Productivity

1. Meditate or practice stillness

I read that the average person has 70,000 thought every day.

That could make anyone go crazy. Between the radio, TV, internet, email and work place there are distracting thought and noises everywhere.

Meditation or just being still, is a great way to help filter these thought and just relax. Try it for 20 or 30 minutes.

At first it’s not relaxing at all. In fact when you start this process you are going to be thinking about everything and anything.  When I first started, my brain seemed like it was on operation over load and I figured that the meditation stuff was just not for me. But I just kept on doing it. The more often you do it the more effective/easier it will become. This stuff really works.  When you first start you may say “Gary is full of it because this just sucks”…stick with it.

Mediation is like personal training to be focused. 

2. Know your priorities

We’ve talked about this one before. Is exercise a priority in your life or is being “crazy busy” your priority? (I just don’t have enough time to exercise). Here is what I do. At the start of the day I write down my 3-5 priorities for that day and I make sure they get done before I go to bed at night. Easy? No way! But well worth it. I challenge you to do the same.

What is MOST important to you? Is watching TV important or is 20 minutes of exercise important. Is checking Facebook important or is  playing with the kids important.

3. Avoid Multi-tasking

Studies are now showing that when you multi task the quality of what you’re doing drops. Why? Because you’re not focused!!! Don’t exercise and talk on the phone, don’t be that guy or girl. Don’t read a book and check your email. On average we check our email 37 times every hour. Don’t talk with your spouse/partner and be doing something else. The brain can really only focus on one thing at a time. When you multi task your full presence is not there.

4. Take breaks

The body and brain need to rest. If you’re focusing on something for an hour and completely immersed in it, take a 5 minute break. Get up walk around and do 10 pushups. When you get back to what you were doing you’ll be a lot more focused.

5. Move

We all need to exercise!!!! We are creatures that were meant to move. We were not made to sit at a desk all day. Listen, I know there are times when we have to sit for long hours because we’re in meeting or in the car, but you NEED to get up and move around after a while. Sitting for long periods of time will make you stiff; give you knee and back pain. And oh by the way you will become unproductive. Movement is needed.