Productivity Tips

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Some people are what we callhigh performers. They are exceptionally focused, insanelyorganized and (therefore) incredibly productive. They are detail oriented, rememberthings well, are good with deadlines, and usually get out of bed before their alarm clock. Others are… well, not. I happento fall into the “not” category.Some of us (including me)are big performers. I say “big” because they thinkBig. They have Big dreams, Big goals and usually Big personalities. More than anythingelse, they are exceptionally skilled at seeing the Big Picture. These people are good atideas. They arefantastic at coming up with great concepts and understanding how those concepts will playout. Unfortunately, they’re not detailed oriented, forget stuff and often finishprojects just before the deadline -- or just after it. And, of course, they hit snooze afew times before getting out of bed.But peoplewith big ideas want to bring those ideas to life -- they just need help being moreproductive. And so, hoping for that, I undertook a quest to achieve betterproductivity.Along the way, I compiled a list offive rules to increase productivity. The best part is, these rules canbe applied to any job, any field of study and, in fact, any area of yourlife.Here they are:1. Write It Down

This should have been one of the easier habits to adopt, but I wasn’t able to make it “stick” until about Day 9. Writing things down is something I recommend in a lot of instances, and since I’m an intense planner when it comes todiet and training, it makes a lot of sense to me.Yousee, putting something down in black and white gives it something it lacked previously:tangibility. Writing takes things from ideas to plans.In my case, the way I am doing things now is to have workingto-do lists. I simply make a list each night of all of the stuff I want to do the next day, listed in either order of importance or the chronological order that I want tofinish them (you’ll have to play around to see what works best for you). By doingthis, I am immediately able to get started on my day in a productive way.RELATEDVIDEO: Tips For Success From Dodge's CEOThis is surprisingly effective. Even writing down “walk the dog for atleast 25 minutes” seems to have an impact on the weight of that task, andI’m a lot less likely to skip out halfway through.Going furtherthan to-do lists, I now write down nearly everything. I carry a small pocket notebookwith me and jot down any idea that comes to mind that I’d like to blog about, aswell as random thoughts that drift into my head, which I find allows me to organizethings more efficiently.The pocket notebook has long been a tool for some of the mostproductive people in history -- Thomas Jefferson carried one made of ivoryleaves that he used to record everything from quotes to the migrations of birds.Other famous bad-asses are known for pocketnotebooks, including Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, Charles Darwin, and Ludwig VanBeethoven. If it’s good enough for presidents andscientists, it’s good enough for ol’ Roman.To putthings back in the fitness context and give you something actionable, I suggest you startrecording both your meals and your training sessions. Ideally,you will plan them out beforehand and then record them during, to see how closely you canmatch your plan.In the case of mycoaching clients, bothtraining and diet are planned for them, and the client has to follow the plan. Ifyou’re using a program like Final Phase FatLoss, you have the Training Log Sheets, and you have spaces to recordyour weight and reps. Life is a lot easier and more productive when these things arehandled in advance (or simply done for you).Even ifyou’re not going to start planning your diet and training in advance, at the veryleast I recommend you start recording them during the event. You are a lot more likely toget a better workout and eat the right things.Another cool diet tip is to use your cell phone camera to take a picture of every meal. TimFerriss calls this “the flash diet.” Taking a picture serves as a patterninterrupt and forces you to think about what you’re eating. While you don’thave to post the pictures on Facebook or Twitter, try to lookat your meals through that lens. If you’re trying to lose fat, each meal shouldtake you closer to that goal. If you wouldn’t want your friends to know what you’re eating, you probably aren’t making the right choices.So writeit down!More productivity tips next... Continue Reading

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