Habits that Increase Your Personal Productivity

Increasing your personal productivity includes taking good care of your mental and physical health and improving time-management skills. The following habits are crucial for further improving a person’s productivity:

*  Write Down Your Clear and Realistic Goals and Review Them Every Week
Our mind has a natural tendency to wander and drift from one idea or subject to another. Vague goals lead to vague results. Focusing on your goals significantly increases your chances of achieving them. Know your strengths and focus on those areas. Putting your goals and plans on paper helps people stay focused and increases their chances of reaching their goals.

*  Take Good Care of Your Health (Especially by Eating Healthily and Getting Enough Sleep)
Eliminate junk food from your diet and eat five fruits each day, because vitamins are crucial for your health and productivity. You health and your brain will bring you money and happiness. You can’t cut corners here. If a person neglects his health, sooner or later his productivity and motivation will go down no matter how healthy the person is.

*  Prioritize your Tasks; Use the Golden 80/20 Rule
Be time-priority conscious. About 80% of a person’s results are created from 20% of his effort. Focus on the 20% of work that brings 80% of results. Prepare prioritized ‘to-do-lists’ for each day in advance. Make a list of everything that needs to be done and change the priorities of the items until you get your list in a prioritized order. It is not efficient to spend your most productive hours on trivial tasks when much more vital ones should be carried out first. Focus on your crucial goals (and delegate low productivity activities).

*  Set Daily and Weekly Targets and Deadlines for Yourself
A person’s long-term success is gradually created from his or her every day results. Set targets for yourself and deadlines (even rough ones) for every phase or stage of your project. (Be flexible and ready to change your priorities if the situation changes.) Monitor your progress every day. Seeing your progress is a powerful motivator. Start and end every day by reviewing the information you stored in your time planner.

*  Develop the Most Efficient Schedule for Yourself
There are common-sense techniques on how a person can optimize his schedule. Most people are more efficient and productive in the mornings. Develop a habit to get to work early in the morning. Don’t ‘burn the midnight oil’, because it will likely cause fatigue and so diminish your productivity over the next few days. Some ‘night owls’ work past midnight, but are quite tired and slow, and are not able to accomplish much. (If you are a deep-rooted night owl, then do what works for you.) At the end of your working day, identify the first task you’ll work on the next day, and get the necessary materials ready in advance. Go to bed early.

*  Eliminate, or at Least Minimize, Distractions (That Are Within Your Control)
Continually stopping and restarting due to distractions and interruptions quickly diminish a person’s productivity and his ability to focus. Turn off the radio and close that chat window on your computer. Consider switching the telephone off, depending on the importance of your task and if you are not expecting any important phone calls. Keep improving your time-management skills.

*  Protect and Use to the Maximum Your Peak-Productivity Periods for the Most Important Tasks
Identify your peak-productivity patterns and schedule your most important tasks for those times. Allocate uninterruptible blocks of time for solo work where you must concentrate. Schedule more challenging projects for your ‘out-of-reach’ periods and lighter, interruptible tasks for other periods. Work on minor tasks during your non-peak times. Complete your tasks, and then take a brief break to clear your mind and mentally switch to the next one.
 
*  'Slice and Dice’ Big Tasks and ‘Batch’ Small Ones
There is an amount of work that is just perfect for each of us for one day or one session. If it is too much a person usually becomes overwhelmed, mixed up and unproductive. Break complex projects into smaller, well-defined tasks. Focus on completing one of those tasks at a time. It takes time and mental energy every time we switch from one task to another. ‘Batch’ similar tasks like making phone calls or replying to e-mails, into a single group and get them done in a single session. Use time-saving technologies.

*  Use Positive Visualization and Affirmations to Maintain Your Morale
Believe in yourself. Visualize your goal as already having been accomplished. Switch yourself into a mental state of actually having accomplished the task, and you’ll soon get it done in reality. Anxiety has a detrimental effect on a person’s morale and can undermine a person’s motivation. (“A gram of action is more productive than a ton of anxiety.”) Use positive affirmations to replace anxiety with confidence. Have them written in your diary or a special card and read through them when you have a couple of minutes and in the evening. Monitor your thinking and keep converting negative thoughts into positive affirmations.

*  Use Brief Creative Breaks to Maintain Your Motivation and Productivity
Drink a glass of pure water and take a 6-7 minute walk every 90 minutes. It will help you to maintain your productivity longer. If you have an opportunity, take a 20-minute nap in the middle of the day and meditate on your current situation or project. Americans call it a “power nap”. A 20-minute nap in the middle of the day will considerably improve your concentration and productivity in the afternoon. Twenty minutes is usually enough time to revitalize your batteries for the second half of the day.

*  Exercise in Moderation, but on a Regular Basis
Keep your body healthy and in the best shape you can. Think of ways you can incorporate some regular exercise into your daily routine. Exercise for at least thirty minutes at least three times a week. Swimming, cycling and hiking are all excellent activities. If you’re jogging, try to jog on softer ground to protect your joints from wear and tear that can be caused by running on hard surfaces.

