10 Top Tips To Reach Your Productivity Goals

 Have you ever started something and quit halfway? One of the most difficult parts of doing tasks is completing them. This is also true when it comes to time management and productivity goals.

     Writing down your goals was the easy part. Applying your new, ideal schedule can feel impossible, especially when things don’t go your way (traffic, long lines at the post office or airport, meeting cancellations - the list is endless!).

Here's how to gain momentum by keeping your productivity levels consistent.

1. "No" is one of your most powerful time management tools.
2. Organize your schedule so that you have at least one hour a day to focus on the tasks that need uninterrupted "red" time. During this hour, don’t take any interruptions.
3. Beware of majoring in minor things.
4. Develop a "Do it NOW" attitude.
5. Are you a last-minuter, often arriving stressed and flustered at your destination? Don’t do the "one last thing."
6. In order to go faster, first you must go slower.
7. Always look for ways to shorten and improve each activity. Develop a "continuous improvement" mindset.
8. Anything lying around is a symptom of a decision not made or an action not completed!
9. Once you develop a proactive focus in all areas of your life, your success will escalate.
10. Effective proactive prioritising is the major time challenge for most people - and yet so simple. The hard part is the discipline of staying with the current "main thing." For help on this, check out our online planning and prioritizing course.

**Four Bonus Tips**

1. Become "forward focused," anticipate deadlines, and act before they arrive. Also, constantly seek better ways to do things. Not only will you remove a vast amount of stress, but you’ll also feel much more in control of events.
2. Eliminate clutter – in all areas of your life. Messy desk, office, house, bedroom, garage, car – it doesn’t matter what it is. When things lie around, your subconscious has to work harder to ignore the "mind traffic" distractions. You become slower and less effective. Do yourself a favor – clear up as you go. The feeling of freedom is its own reward.
3. Some people are naturally punctual; others struggle. It’s all to do with the way we process time. The strugglers who try and squeeze in yet another task as they head out the door almost always get an intuitive nudge not to do it but push that thought away.
4. Lastly, don’t get discouraged. New tasks and better ways to do things take time to learn and internalize. Expect to be a little slower at first; take time to learn the best methods you can. The initial slowness is rapidly recouped, with huge long-term benefits.