How many times have you told yourself that you were going to do something?
That something, is important to you, it provides value towards your future, but you just never get around to it.
You know that you should be working on it, but because of laziness, fear, doubt, and a lack of belief within your abilities, you simply put it off.
Days become weeks, weeks turn into months, and before you know it, months have turned into years, and that special calling, or goal that you know you should be working on, gets pushed further away.
These types of challenges happen to all of us. We all go through our brilliant ideas and then we find ourselves struggling on where, when, or how, to start.
We end up believing that there will be this “perfect” time frame, in which all of the pieces align perfectly and when that happens for us, then we will start. But until then, we are just “not ready.”
The best way to get around these critical pivotal moments, I believe, is to learn how to take a large goal and break it down into small attainable micro steps.
Here Are 10 Productivity Hacks For All The Hustlers Out There Who Have A Dream
1. Consume Knowledge Over Entertainment
The choices of information and entertainment that we have available to us today, is something that we have never seen before. We legitimately have the world at our fingertips these days.
With such grand accessibility, one can easily get overwhelmed and lost. You can end up eating a lot of your time consuming entertainment. (I fall in right in there with you, so no judgements here)
I have found that there are better ways to pass time, and an effective approach is to consume knowledge over entertainment.
A great advantage that we have today, is that both entertainment and knowledge, can often be found linked together.
Meaning, instead of watching a tv series on Netflix, you can watch a documentary on Netflix instead that is conducive to your overall progress.
Spend more time watching and consuming content that you can benefit from and use the new found knowledge towards building new skills.
2. Plan Your Day The Night Before
If you are not someone who likes to plan the day, or night before, this tip could be a huge help that can be implemented towards your hustle.
We often have so many things on our plate that if we don’t plan properly things, steps can easily fall through the cracks and be left behind.
A great tip I picked up working for Amazon as a warehouse manager, was to plan for the following day. This was a practice all managers needed to participate in before we clocked out of our shift.
At first, I saw this as a drag. The last thing I wanted to do at the end of my shift was to stand there and plan for the following shift. I was there planning for the next shift, when I was eager to finish my current one.
However, I found great success in carrying out this practice. So much, that I have brought it into my personal life in different ways, today.
I applied this towards other jobs in my future and it brought me the same success.
Take just a few minutes to jot down some ideas that should be completed the following day for you to move the needle forward. What do those things look like for you?
This can include making a quick to-do list before your shift is over, or simply detailing where you are leaving off.
The brain is already focused on work and productivity that it can help you identify and prioritize other tasks that need to get done.
3. Get The Heavy Tasks Done First
If you analyze your day, you can probably pick up the trend on whether or not you fall into this type of execution.
It can be really easy to start your day attacking the easy tasks first, but some of the greatest productivity masters preach on getting the heavy tasks completed first.
I have practiced this in many aspects of my life and still do.
Take exercise for example: a lot of people like to workout when they get out of work. The benefit here, is that you get a window of time to sleep in longer. Waking up early is never fun.
Now getting an exercise session each day alone is a difficult task.
I don’t care how much you exercise, or how mentally strong you think you are, leaving something heavy for the end of the day can result in not doing it at all.
What would the solution be?
Wake up earlier and get your workout completed first thing in the morning. It does require you to get up earlier, but you are completing a heavy task first thing in the morning.
This builds momentum, and momentum coupled with consistency, breeds results.
4. Prioritize Rest, Sleep, Nutrition, And Exercise
I have worked with a wide range of individuals throughout my career.
The most successful people that I have come across in my jobs, always prioritized their work routine, sleep, nutrition, and their exercise.
It was the hustlers who were putting in the most work, and they were only able to put in the work because they were prioritizing what fueled them most.
That fuel was always a combination of multiple disciplines.
Take time to plan out your bed time, which hour you choose to rise, the fuel and hydration you put into your body, and ensuring that you break a nice sweat each day, to challenge your body.
By focusing on these productivity ingredients, you can significantly improve your output.
