How to Live an Efficient and Self-Motivated Life

Introduction

One of the great sources of inefficiency in our daily living has to do with decision fatigue. By building efficiencies into your daily routine as good habits, you can free up a lot of brain power at critical times. By allowing yourself to focus all your thoughts and intentions on your goals when you are at your most creative, motivation will show up easily.

When Are You Most Creative?

Are you a night owl or a morning person? Rather than trying to change either of those personality traits, put them to good use. Morning people, set up your life so that you don't have to burn brain power making decisions. Set out your gym clothes if you prefer to work out before you go to your job. Make sure your work clothes are paired up and ready to wear before you go to bed the night before, so you don't have to make decisions in the morning.

Strive for Productivity in Short Bursts

Use the timer on your phone to help you focus. If you are trying to build a writing side-hustle or finish a big project, set the timer on your phone for an hour and work like crazy until the beeper goes off. Take a break, drink some water, check on the kids or pet the dog, and then set the timer again.

Don't Make Decisions When You're Tired

The worst time to figure out what to fix for dinner is when you and your family are tired and hungry at the end of a long day. Start your crockpot in the morning before you leave. If you live alone, invest in a personal crock pot that you can transport if necessary to provide you with hot, healthy food when you need it most.

Customize Your Space

With the right home automation system, you can come home to find light levels set exactly as you like them at the end of the work day. You might even have your favorite tunes playing or the thermostat set to tend to your comfort as soon as you walk in the space. By customizing this process, how much more quickly could you relax at the end of a long day so you can rest well?

Focus on Sleep

Your bedroom is for sleeping. Not reading, not scrolling through your phone, not watching movies or anything else that requires you to be exposed to a screen. If you use your phone as an alarm clock, put it on the hall table or in the bathroom so you have to get up to turn it off. Do not leave it beside your bed. Humans need sleep. Up until just over a century ago, we lived by the sun, so we probably slept more in cold weather. Your body needs great quality rest to get everything else done. Don't put roadblocks in the way of great rest.

Housework

Consider setting aside a chunk of one day on the weekend to deep clean your home. When you do so, again, set a timer. Put on workout clothes, grab a bottle of cold water, crank up some energetic music and go to the "housework gym." No phone, no TV, nothing but tunes that help you move quickly. If you can split this with family members, do so. If you need to hire someone to take your kids to the park so you can thoroughly clean your house, do that. Set up your cleaning routine so that with five to ten minutes of tidying on non-cleaning days, you can stay on top of dishes and laundry.

Conclusion

Building efficiencies into your week will help you free up mindspace. Simple steps such as carrying a notebook where you can jot down things you need to remember means that you don't have to remember them; the notebook is now your personal assistant. These efficiencies are designed to allow you to fully focus on the important things.