5 Consistent Habits of Productive High Achievers

“Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.”

— George Horace Lorimer

I can’t be the only one guilty of being a bit of a productivity junkie. Getting homework done quickly, working out right after class, cleaning my room after work, and minimizing distractions have all helped transform my life. Everything I do in advance gives me the one thing that is so limited — time.

“Millennials are less likely than members of other generations to say they get to utilize their strengths in the workplace.” (Gallup)

Nowadays, everyone wants to put out the most content, read the most books, and do the most things. If you want to get more out of life, you’ve got to do more, and in turn, you’ll become more.

1. They Don’t Let Anything Interrupt Their Priorities

“In order to say yes to your priorities, you have to be willing to say no to something else.”

— Jeff Bezos

When it comes to getting anything done in life, you have to leverage your time. Since time isn’t infinite, you’re going to have to pick and choose what matters most to you before starting anything.

When Larry Rosen, Ph.D., talks to people who want to improve their productivity, he zeroes in on the importance of minimizing interruptions. Rosen, professor emeritus of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, goes as far as to suggest that people put up a “do not disturb” sign when they need to focus on a task.

One of the best ways I’ve been able to maximize my productivity is by writing down a daily to-do-list in order of top priority to least priority and putting silencing my phone.

Setting priorities is at the forefront of every productive person. Sacrifices will have to be made since you can’t get to everything you want to do. It’s not humanly possible to be everywhere at once, no matter how hard you try.

We have to take it one task at a time. We must avoid multi-tasking.

2. They Have Great Strategies for Handling Stress

“Stress is not what happens to us. It is our response to what happens. And response is something we can choose.”

— Maureen Killoran

Stress is one of the biggest killers of productivity. How can you accomplish many tasks with precision and efficiency if you’re not in the right state of mind?

The authors–Michael Treadway, Andrew Miller, and Jessica Cooper–say the problem between inflammation and productivity is actually a sophisticated protective mechanism that forces you to cool it.

“When your body is fighting an infection or healing a wound,” Treadway said in a recent statement, “your brain needs a mechanism to recalibrate your motivation to do other things so you don’t use up too much of your energy.

Extremely productive people have implemented methods of relieving their stress when it arises.

Some of the most productive people do what it takes to prevent future Stress as well.

Ways to relieve stress:

• Listen to 8D music with headphones.
• Walk down a path in a local town you haven’t explored yet.
• Call someone from the past and tell them how much you appreciate them.
• Write down 20 things you’re grateful for and share it with someone.
• Bake some cookies and share some with your neighbors

By relieving your Stress, you create headspace to control your actions and the way you conduct your day.

3. They Minimize Distractions

“I hate belongings. I hate clutter. It really bothers me because I can’t think properly. If you’ve got distractions in front of you, your mind goes nuts.”

— Simon Cowell

For some of us, it’s entertainment, and for others, we can’t focus on one thing at a time. Whichever type of distraction you have doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have a way to minimize them at all costs.

If you want to accomplish a task, try not to multitask because you’ll end up working a lot slower than you intended.

Our phones and technology are some of the greatest distractions because we are overly attached to them (myself included). Try putting it to the side and placing it on “Do Not Disturb” until you finish the task at hand.

Productive people accomplish as much as they do because they are disciplined to focus intensely on one thing at a time, leading to doing a quality job in a reasonable amount of time

4. They Get into the State of Flow

“The state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.”

— Mark Zuckerberg

One of my favorite characteristics of productivity is the ability to get into a flow state. If you don’t know what a flow state is, let me explain.

Flow state is the sense of fluidity between your body and mind, where you are totally absorbed by and intensely focused on something beyond the point of distraction.

The University of Chicago psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi discovered the idea.

He surveyed hundreds of people who do different things — from surgeons to farmers and chess players. Everyone he spoke to, regardless of culture, class, gender, age or level of modernization, felt and performed their best when they were experiencing the state he named “flow.” Csikszentmihalyi chose this term because, when interviewing research subjects, “flow” was the word that kept popping up.

If you’ve ever worked on a task and forgot that the world was spinning and everything in the background faded to black, then you have been in a flow state.

The best way for me to get into a flow state is to be well-rested, use my noise-canceling headphones, and control my breathing.

It’s a surreal feeling when you know that you’re giving it 110%, and you’re not even trying that hard.

5. They Appreciate Their Accomplishments

“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”

— Zig Ziglar

There is no use in being extremely productive if you don’t take a moment to appreciate the hard work you just did.

Otherwise, you’re going in a cycle of being productive without any purpose. Establishing your purpose is crucial if you’re going to maximize your productivity in the long-run.

Know your why. By knowing why you do the things you do and appreciating them for what they will fill you up with positivity and confidence.

You have to be your own biggest supporter because we can’t always rely on others. Empower yourself by stopping after every task and patting yourself on the back.

Takeaway

The point is, being an incredibly productive person isn’t easy. It takes several trials and errors to find your peak.

The value of productivity is second to none and is the ultimate unlock for you to achieve the most meaningful things in your life. Time is limited, but we can instill effective habits to get to where we want in life.

In preventing low levels of productivity, acknowledge:

Productivity requires that you leverage your time based on your goals. If you can nail prioritization in the coffin, then you’re going to be well ahead of schedule.

You’ll need an outlet to relieve stress when it arises. There’s no telling when it’ll hit. Discover the things that help you relieve stress and incorporate breaks when necessary.

Cut down anything that’s a distraction. Time isn’t infinite, otherwise there’d be no reason to maximize productivity. Hit your deadlines and make considerable progress with keen focus and intention in your tasks.

Achieve the state of flow. If you can set your environment up in the most optimal way possible, you’ll get on a hot streak. A boost in efficiency and intense focus are just the beginning of the flow state.

Celebrate the little wins. High levels of work and productivity are admirable. So is appreciating your accomplishments. Be proud of yourself and reinforce that positive behavior. Gratitude goes a longer way than you may think.

Try to deconstruct any concerns you have about productivity and recognize it’s the power to transform your life.