It was the employees and co-workers that were going to bed late, waking up tired, eating improperly, and not challenging their physique, that were the ones who dragged themselves into work each morning with a poor mindset.
I know that going to work can be challenging, regardless, but I do believe that these key ingredients can help you take your hustle to the next level.
If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to do focus on these priorities for 30 days.
See what results you come out the other side with.
Sometimes we need to try it for ourselves, to really evolve.
5. Chunk It Down
The military has a mantra, “How do you eat an elephant?—One bite at a time.”
Have you ever thought of something that you wanted to embark on or achieve, but after a few seconds of envisioning it, you realize you are staring at a mountain?
The only way to meet those goals and aspirations is to chunk down the mission and execute one task at a time.
Just like compound interest exists in finance, it exists for accomplishing astonishing feats as well.
The next time you find yourself with a problem or a big goal, take a pen and paper, and write everything down on that piece of paper.
Once you have your problem or large goal on paper, now look for ways to chunk it down.
Turn one large goal into 10 smaller goals.
Those same 10 smaller goals, chunk those down even more, to the point where you know exactly what you need to do each day to get to that finish line.
6. Take More Breaks
Working in focused spurts and taking short breaks along the way can be a great way to get quality work done, while maintaining your sanity.
According to Psychology Today taking more breaks can improve productivity by helping you make better decisions, avoid burn out, restore motivation, and focus.
We have all had those moments where we are at work, in school, or working on a hustle, and we find ourselves stressed out or overwhelmed.
Taking time throughout your day to schedule purposeful breaks, can really improve the way you do your work. It can possibly help you improve the quality of your work and overall production.
7. Believe In Help
Everything doesn’t always have to be done by you. Look for help or outsourcing when you have the opportunity, and stay willing to lend out a helping hand as well.
The greatest part of having the internet, is the unlimited access to information.
Where before you would have to travel and possibly even pay someone to teach you how to do something, today we can just learn about it on the internet.
We have organizations that are dedicated towards helping other people achieve their own success and greatness.
Always stay willing to learn and expand. Approach life with a growth mindset and never a fixed mindset.
All things can be developed, all things are possible, it always comes down to—how badly do you want it?
If the desire there and the want is there, and you have built the character necessary within yourself to accomplish any goal in front of you, then the rest is just a matter of time before you arrive.
8. Go Into Airplane Mode When Possible
Getting things taken care of means uninterrupted work, and I am sure you can relate that there are way too many distractions all around us.
Whether it is a phone call that comes in, a new idea pops up, a family member reaching out, news,—you get the picture.
Sometimes, you need to go into a manual and physical airplane mode when focusing on your most important tasks.
Often times, it is the distractions that we allow in, that slow down our productivity. If you are a real hustler, then you value your time and goals.
Next time you need to get some important work done, and you know that there is no other time available, put yourself and your phone into airplane mode. Focus on your heavy tasks with uninterrupted time and energy.
9. Follow The 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 Rule is not something too many people talk about often. It’s a rule, that if followed, can help you increase production.
In short, 80% of your outcome, is driven by 20% of your cause.
For example, in business, 80% of a company’s revenue is generated by 20% of its customers. Loyal customers.
Looking at it from a business perspective, a company would want to focus on those 20% of loyal customers, that are driving 80% of their results.
You are redirecting your primary energy and focus to the most important pieces of your day that can help you drive the results.
It takes a minute or two to really understand, but once you get that “a ha moment”, you will then begin to look at things differently.
The 80/20 rule builds more efficiency and focus around the things that truly matter.
10. Cut Your To-Do List In Half
I sometimes look at the things that I need to get done, and there are times where it can look overwhelming.
Building a project or specific task from the ground up, is not always a 1-2-3 process.
Sometimes, more like often times, it’s a 1-50 step process.
If you want to get to that finish line, you need to break it down, and attack it one step at a time.
When you look at your process, it helps if you cut the list of things you want to accomplish, in half.
Sometimes, all we need is a psychological shift, as to how we perceive what is in front of us.
A great and effective way to do this is to break it down in half, and work your way up from there.
This cool little hack works. Give it a try.
