Boost Your Productivity and Crush Your Goals

If you’re struggling with getting (or staying) productive, you’re in the right place!

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If you are looking for a sign to get out of bed, take a shower, walk outside, or a simple reminder that you are important: Here it is! This is your sign!

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*This post contains affiliate links. I do receive a small commission if you purchase a product using my link, with no addition cost to you! I promise that Becoming the Best Self will never promote anything that has not been used, fully looked into, or that we do not fully support!*

Prioritizing Your Productivity

Okay, let’s be real here. If you’re anything like me, procrastination is like that one toxic friend. You try and try to get out of the relationship, but somehow- it keeps popping back up and causing huge inconveniences.  You even know that there’s nothing you can gain from procrastinating, but yet, you do.

So, here’s your sign:

End that relationship. Stop letting your goals slip by you.

It’s time.

What if I told you the only things standing in between you and your dreams is your productivity?

*Jess. I’m productive. And, there are way more things standing between me and my dreams.”

Okay, but be honest. Are there really? Here are a few things to think about:

If you’re held back because of money, are you being productive in finding (and working) ways of gaining income?

Maybe not having enough time to start working towards your goals is what’s stopping you. Therefore, are you being productive in prioritizing your time?

You may not ‘know the right people’. Are you productively networking?

Ah, to my point- you can crush your goals if you get productive!

What better way to become your  best self than by starting to go for your dreams?! The sky really is the limit, my dudes.

In true Becoming the Best Self form, we’re going to first look at what it means to be productive! Then, we’ll go through 11 tips to boost your productivity and help you crush your goals! Let’s get started!

 

What is productivity?

We know that before we start learning how to get better at anything, we must first learn exactly what that ‘thing’ is! What really is productivity?

Well, defined for a business, productivity is the effectiveness of productive effort as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input.

But, we’re humans. So, let’s look at a definition in regards to people! For us, it is seemingly the same thing, but in simpler terms. Productivity is the act of having the quality or power of producing and yielding results, benefits, or profits.

That was a pretty easy definition, but you know I like to break things down even further:

Productivity, for you and me, is just the amount of things we get done well, in a timely manner. We can measure our productivity by looking at just that: what we do on a regular basis and if it is benefitting or hindering us.

If you know that every day, you finish what needed to be done and you’re a little closer to your goals, you probably are a pretty productive person! I encourage you to leave some of your own tips in the comments for all of us to check out!

But, if you find yourself at night thinking about all the things you should have gotten done throughout your day (I do), maybe you need a little productivity boost! So, if you’re slightly like me, this post is especially for you!

 

It’s time to boost our productivity and crush our goals!

Before we get started, I want to show you a productivity course you can take if you’re looking for an infinite amount of information to supercharge your productivity! I’m going to go into the details of this course later, but you may be interested now! So, if you’re looking for a super helpful course to manage, boost, and view your productivity, I highly recommend this one! You can use my affiliate link for The Ultimate Productivity Bundle 2020 to get 68 products for less than $1 each! (This course is worth $2743.08, guys.)

I’ll talk more about this course at the end of this post, but for now, let’s focus on tips!

We’re going to look at 11 tips we can implement into our routines to help us boost our productivity and crush our goals! I’m ready for success, are you?

1. Analyze what tasks are, and aren’t, important

Have you ever felt like you are constantly going, going, going, but you’re never actually getting anything done? That’s probably because you aren’t prioritizing the right tasks!

Some people choose to analyze the tasks they need to complete by the week or the day. Personally, I do both.

I start by looking at what needs to be done that week and then breaking it up into certain days. Once each day comes, I look over what I need to do, and make note of what order I should proceed with doing my tasks in, by using the Eisenhower box.

The grey-box picture (either beside or above this text, depending on how you’re viewing this post) is a tool called the ‘Eisenhower Matrix‘. It was created by Dwight Eisenhower to help determine what you should, or shouldn’t, be focusing on to stay productive!

