1. Not letting perfection make your life miserable

Leo Tolstoy said it perfectly with his statement:

‘If you look for perfection, you will never be content.’

Highly productive people like Tolstoy himself realized that perfection is very difficult to attain. So do not waste your time and energy trying to chase it.

2. Doing a good deed each day

Not forgetting where you came from and keeping in mind what many others have done for you will not only make and keep you humble, but also add a valuable attribute to your personality.

The tremendous amount of pressure the media has created defining success and how you have to outperform others often does not leave any room for social responsibility and time to give back.

Doing something small each day will build character, impress others, and boost your productivity all at the same time. And the best part about it: it does not cost a thing!

3. Recharging your battery

Enough down time and breaks in between intense tasks is essential and crucial to keep up your productivity level.

Highly productive and successful people start their work day with the most important task, then take a break, then go full steam again to tackle the next item on their to do list, then take another longer break. Try this and you will be amazed.

4. Defining your own success

A large bank account and the materialistic things you may have do not define success — you do. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise.

5. Reflecting on failures to grow

Being able to identify a mistake to then reflect on it, learn from it, and not make the same mistake again strengthens your self-confidence and shows responsibility.

The trick productive people use is to remember the things that went wrong and to come up with a plan to avoid, or fix them next time.

6. Accepting criticism

Many people do not like hearing criticism and become defensive the second they are being critiqued about their work. If you ever find yourself in this situation, keep an open mind and embrace criticism and you will notice that you will be happier and more productive.

7. Limiting distractions

It is very easy to get distracted from your important tasks by social media and other electronic communication.

This can quickly consume a large amount of your time you should be spending on something else.

Productive people suggest limiting yourself to only checking social media accounts and other time consuming virtual channels once, or twice a day to reduce distractions.

8. Finishing strong

It does not really matter how many times you tripped, or fell, as long as you stood up again and kept on going.

Errors and mistakes along the way will make you stronger, motivate you and will help you continue to grow and finish strong.