Summary:
To increase your productivity:
*  Write down your clear and realistic goals and review them every week
*  Take good care of your health (especially by eating healthily and getting enough sleep)
*  Prioritize your tasks, set daily and weekly targets and deadlines for yourself
*  Develop the most efficient schedule for yourself
*  Minimize, distractions
*  Protect, and use to the maximum, your peak-productivity periods for the most important tasks
*  ‘Slice and dice’ big tasks and ‘batch’ small ones
*  Use positive visualization and affirmations to maintain your morale
*  Use brief creative breaks to maintain your motivation and productivity
*  Exercise in moderation on a regular basis


Vocabulary

habit  -  привычка
to increase  -  повышать
productivity  -  производи
to include  -  включать в себя
to improve  -  улучшать
skills  -  умения, навыки
to take care  -  заботиться
to be crucial  -  играть решающее значение
further  -  более, далее
clear  -  ясный
to review  -  делать ревизию (информации)
to wander  -  бродить, блуждать (о мыслях, взгляде и т.п.)
to drift  -  дрейфовать, отклоняться
vague  -  туманный
significantly  -  существенно
to achieve  -  достигать
strength  -  сильная сторона
area  -  область
to put on paper  -  записать на бумаге (положить на бумагу)
to stay focused  -  оставаться сфокусированным (и не распыляться)
especially  -  в особенности
to eliminate  -  исключать
junk food  -  вредные продукты
diet  -  рацион
to cut corners  -  экономить
to neglect  -  пренебрегать
no matter how  -  не зависимо от того, как
to prioritize  -  расставлять приоритеты
effort  -  усилия
 ‘To be conscious of something’ means to pay attention to what’s happening.
Be time-priority conscious.  -  Четко знай свои приоритеты и распределяй свое время в соответствии с ними.
to-do-list  -  список задач на выполнение
in advance  -  заблаговременно
item  -  пункт (списка)
trivial  -  тривиальный, простой
vital  -  жизненно важный
to carry out  -  выполнять
to delegate  -  делегировать, поручать
target  -  цель, мишень
to set a target  -  ставить цель
deadline  -  крайний срок
long-term success  -  успех в перспективе
gradually  -  постепенно
rough  -  приблизительный, грубый
phase  -  фаза, стадия
flexible  -  гибкий
to monitor  -  отслеживать (‘мониторить’)
to develop  -  разрабатывать
schedule  -  расписание
common sense  -  здравый смысл
technique  -  техники
to burn the midnight oil  -  засиживаться за работой допоздна
to cause  -  вызывать
fatigue  -  утомление
to diminish  -  сводить на нет, сходить на нет
night owl  -  сова
to be able  -  быть в состоянии (что-то сделать)
to accomplish  -  достигать
deep-rooted  -  закоренелый
to stay up  -  not go to bed, не ложиться спать
to identify  -  определять, идентифицировать
at least  -  как минимум
distraction  -  отвлекающий фактор
to be within somebody’s control  -  быть в рамках чьего-то контроля
due to  -  because of
chat  -  дружеский разговор; беседа
chat-window  -  окно компьютера для переписки с друзьям
to consider  -  рассматривать, думать
depending  -  в зависимости
to expect  -  ожидать
to protect  -  защищать
pattern  -  закономерность, принцип, повторяющийся рисунок
to schedule  -  запланировать, поставить в расписание
to allocate  -  отводить (время)
solo work  -  индивидуальная работа
to be out of reach  -  быть за пределами досягаемости
interruptible task  -  допускающий прерывание
minor  -  менее важный
to complete  -  завершать
to slice  -  резать ломтиками
to dice  -  нарезать кубиками
Slice and dice.  -  Делить на порции приемлемого размера.
to batch  -  группировать, объединять в группы
amount  -  количество (денег, времени, работы)
to overwhelmed  -  ошеломлять
to be overwhelmed  -  быть ошеломленным
to get mixed up  -  to get confused
complex  -  сложный
well-defined  -  четко сформулированный
to reply  -  отвечать
visualization  -  визуализация, представление себе чего-то в воображении
affirmation  -  утверждение
to maintain  -  поддерживать
morale  -  моральный дух
to visualize  -  представлять себе
mental state  -  психологический настрой
anxiety  -  беспокойство
to have detrimental effect  -  влиять пагубно (иметь пагубное влияние)
to undermine  -  разрушать (постепенно), расшатывать
Monitor somebody’s thinking.  -  ‘Фильтруй’ свои мысли.
to convert  -  превращать, конвертируйте
to take a walk  -  делать прогулку
to take a nap  -  вздремнуть
to revitalize  -  оживлять
to revitalize or to recharge one's batteries  -  to regain one’s strength and energy by resting for a time
in moderation  -  в меру, без фанатизма
on regular basis  -  регулярно
shape  -  форма (в том числе физическая форма)
to incorporate  -  включать в состав (чего-то)
cycling  -  велоспорт
to hike  -  длительная прогулка пешком
to jog  -  бегать трусцой
joint  -  сустав
wear and tear  -  износ
hard surface  -  жесткая поверхность

Alex Kritskiy, a private English teacher, Ph.D., 38-067-391-76-62