As you can see, it breaks down into four different sections. This is how you’ll learn what you should do, schedule, delegate, or delete.

1. Urgent and Important Tasks

   • Your urgent and important tasks are the ones that have set deadlines and there may be consequences if you don’t finish them. These are the things you need to first focus on and do right now. If it helps push you towards your final goal(s), and the opportunity could expire, just go ahead and do it!  #heresyoursign
     • Some examples could be finishing class papers, writing your blog post, finishing an email response, etc.

2. Not Urgent, but Important Tasks

   • If the task isn’t urgent, but is important, schedule that thaaaang! It’s okay to not do something right now, if you know it’s not urgent. Pencil it in on your calendar, and move on (for now). Most likely, you’ll reevaluate these tasks before the scheduled date, and they’ll then become urgent and important tasks in the “do now” section!
     • *Make sure if you are scheduling tasks, you set reminders to complete them. Our downfall does NOT need to be scheduled, important tasks that we forgot about!
     • Some examples could be networking with other people in your field, putting out certain posts, a meeting with your teacher/ boss, etc.

3. Urgent, but Not Important Tasks

   • Urgent, but not important tasks need to be delegated to someone (or something) else. These are tasks that do help you, and do need to get done, but they don’t necessarily have to be done by you. (Enter personal assistant that I can’t afford.) If you don’t have someone you can hand these tasks too, look into scheduling and assistant apps and websites! Although there are MANY to choose from, two that I use regularly are Tailwind and Convertkit.
     • Tailwind is an app that can schedule and post to your Pinterest or Instagram platforms.
     • Convertkit can help your emails by sending out automatic sequences to your email lists!
     • Some examples could be publishing blog posts, mass emails, meal prepping, etc.

4. Not Urgent and Not Important Tasks

   • If “not urgent and not important” doesn’t tell you enough, let me: delete those tasks. Yes, some of these things may be good in small amounts to help you wind down. But if you think of them as ‘tasks’, they’ll most likely just distract you. The things that aren’t important or urgent most likely provide no benefit to you in terms of reaching your goals! So, let them go.
     • Some examples could be scrolling through apps, video games, watching Netflix, etc. (I’m not saying you can never do these things, just do them when you have completely free time. Do no add them to your daily lists!)

Once you analyze your tasks in a way that you know is the best way to benefit yourself in the long-run, start going! Proceed with your productivity! Oh, and if you have tasks and you aren’t just where to put them, email or DM me on Instagram! I’ll be glad to talk with you about them! I want you to reach your goals and succeed, probably more than even you do!

 

2. Learn from your mistakes

First of all, never be scared of failing. If you failed, you tried. If you tried, you’re working towards where you want to be and that in itself is more than most people can say!

Also, if you make a mistake, it really does help you! You now know what doesn’t work! Therefore, you’re one step closer to finding out what will work!

Trust me, I know it’s easy to get bummed out when something goes wrong. But, if you use it to your benefit, it could actually catapult you further than it would have if you had gotten it right from the get!

*What? How in the world can I be better failing, than I would have been by succeeding?*

Think about it: After you fail, you want to do it better, right? If you take the time to really dive into what caused your mistake, you’ll be able to not only find resolutions to that problem, but you’ll also find things you want to avoid in the future!

It’s easy to walk past our mistake, move on, and try again. But, if you don’t recognize what went wrong, you’re bound to do it again at some point. If you do look into the problem, it can actually keep you from making the same, or similar, mistakes in the long run!

Believe me when I tell you- mistakes help you grow. And, without learning from them, you’ll never get better.

 

3. Do nothing

Get bored.

I’m talking like when you sit down to eat your lunch, don’t take your phone with you and don’t watch tv. Truly leave yourself bored. Do absolutely nothing. Give yourself absolutely nothing to do. I know this sounds counterproductive, and honestly- it can be.

