How A Solid Daily Routine Gives Your Productivity A Real Boost
One of the best ways to start my day is to get up early, do yoga, meditate and eat a healthy breakfast. From Monday to Sunday, it’s my daily morning habits that set the tone for the rest of the day. I know that getting up early is not everybody’s cup of tea, the struggle can be real for some – and here’s my thought on it: simply do what works for you!
Some feel more energised later on during the day, some in the evening, and peak of productivity and motivation definitely varies from person to person. Once you understand how your brain and body function, I’d say build your own routine around that.
After that first hour and a half has passed, then I am ready to get into my work routine. Coffee in one hand, mouse in the other, calendar on Week view open: it’s now time to list out and prioritize what I wish to accomplish. I use time blocking – a powerful productivity strategy that was covered in a recent blog post – which helps me organise my work and ensure I allocate enough focus time to my day.
Why follow a daily routine?
Because in a daily routine resides the real power: productivity and efficiency! ‘Go with the flow’ sounds like a great life philosophy but does not always apply when it comes to achievement and productivity. By setting up your own routine, you make yourself accountable.
The other day, I listened to that podcast by Indie Hackers in which Nir Eyal states multiple steps to deal with external triggers – one of them being: “Prevent distractions with pacts”. What does that mean? That’s the idea of pre-commitment, of removing a potential future choice, of avoiding in advance the possible temptations, in order to fight distractions. This illustrates my point: my daily routine is also my antidote to procrastination and external distractions. As I get into the momentum of doing one task after the other, I rely on what was carefully scheduled in my calendar beforehand – and I can easily check as I move through the day what has been actioned versus what is left. A daily routine drives you forward, and more than anything, it helps see progress and accomplishment.
Fighting distractions
My daily routine helps me prioritize what is important. When I put the energy in to build specific habits and when I design my day a certain way, I am essentially saying “this is what matters to me.” It forces me to think about my priorities, make choices, and stay away as much as possible from external distractions. All the dings, pings and rings: that’s real, distractions are everyday present around us! Here’s a few common tips I apply to myself to overcome the temptations:
– No screen time until breakfast
– No multitasking
– Batching similar tasks together (to avoid juggling or context switching)
– Laptop and smartphone on mute while doing certain tasks (like writing this post!)
– Regular checks on my calendar where my tasks are displayed
And to encourage me to put my productivity on autopilot mode, I use distraction blocking – one of the main features of KosmoTime – for any medium to large task (> 30 minutes). It closes down all my current tabs and turns off my Slack notifications – and once I am done, it optionally reopens them all. Distraction blocking really puts me in a zone of full focus, where only the task that I am working on matters.
Productivity is never an accident
As I was curious to get to know more about others’ daily routine and productivity tips and habits, I started a discussion on Product Hunt and asked the community for their own practical tips. Here is what’s came up:
? Get enough sleep
⏰ Get up early
?️ Exercise daily
☕ Take breaks during the day
? Schedule focus time for every task
✂️ Break down difficult tasks into smaller ones
? Turn off notifications while in focus time
✔️ Keep a daily journal of your progress
“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” These are the words of Paul J. Meyer, American businessman and founder of the personal development industry. I like this quote and I believe it sums it up perfectly!
What about you, readers?
How do you design your daily routine? What struggles do you face? How daily habits have increased your productivity? Here at KosmoTime, the team would love to learn from your experience, and figure how we could help you build a solid daily routine to boost your productivity.