12 Habits of
Highly Productive People!
Some people know how to get most things done. When you are still contemplating pouring yourself a second cup of joe, this tribe of super-achievers has already hit their morning jog track, checked every message in their inbox, and gone through the rough draft of the report slated for next week.
But how do they manage to do so much so quickly? After all, nobody starts out being super productive.
The best part is that you can do it too. High-octane performance starts with a typical mindset that propels the things you do in a day. Once you develop that mindset, specific behavioural traits will follow that eventually translate into action.
The bottom line: Everybody can perform optimally if they know and imbibe in them these 12 habits stated below.
Highly Productive People:
1. Review what worked for them
Super-achievers don’t merely act on intuition. They absorb relevant information and build on processes and strategies that have reaped results in the past. That’s precisely why you should not set yourself targets or goals without factoring in past and current scenarios.
2. Identify what didn’t work
A hallmark of productive people is they evaluate, adapt, and evolve. Besides identifying areas that had worked for them previously, they also take stock of situations and processes that failed to drive them home in the past.
You should single out the negatives and acknowledge past mistakes; only then will you be able to come up with practical solutions and beat the odds.
3. Plan
Failing to plan is planning to fail. Basis what worked and what didn’t, productive people plan to chart out a future course of action. Planning, when pursued smartly, helps people realise that they can influence their future.
Without a proper plan in place, you will soon realize that your ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.
4. Foresee obstacles and take pre-emptive action
Super productive people know that impediments are almost inevitable. However, what sets them apart from their unproductive counterparts is their willingness and ability to apprehend potential glitches and develop proactive strategies to tackle them.
5. Journal crucial things on paper
The human mind is a strange beast. Only when is it focused and clutter-free can it function optimally. That is why highly productive people write down the vital details so they can go over them, reorganise their thoughts, and think through their viability.
6. Prioritise smart
Despite a ready mind and nimble feet, highly productive people have roles and responsibilities, many times over, as compared to their average peers. They know better than to treat every task with the same degree of urgency (requiring swift action) and importance (how relevant is a task in the larger scheme of things).
This clan knows how to prioritize tasks and streamline attention on only the ones that would yield significant value. This can translate to exercising the 80/20 principle or abiding by the Eisenhower Matrix.
7. Don’t multitask
Multitasking, as revered as it might be, isn’t something that super-productive people practice. That’s because they know their time, energy, and financial resources are limited; and hence, should not be divided among tasks lower down in the pecking order.
8. Respect their boundaries
High-yielding people know how to demarcate boundaries when it comes to investing their time and attention to tasks. They don’t take up non-urgent work, for they don’t like to rally behind a pre-set schedule. More importantly, they respect their physical and emotional limits and actively practice work-life balance.
9. Automate and delegate
Highly productive people don’t attend to work that isn’t the wisest use of their efforts and time. That’s because they know and respect their strengths and weaknesses, something that lends them the good judgement of automating or delegating specific tasks.
They use workflow charts, blueprints, and templates in a bid to get things done fast. Thanks to their already-optimised systems and a highly competent team that functions better as a cohesive unit, people who perform consistently realise the power of synergy; 1+1 is indeed =3.
10. Ask all the relevant questions
The questions one asks are often the differentiators between success and ambling along the way. Know the difference between:
– “What should I do?” vs. “What needs to be done?”
– “What are the features of this service/tool?” vs. “What are the benefits that I get from this service/tool?”
– “What are the products that I can sell?” vs. “What is my customers’ pain point that I can address?”
– “How can I elaborate?” vs. “How can I add value?”
11. Develop keystone habits
No matter you are a business owner, freelancer, or an athlete, it is not about the special yet rare performance that you put up. Instead, it is about doing things and exhibiting positive trends progressively.
After all, consistency is what makes you stand out from the crowd. In life, this translates to developing fundamental habits, including exercising, reviewing, planning, and following-up.
12. Are committed to continuous development and improvement
The ability to improvise and push forward is the differentiator between highly productive and unproductive people. Should you wish to become faster and more efficient, you must evaluate yourself, hire mentors, enrol in relevant courses, and pursue activities that help to lend you the sheen and edge over your competitors.
In conclusion
The trick is to turn these 12 activities into habits. Work on yourself, start from the inside out, and you will be a more productive version than what you are right now.