Now, this tip might not be for everyone, but, being bored can be so… boring. You’ll want to do something! So, if you don’t have something to watch or scroll through, you will literally want to get up and start being productive!

So, I say to you- do nothing. Get bored. Then, let this boost your productivity by making you want to start your work back!

On the flip side, you can also do nothing as a way to recharge your body and mind! Psychology professor Larry Rosen says that by starting work for 15 minutes and then taking a small break (2-3 minutes) can actually help you stay alert while you are trying to be productive! It’s encouraged to start with 15 minute work sessions and continuously build up that increment so that you are steadily working longer to get more accomplished!

Dare I say that doing nothing can help your attention span?!

 

4. Work while you are motivated

Isn’t it safe to say that it’s way easier to start working if you’re already motivated to do so? But, when we sit down and think about things to do, how we’re going to do them, or when we should start, we push these tasks off?

If you find yourself motivated to do something productive, go ahead and start doing it! That way, even if you don’t work for long, you will still have gotten more done than if you had sat around!

You can also use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) if you start to feel stuck! (Here comes psychology, heck yeah!)

The method to CBT in terms of productivity is by doing one small task, followed by a break. Then, do one more small task and one big task! That way, you have done three things that needed to be done, but you’ve also accomplished something that was big!

For cognitive behavioral therapy to work, you need to be proud of all the small things you do as well! It’s easy to get into the mindset of, “ugh. I only did that one big thing. I should’ve done three big things, rather than two small.” We can’t do that, because then we’re actively telling ourselves that our work isn’t important.

It’s easiest to begin working while you’re motivated, but if you’re feeling unmotivated, try using the CBT method!

 

5. Be pessimistic

Okay, disclaimer. Some say I’m pessimistic, but I like to think I’m just a realist.

Things will go wrong. If you understand that, you’ll basically be ahead of the game. By thinking of what could potentially happen, you can plan for these scenarios. Once you plan for things to go south, you’ll be ready to succeed or fail.

For instance, the picture, here. It’s silly. But, what if no one had thought about the potential possibility of running out of toilet paper? Then, boom. They run out. There’s none behind them. Nothing is in the cabinets.

They didn’t plan for this!

Another example: you take an umbrella to the beach on a sunny day. It’s in your bookbag, but as you’re pulling out your towels, your friend spots it.

“Bro, why do you have an umbrella?”

“Umm, idk? If it rains?”

“Why would it rain? It’s sunny.”

“But, there’s always a chance.”

*Outcome 1: It doesn’t rain. You still have an umbrella in your bookbag that you forgot about. Did that hurt you? No. You were just prepared.*

*Outcome 2: It rains. You have an umbrella, but they don’t.*

Who won that? The optimist or the pessimist? OKAY THEN.

I’m telling you- be pessimistic. People might tell you it’s unattractive, but you want to know what? You’ll get the last laugh when they start coming to you for the backup plans and solutions. Shrugs with a smirk.

6. Pay attention to your energy

Listen, just like our phones, we don’t always stay on 100% power. We have to pay attention to our energy levels. Once we burn out, nothing we do will actually be productive.

We don’t need to say much here, because the next 3 tips will be examples of how we can recharge. But, I want to stress the importance of paying attention to our energy!

Do you ever feel completely burnt out? That’s probably because you are. And, that’s not good. That’s especially not good for your productivity!

If you aren’t at your best (mind, body, and soul), you can’t perform at your best. Duh. So, we need you at your best!

If you feel tired, weak, or hungry- those are signs you need to take time to recharge!

 

7. Sleep

*recharging tip 1*

As Sam Kemmis from zapier says,

Did you know that businesses in America lose approximately $63.2 billion per year due to sleep deprivation of their employees?! That’s a heck of a lot of money!

Studies show that sleep has a direct influence to your productivity. The average person does need 6-8 hours of good sleep every night. A small percentage of people need less than 5 hours, while others may need over 9 hours. Therefore, it is safe to say that the quality of sleep overrides the quantity.

