We all want to accomplish more in 2018, but how do we get there? What do you need to do to be the most productive person you can in the coming year? A lot of the challenge lies in planning and spending some time inside your own head. Here are some pointers on how to crush your productivity in 2018.
Short-Term Plans
Near the end of your day — each and every day — take a few minutes to think about what you want to accomplish tomorrow. This is not the same as writing out a “To Do” list. (If you have a To Do list, that’s fine, but this is a different exercise.) Don’t think about your daily tasks and duties at work or at home. You have to do those things anyway. This about changing your mindset so that you’re thinking about accomplishments, rather than just getting through another day. An example of this would be, “I want to spend more meaningful time with my significant other tomorrow.” Once you focus on that as an accomplishment, you will approach the next day differently. What do you need to do differently to achieve that accomplishment? You’ll probably need to get your work tasks done sooner, in order to free up time to do what you really want to accomplish, right? You will subconsciously become more productive when you focus on accomplishments, instead of “sweating the small stuff” which we all do from time to time.
Practice Visualization
There is a reason why every Olympic champion talks about visualization prior to winning a gold medal. It works! Practice visualizing where you want to be at the end of July and at the end of December 2018. The key to visualization exercises is to focus on the feelings associated with achieving your goals. What do you want to feel like when you achieve your mid-year and end-of year goals? This ties directly back into your daily short-term plans. You want to change your mindset through daily visualization exercises to focus on your soon-to-be-achieved accomplishments.
Discard the Things that Don’t Work
Now that you’re focusing on your daily accomplishment plans and doing visualization exercises, start noticing your habits. Do you subscribe to a Book-of-the-Month Club, but you never actually read the books? Cancel the subscription and set aside the monthly fees for that Bitcoin investment you’ve been planning for. Start being brutally honest about the things and activities that are cluttering up your home and your mind. These things drag down your productivity and make you less likely to achieve your goals.
Those are some tips to help you change your mindset in 2018, so that you can crush your productivity. Follow through and be consistent in thinking about what you want to accomplish, rather than just on the tasks that need to get done.
