Last mindful productivity hack for this theme!
I chose to dedicate March to raising the bar in our productivity processes but with a mindful twist. March is the end of the first quarter and we want to build on the momentum without burning out before summer.
As you stay focused on your projects moment by moment resulting in achieving your goals, I aspire for you to place self-care, being conscious of your well-being, and using your intuition as the lead in making choices as a priority so you don’t burn out.
I have two special feel-good productivity strategies that will inspire you to keep going and still have the mental and emotional energy by day’s end.
- You know those long to-do lists you make and by day’s end, you pay more attention to the tasks you didn’t accomplish rather than the ones you did complete? Reverse engineer this. At the end of the day, or first thing the next day, make a success list of all the tasks you completed that day. Glance at the long list and pull out all the things you did, regardless of how many. No fair judging yourself. Just focus on what you succeeded in. Then revise the list for the new day with what’s next to complete and repeat the same success process by the day’s end or the next morning. See how that can build momentum and inspiration? The trick is to commit to training your mind to look for the good, not the negative (what wasn’t done). Willing to give it a whirl? Use a success list to keep track of your progress.
Here’s an example of one of my success lists that represented an ideal workday:
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- Morning: journaled, made my gratitude list, read my spirituality book, and took a walk near the ocean before starting my workday.
- Prepped for my client’s session and completed her productive, high-energy session.
- Prepped new client welcome emails and their program modules ready for next week. Planned the next day’s schedule.
- Took an afternoon nap before going grocery shopping (need to do this more often).
- Made a yummy dinner and actually sat down quietly to eat rather than eat while doing something. (Mindful eating).
- Relaxed on the sofa watching my favorite shows.
- Being brilliantly creative, I know you have great ideas floating around your head day-in-to-day out. Now add the stress of “should I get started on that idea or wait or?” Stop, please. Stay focused on one high pay-off activity at a time. When complete, go to the next. The “multi-tasking” strategy is crazy-making! Start. Stop. Start. Stop. Instead, create a running document where you just load all those ideas onto the list and leave them there. Do not do anything with them except leave them on the list.
Stay focused on your current priority until it’s done. Feel great about the completion. Look at the next item on the list. Keep those ideas flowing, but don’t put on the pressure to make them happen, yet. Ok? Promise?
I am so pleased with Mindful Productivity month and how it absolutely increased my successes by keeping my intention on self-care, being conscious of my well-being as I worked, and using my intuition as the lead in making choices so I don’t burn out. How about you? Did you use any of the last four weeks of productivity hacks?
Would love to know!
Here’s to a fantastic next 7 days!