So, want to work on better sleep habits?

1. 1. No screens before bed. Don’t scroll through social media. Don’t watch TV or movies in bed. Don’t play video games. Screens put off blue lights. These lights do one of two things. They either stress or excite our brain. In doing so, it obviously wakes us up, rather than puts us to sleep. Ever noticed how you can be dead dog tired, but when you lay down on TikTok, you become more awake and alert? Stop looking at screens right before bed!
   2. No carbs or alcohol before bed. Carbs, although can make you feel sleepy, actually keep you more awake. Now, I know they seems like an oxymoron- makes you sleepy, but keeps you awake? Basically, it makes you physically comfortable and tired, but with the work it takes your body to break these carbs down, you actually are keeping your body awake! So, what’s with the alcohol? Alcohol gets metabolized in your blood as carbs. Therefore, the whole carb cycle activates back up, which leads to a lower quality of rest.
   3. Get in a routine. Start winding down about an hour before bed. This doesn’t mean get ready for tomorrow. You should prepare for your next day before your hour prior to bed. This means put on your pajamas, brush your teeth, and maybe read a few pages in your book. I know some people who set alarms for when they want to begin getting ready for bed, and others just know when it’s time. Either way, make a routine for your evenings that includes an hour wind-down. This will get your mind on a schedule on when to stop!

By implementing one (or all) of these tips, you’re bound to start sleeping better! Once you are well rested, you’ll inevitably become more productive!

8. Eat

*recharging tip 2*

You can use food to recharge! Getting into a healthy nutritional lifestyle can help your energy levels increase, which will what?! Increase your productivity!

If you aren’t used to maintaining a fairly clean diet, I know this can be a hard one to work on! (I say that because this is the one I probably struggle with the most, too!)

Changing your eating habits does not have to happen all at once. It should be a gradual adjustment. I actually discourage you from trying diet trends. (I know you know what I’m talking about- low carb/no carbs, no sugar, fasting, protein shake diet…) While these may work for weight loss, there are two main problems with them:

1. These aren’t healthy. You need food to fuel your body. These trends seemingly teach you not to eat, which is the exact opposite of what you want to be doing.
2. They don’t change your lifestyle. If you want to become healthier, you have to adjust things within your everyday life. This can’t be done by rapidly cutting out something your body is used to.

To begin working on proper nutrition, start with small transitions! Swap out your soda for some flavored water once a day. Instead of grabbing breakfast from a fast food chain, fix some yogurt and fruit the night before. If you’re a snacker, try out some healthy alternatives that can still give you your sugar or crunch fix!

Here are some of my favorite summer snacks to have at the lake, beach, or pool with me:

• Seasoned cucumbers
  • Slice up a cucumber and put it in a container or ziploc bag. Then, add some of your favorite seasonings! The seasonings will give you the desired flavor and your cucumber with give you a fresh taste! You can also add salad dressings! I would do this and let it sit over night, but you can definitely mix it and eat it right after!
• Almonds
  • Okay, you can’t go wrong with almonds! There are also a variety of flavors you can find! My personal favorite are chocolate covered almonds, but those can melt, so be careful! If you are afraid you may have a mess with your dipped almonds, throw them in your cooler!
• Protein Bites
  • These are so simple to make! Mix up peanut butter, dark chocolate chips, honey, chia seeds, and oats! Once you mix it, you can then do little scoops onto some wax paper and then stick them in the fridge! They’re a great snack to grab if you want something sweet! I would also keep these in a cooler if you’re taking them out.
• Protein Shake
  • My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard and they’re like… 😉

Okay, but really. I know I said not to go on a shake diet, but you can still add them in to supplement *one* extra meal! For summer, I like to add vanilla protein into our fruit smoothies! It makes them a little more filling and also helps your protein intake!

