do throughout the
day. To be more productive, try on this new frame of mind. Instead,
imagine life as a continuous flow where each moment follows into the next
in one non-stop sequence from beginning to end. If you’re wondering what you
can do differently to be more productive
tomorrow consider these 7 suggestions.
Be grateful
No matter
where you are in time and how things are going, there is always something to be
grateful for. Find it and give thanks. Write it in your journal or on the notes
app of your phone. If you are hard-pressed, be grateful for your ability to
read this line. Not everyone can read and not everyone can see.
Assess progress towards your long-term goal
It’s easy
to get stuck in the minutiae of execution and lose sight of whether or not
what you’re accomplishing every day really matters. Think about where you want
to be long-term and look at how you spent your time for the day. How much
time was dedicated to activities that will help you move towards your dreams?
If you’re
not satisfied with that number, do something about it. If you have no idea
where you’re spending your time, consider a time-logging app.
Create a list of 3 tasks you’ll finish tomorrow
Now that
you’ve thought about your long-term goals and the associated tasks, create a
list of 3 tasks that you can and want to accomplish tomorrow. Be clear about
when and where you’ll accomplish these 3 tasks. If you use a calendar, make
sure you schedule time on your calendar to work on them. Don’t add any new
tasks until you finish 2 of the 3 on your list.
Visualize a successful tomorrow
For the
most part, you can predict quite accurately what tomorrow will look
like. The meetings you have scheduled, the activities you have
planned and the people you will see. Take time and imagine what a perfect
tomorrow will look like from the moment you wake up until you go back to bed. Watch
yourself accomplishing those 3 tasks that you’ve selected for the day and
include bonus highlights. Maybe you catch your train, impress your
client, or enjoy a great conversation with your good friend. Pick whatever you
want it to achieve and believe.
Remember
that mental rehearsal is not about fantasizing. Choose what the realistic ideal
will look like. You might be surprised at how close you come to what you
rehearse.
Make as many decisions about tomorrow as possible
Choose
what you’ll wear and eat, along with any anything else you need to decide
tomorrow the night before. This will free up your brain and help preserve your
willpower for the more consequential decisions tomorrow. With more brain
capacity and better decision making, you’ll see your productivity and energy
rise.
Write the first two lines
As an
extension to front-loading your decision-making, set yourself up for success by
starting the activity you plan to do tomorrow. If you’re a writer, write
the first two lines of the article you plan to finish tomorrow. If you’re a
parent, put the laundry you plan to wash in the washer. If you’re a
doctor, lay out the files for the first two patients you plan to see. You
get the point.
The
hardest part of completing an activity is the start. If you can get that out of
the way, you’re likelihood to actually finish the task when you decide to
tackle it is high.
Sleep 8+ hours
There is
no better productivity booster than sleep. When you get enough sleep, you can
better focus on your plan for the day because you’ll have more self-control.
Not only will you get more of the right things done, you’ll also notice your
interactions with other people to be easier going. This is hard for those
of you who do a lot. My advice is to see adequate sleep as one of your most important
tasks to accomplish every day. Make it a priority.
What
routines or actions do you take the night before to set yourself up for a
productive tomorrow?
BY ROBERT CHEN
http://www.lifehack.org/300355/what-you-can-every-night-make-more-productive-tomorrow?ref=mail&mtype=goal_reminder&mid=20161103_with_thumbnail&uid=687414&hash=707e797f7e757e6d794c856d747b7b3a6f7b79&action=read_more&goal_id=27&token=d0e3e4b03809d240b52d71f8a6770fa9
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