Be more productive - 5 sure fire ways to improve your productivity

I have been working an 8 - 5 job for about three years now along with my side business which entails a bit of designing and doing all sorts of IT related chores for people. I find it hard to motivate myself to work on my blogging and self improvement functions, how do I do it? Well, here is a couple of things I try to do to get more done:

1. Map out your goals for the week or the day - If you work more than one job, the is definitely a must! When you need to meet deadlines day in and day out, it doesn’t help being disorganized and without a game plan. The time you have is the time you have, make the best of it by planning well in advance. I reward myself with an enjoyable Friday evening and then everything I didn’t finish gets left for Saturday morning. I do have a rule that from Saturday afternoon till Sunday evening is me time.
2. Start early- I get up at 4:40 every morning to beat the traffic rush to work. This means that I reach work at least an hour to an hour and a half earlier than I need to, this gives me time to either write a short post, do some research or just properly plan my day.
3. Banish facebook and IM - Being interrupted is probably productivity’s arch enemy. I designate certain times for facebook and IM, mostly around lunch time and after hours. Set your status as busy or away so you don’t miss those important clients, this allows you to interact when you need to.
4. Go to gym - I find going to the gym in the morning gives me oodles of energy and even a desire to take the bull by the horns ;). I enjoy exercise and feel good about myself for going to gym, if this is not the case with you, think of it this way. I am sure you are driven to be successful, create your successful body then.
5. Just do it - I am sure there are many of you that do exactly what I do, I put off the bad work like that repetitive mailer or the IT maintenance for a later time. The problem with that is that these “chores” stay in the back of your head and affect your productivity and creativity. Take the next week and do these jobs first, this will give you something to look forward to and energize you once they have been completed.

I am sure almost all of you can relate and although this is not rocket science, by taking some of these tips to heart you will have a great day tomorrow, and the day after that… Please feel free to add your tips, I’d love to hear your productivity boosters!

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