• Hummus and peppers
  • If you don’t like hummus- hear me out… have you tried it?! I used to hate even the look of hummus. The texture disgusted me. Then, I tried it with pita bread. GAME CHANGER! Once I realized I did like hummus, I started trying it with other things! My favorite is roasted red pepper hummus with bell pepper slices! 10/10 recommend!

If you start trying to fix up your nutrition, your body will reward you for it! Not only will you feel better overall, you’ll have more energy to be productive!

9. Exercise

*recharging tip 3*

If you’ve followed along with some of our posts for awhile, you’re probably used to me mentioning the importance of moving your body! I fell in love with working out when I was around 16/17 years old. Although I understand not everyone will love it, I do think everyone needs to add exercise into their weekly routines.

Now, I’m not saying you have to go lift weights every single day. What I am saying, though, is that you should find ways to stay active at minimum 4 times a week!

Along with the image posted of a short HIIT workout for you (with no equipment, by the way), there are tons of ways you can exercise without a gym membership! Honestly, you can get moving without even leaving your living room!

You can definitely do that HIIT summer workout in your house, but there are also tons more like that on Pinterest! If you want to get outside, go for a walk! Maybe you have a pool! You can add a couple swim laps between your tanning sessions!

Don’t make this harder than it has to be. Just remember- your body was made to move. So, move it!

 

10. Say no.

As Psychology Today says, if you feel like you should say no: go ahead and say no.

It seems so easy for some people to take on everything. But, in reality, it really does take a toll on that person. If that person is you, this could be why you feel like you aren’t productive in your own life.

I know you may think it’s good to help others. In all actuality, it is good to help others, when you can. But, you need to realize the difference of helping when you can and agreeing to help when you don’t have it in you. There’s a difference between helping others and prioritizing others before yourself.

See, sometimes, you have to be selfish. It’s in your best interest. This is especially true when it comes to your goals. Because here’s the real tea- no one can reach your goals for you.

If you already have a full plate, say no. If you’re tired, say no. If it doesn’t help recharge your energy in some way, say no.

Get this, too. You don’t have to explain the reasoning for your no. First of all, you don’t have to ever explain to anyone why you ever make the choices you make. But, you definitely never have to tell anyone why you say no to something.

(Also, let me note… your real friends… the people who want to see you succeed… they’ll understand the reasoning- or lack thereof- for your no.)

There will be plenty of opportunities for you to say yes, you can say no to some things.

Think about this: you can’t do your best if you’re spread thin doing everyone else’s work. It’s okay to say no.

11. Acknowledge (and track) your progress

I saved this one for last because it’s my personal favorite!

Before going heavier in on this, I want to remind you to always congratulate yourself on your progress! You need to be speaking highly of yourself! Even if you feel down, speak your success into existence!

So, there was a study done to test if productivity levels (in this case, working out) would increase due to a reward. There were 3 groups. Each member of the first group was given a free iPod (during the study) with audiobooks, but they could only listen to it while they were working out. The second group received free audiobooks. The third group, which was the controlled group, was just encouraged to hit the gym.

Out of the three, guess which group performed the highest in terms of working out? I bet you guessed right- the group that got iPods!

Now, you may not be able to afford a new electronic device after every accomplishment (because same #brokegirlstatus), but you can do so many other things to reward yourself!

To start with, make sure you are keeping track of your goals and progress towards reaching them! That way, you can visibly see your growth!

You’ll also want to keep track of rewards that can go with each goal. This gives you something tangible to strive towards!

Here are some examples of what your rewards can be:

• A new course to take (We’re about to go into the details of the Productivity Bundle course!)
• That book you’ve been eyeing
• Business outfit
• Extra Tv/ social media time
• Promotional tool
• New presets
• Going out to eat
• Maybe even just a nap!

The options are endless. They can be big or small. But, you need to be rewarding, and talking highly to, yourself!

 

Going the Extra Mile

I know this has been one of Becoming the Best Self’s longer posts, but I really wanted to give you some beneficial tips to help you become more productive! I hope you can start implementing these 11 tips to help boost your productivity and crush your goals!

