So many of the writers talked about the importance of starting small, if it was learn 1 word a day of a new language, write 1 page, read 1 page, floss 1 tooth etc. This is by far the most effective way to build SUSTAINABLE habits and increase productivity. You start with a very small challenge, I won’t eat junk food for 1 week, then once you crush that goal you say Ok let’s do no junk food for 2 weeks. Eventually you will build great sustainable habits around your nutrition and accomplish your bigger, harrier goals .

One thing I want to mention here as well is the importance of not trying to tackle a variety of challenges across multiple areas of your life at once. The likelihood of getting overwhelmed and giving up is very high. If you are focused on the physical aspect, just focus there, if you are focsued on the professional side of your life, just focus on that challenge.

Eventually the same way you stack on new challenges in a specfic area (no junk food for 2 weeks now) you can start stacking on new challenges in other parts of your life to tackle. Okay, I have a consistent nutrition routine, lets keep that going and put some goals around making some strides in my professional life.

One of the most consistent messages across all of the Top 10 posts is the importance of building a morning routine. The ability to make huge strides around what you deem to be of the upmost importance before 9am truly sets people up for accomplishing more and feeling a lot better about their productivity.

The top rituals to do in the morning were

Working Out Meditating

Journalling Reading

Spending time with Family Reflection/Reviewing your goals

Planning out the day ahead

I can speak for myself and say developing productive morning routines have been the single most impactful change in my life over the last 5 years. At this moment my morning looks like:

5am Wake up 5min Journal Entry

20min Meditation (Headspace) Read 30–45mins

Take a pre-workout shake and walk to the gym Listen to a podcast

1 Hour workout Cold Shower

Write 2 most important things I get done Eat

9am Start Working

This list started with wake up at 5am 3x a week over 4 years ago. Slowly but surely it has grown to what you see above. START SMALL AND THINK BIG.

This was in almost every single post. You have probably heard a million times why exercise is soooooooo important for the body and mind. Well it is. Sooner or later an exercise routine needs to be introduced into your life and when it does you will see amazing enhancements in productivity for all the areas of your life.

What most people in the posts don’t talk about is how does someone that has little to no exercise routine can actually start building this magical productivity tool.

For that answer you need to refer to the last lesson. START SMALL AND STACK ON NEW CHALLENGES. This is the only way anyone can build a sustainable exercise routine. Start with a small goal, do a physical activity 1x per week in the am, and keep challenging yourself only once you have had a solid streak of accomplishing that goal.

Another mistake most make is they think exercise means going to the gym. Listen I am blessed that I love lifting heavy ass weights, that’s what I love, not running or swimming etc. So that’s why it’s easy for me to have a 7x week workout routine and not feel like it’s too difficult. For you, pick a physical activity that you really like doing, bikeriding, basketball, tennis etc. and make your 1x a week goal that activity to start. From there you can continue to try new activities to see which one you fall in love with.

Conclusion

Hopefully these Medium Top 10 posts on productivity provide as much value to you as they have for me. If you want to increase your productivity you now have the tools to TAKE ACTION. IT’S ON YOU!