Big goals can be overwhelming. If you want to achieve them, your focus should be on how you spend your daily life. Everything you do every day will add up to the life that you are dreaming of. This is why it’s important for you to feel fulfilled in small wins, something that could happen if you finish your tasks one by one every day. The goal should be smart, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.
But the day becomes a struggle when we do not feel motivated to finish our tasks when we procrastinate and wait for the last minute until the day is already done and we haven’t accomplished anything. Motivation is never stable so what we should work on is discipline. There are ways on how we could stay disciplined in order to avoid procrastinating and ultimately finishing our tasks on the dot. Here are some tips to have productive days:
1. Mentally visualize your goals.
Imagine that you have already achieved your goal. Feel that rush of excitement tingle your whole body once you finish a difficult task on time. When you associate an action with a positive feeling, you will always be excited and motivated to do your projects because you are looking forward to finishing them.
Remember that you should not only imagine the destination but also the journey. What process will you go to reach your goals? Imagine yourself doing the small steps and how proud you are of yourself for pushing through. Have a vision of how you look like as a busy achiever in your workspace. Imagine the people around you. Imagine as well the difficulties that you will be facing to achieve the goals that you want. Imagining your future self will help motivate and propel you to greatness.
2. Write down the small, actionable steps you’ll take to reach your big goals.
As mentioned, big goals will be overwhelming. You will put them off every day because the thought of doing it already intimidates you. You feel that you are not skilled enough to reach the goal so why try anyway.
But as they say, do not change your goal but rather change your means. Write down the actionable tasks you can do to make your dream happen and bring you a step closer to your goal. Before you know it, you’ve already finished the whole project because you took it one step at a time.
3. Employ the Pomodoro technique.
So many people fall into the pit of procrastination that so many have also tried beating it by devising techniques of their own. The Pomodoro technique was born, a technique that basically makes you work for 25 minutes straight before you can take a break for five minutes. After doing four intervals of 25-5 work and break sessions, you can finally rest for 15 minutes before you go back to finishing your task again. To follow, there should be a physical timer wherein you can use your mobile phone or an alarm clock to ring at this certain time. This technique works for a lot of crammers because it forces them to work on a single task without allowing distractions to enter. The break time is also strict so that they don’t fall into the temptation of extending what’s supposed to be five minutes only into one hour.
4. Focus on finishing your work instead of being perfect.
Some perfectionists never finish anything because of their obsession with perfection. We are all humans and there can never be a perfect way or a perfect result. Scrap that mindset of always being perfect so that you get to finish your tasks and not procrastinate at the last minute. If you work on your assignment and focus on finishing it, you will most likely have extra time to polish or perfect it before the submission date. Make sure to have rested in between because your mind and body must be recharged so that you finish your tasks with minimal errors or loopholes.
5. Do the difficult tasks first.
At some point in the day, you would feel productive and motivated. When this happens, take advantage of that energy by doing the difficult tasks first. You’d want to make the most out of this time so you could produce the best results.
Adjust your schedule according to these bursts of energy and energy dips. Observe yourself during a work day and note what time your energy slides down and pushes up. Don’t be too rigid when it comes to your schedule because this can change anytime.
6. Make your environment inspiring to work in.
People often take for granted the environment they work in because they think they have so many tasks to finish that they don’t have the time to fix their environment anymore. What they fail to realize is that they will actually make more use of their time when their environment inspires them to work. A clean desk would help clear their mind. An ergonomic chair will eliminate any physical discomfort. An under desk bike will help you be more alert and focused on your work.
Another motivator is surrounding yourself with people who will motivate and challenge you to become better.
7. Exercise regularly and eat healthy food.
Your physical health will affect how your brain functions, which you need for work. With a clear head, you think more clearly and are able to focus with the task at hand. It also helps with your decision-making when your mind is sound and your body physically healthy.
Focus on your health by observing a healthy diet and working out regularly. Make sure you have enough sleep, getting at least seven to eight hours of rest every night. If you have trouble sleeping, use tools such as sleep apps, diffusers, sleep podcasts, calming music, and more.
8. Reward yourself every time you finish a task on time.
You should always celebrate your small wins. This will lead to a happy and fulfilling life when you can appreciate the small things. Reward yourself with something you don’t normally get on a normal day. There are those who feel motivated to work because they are excited to get their prize in the end.