*I do receive a small commission from purchases made through affiliate links on this site, at no addition charge to you. This helps run our site!*

As promised, I’m going to take just a few more seconds to give you a little more information on the Productivity Bundle I mentioned at the beginning of this course! If you are ready to go in heavy on reaching your goals and making sure you are being as productive as you can, go ahead and click here to grab your bundle! If you aren’t really sure you would benefit from this, let me tell you what all you actually get!

First of all, let me go ahead and give you the price because I know you don’t want to be hunting around for it!

This bundle is only $67 right now! (You can also add some cheat sheets for only $10 if you choose to!) Now, if that seems like a fairly high amount for you- trust me, I understand. Understand this though: this is originally valued as a  $2,743.08 course! So, you really are getting a steal!

But, Jess, what is actually included in this course?!

Okay, the goodies! The Ultimate Productivity Bundle is 68 full products within one course! Which means you are getting 68 products, bundled into one class!

Broken down, you’ll be getting 10 ebooks, 29 ecourses, 28 printable workbooks and a membership site! But, what’s the most relevant part for us right now?

One of the courses in this bundle is on building routines (which is originally $254 itself)! This provides you with a guide on creating routines that work for you personally, meditation practice to work on your intentions, and a course on changing your habits to improve your health, wealth, and happiness!

Another part of this bundle is focused on setting goals! (These courses are a value of $261 altogether!) This will teach you how to create your own 30 day challenge to reach your goals! It also goes into actually implementing your goals to get results, and making them simple enough to always seem achievable! My personal favorite part of this course is the personal development goal setting blueprint that’s included!

Along with the extra 4 courses that I’m not going to get into in this post, this bundle gives you 10 planner products and an entire course on time management!

Guys, I could talk about this bundle forever because I am in love with the amount of knowledge and helpful products you receive for less than $100! I have paid over $250 for courses with 1/3 of the information this bundle provides! I mean, just the four courses that I mentioned are over $1,000 purchased separately!

So, how are we able to get it for only $67? The creators of each product have came together to bundle each of their courses together! So, instead of each creator selling their class separately for their prices, they’ve bundled their ecourses, ebooks, and printables into this productivity and goal setting bundle which gives you the opportunity to purchase it for a small fraction of its value!

Now, do I think you need to get this bundle to be able to be productive and reach your goals? Absolutely not. There are plenty of free tips and resources you can find. Also, if you have the heart and determination, I truly believe you can accomplish anything!

But, I do think this bundle has some incredible content and can most definitely help push you and teach you! I know, personally, I work harder on things I spend money on. Investing in a program that can help me in the long run is never a loss in my book!

If you still aren’t sure, but want to learn more about what’s included in this bundle, this link will take you to all the information available!  If you do snag it, I would love to hear your feedback! I love hearing about your goals, productivity, and progress! Never hesitate to drop a comment or shoot me an email!

I hope you’re able to benefit from the 11 tips on boosting productivity and crushing your goals that were listed throughout this post! As said earlier, I challenge you to comment a way you stay productive and what you’re doing to reach your goals! Bonus points if you tell us your goal(s)!

As always, share this with anyone you think could gain from this post and even share it to your social media pages to have it saved!

 

I know productivity may not be the most important thing on your mind with everything going on in this world. But, please don’t forget to take care of yourself. Don’t forget your goals and how to reach them.

I love you. I value you. I cherish you.

If you want to chat, or just need someone to talk to, find me on Instagram or send an email.

I’m here.

As always, if you need a sign to take care of yourself: this is it.

Set your goals.

Boost your productivity.

Reward yourself.

Because as we all know:

you are the most vital character in your story!

Related articles:

Prioritizing yourself

What is productivity?

Transform your productivity

The power of no

 

Peace out, girl scouts!

… and always aim to be the best self you can be.