Secrets Of Highly Productive People.
Learn what the ultra-successful people do to be successful so that you can emulate their habits to be successful yourself
As you enter the world to start your livelihood, you will meet a handful of people who are more successful in their work life than the rest. They are highly efficient in what they do yet always seem to be in control of the situation. They never seem to be overwhelmed with the work. How do they do it? What is the secret of getting things done effortlessly and becoming successful?
Read on to learn what the ultra-successful people do to be successful so that you can emulate their habits to be successful yourself.
They Delegate:
Delegation is an art that no university or management course teaches you. You have to learn it the hard way, and with regular and conscious practice, you can perfect the art.
Consider yourself as the captain of a cricket team. If you are a good batter, you will no doubt stick to batting, as this is your strength. For functions like balling, you will delegate to someone more competent than you are in balling.
It is the same with all the functions you are to perform in your workplace. You need not perform all the components of a job yourself. Keep those jobs for yourself that you are good at and delegate the others to those more competent than you are.
They Protect Their Flow:
It is now no secret that social media is a time killer. It is a distraction at work. Social media tends to hook us, line and stinker before we understand what is happening. Constructive and successful people know how to avoid social media during work hours. They designate a specific time of day when they would never engage in social media activities.
If you want to get things done, avoid social media like it is the plague. That includes answering phone calls, checking e-mails, etc. Schedule a specific time during the day to check your e-mails or other communication apps and respond to them. If you can get out of the habit of checking on your phone's social media apps now and then, your work and professional life will improve beyond expectations.
They Are Compulsive Note Takers:
We all know that machines are becoming smarter every day, and we can distinguish ourselves by utilising our minds. To use our minds in the right way, we have to keep our minds from unnecessary clutter. Our brains take up lots of space to store and remember trivial things. Our minds get cluttered, and we lose the ability to think clearly and critically.
Most successful people inculcate the habit of taking notes instead of trying to remember everything. They keep their mind cutter-free to think creatively and critically.
So, inculcate the habit of taking notes of important things and keep your mind clutter-free. Keeping your mind free will help you to think clearly, critically and creatively.
They Follow The 80/20 Rule:
You will be surprised that the 80/20 rule works in every situation. This rule means that 80% of the things in life are minor or insignificant, and 20% are major or significant. We are, most often, overwhelmed with 80% of minor issues, neglecting the 20% most vital to us. Successful people know how to identify the most dominant issues that fall in the 20% group and concentrate on them.
So, it would help if you learned to identify the principal issues in your life and make a difference by acting accordingly.
They Prioritise:
In a typical workday, you have to complete a series of tasks. Not all are as vital as the other. Some tasks would take a long time, while most would not. Productive people complete those first, which does not take long to finish. This way, they clear the clutter and concentrate on things that matter.
Hence, complete the less time-consuming tasks first and then tackle those which will take a long time to complete. This process will help you to tick off more jobs as the day progresses.
They End The Work Day On Time:
This point is a continuation of the previous point. Setting priorities is vital. Hence, when to call it a day from work is also cardinal. Productive people prioritise their personal lives. One cannot continue to deliver high performance by ignoring private life. They set a fixed time to end the day guilt-free.
Hence, prioritise your personal life and learn to break your day guilt-free.
They Learn From Their Mistake:
As the philosophers say, learning from one's mistakes is the best way to learn. It may be so, but it is better said than done. We all make mistakes, most often, more than once. But, very seldom do we choose to learn from them. Learning from one's mistakes is not everyone's cup of tea. It first requires one to accept that he had made a mistake. For most, acknowledging that one has committed a mistake is hard. Most often, most of us live in denial.
But, to succeed in the long run, one must learn to recognise one's mistakes. The most successful people learn from their mistakes so that they never make the same errors again.
So early on, learn to recognise and acknowledge your mistakes and ensure that you never repeat the same.
They Focus On Energy, Not On Time:
All living beings on Earth have the same time - 24 hours a day. As humans, we perceive time differently depending on the situation in our lives. So, successful people focus not on time but on the energy they put into completing an assignment to get the maximum done in a specific period.
So, learn to focus to maximise your energy and not on time. Maximise your energy with proper and nutritious food, adequate sleep, good physical fitness, and, not to forget, breaks from monotony throughout the day.
They Avoid Meetings At All Costs:
One of the strangest fallacies in the corporate world is the belief that meetings accomplish organisational goals. In reality, it seldom does. The highly successful people know that. The more meetings, the less things get done. Hence, successful people avoid meetings and prefer to spend more time on constructive work. If the meeting is necessary, they keep it as short as possible. To avoid lengthy meetings, they even conclude meetings standing up.
So, avoid meetings unless necessary. Remember, attending gatherings is not an acceptable excuse if your assignments remain incomplete on time.
They Focus On Minutes, Not On Hours:
An English proverb says, 'Take care of your pennies, and the pound will take care of itself.' The proverb means that if you can take care of small things, the big things will take care of themselves. Knowing this, successful people learn to take care of how they spend their minutes so that their hours are spent right.
So, please be careful about how you spend your minutes during the day. There are 1440 minutes every day. So, it would help if you learned to use them carefully.
They Say ‘No’ To Almost Everything:
As humans, we all have limitations—limitations of time and ability being the most common. Every time you say 'Yes' to something, you say 'No' to something else. Hence, all successful people keep their priorities in mind and say 'Yes' only when it helps them achieve their priorities. So they say 'No' more often to things not aligned with their priorities.
Hence, be mindful of your priorities before you say 'Yes' to anything. You cannot make everyone happy. Saying 'Yes' when you should say 'No' is a sure way towards disaster. So, be prepared to say ‘No’ more often to succeed.
They Use The First Two Hours Wisely:
The first two hours at work are the most vital. Successful people use the first two hours at work most wisely to kick start the day at a successful tempo.
Figure out what is important and work on this in the first two hours each morning. Regular good practice will help you go far in your career.
They Have Consistent Morning Rituals:
If every morning after waking up, you are undecided about what to do, you will take a long time to start your day. In the same way, once you reach your place of work, if you remain undecided on what you should do, you will waste a lot of time. To avoid this pitfall, most successful people maintain a fixed morning ritual. In this way, they need not dwell on what they should do once they arrive at work.
So, start your morning ritual according to your work suitability, to achieve the maximum.
They Deliberately Embrace Imperfections:
There is nothing called perfection in the real world. Successful people focus on progress and not on perfection. Successful people know that and deliberately embrace imperfection by focusing on progression. These help avoid procrastination and stress.
So, never mind if you are not perfect. Keep your focus on progress.
They Switch Between The Tasks To Preserve Energy:
Sometimes, work can be repetitive and, hence, very taxing. Continuously doing the same task for a long time can be monotonous. Successful people deliberately switch between tasks to keep away their monotony, thereby enhancing efficiency.
Learn to adopt this habit early in your career to reduce mental fatigue and become more effective at work.
They Refocus Their Priorities More Than Once A week:
When amid so many things, losing focus is very easy and, hence, very common. Losing focus is the most debilitating ailment to success. Successful people do not let their goals and objectives out of their sight. They focus and, if required, refocus regularly on their goals.
Look at your goals and objectives regularly and ensure that you are making progress. Do not hesitate to change things if you are dissatisfied with your progress.