Top 5 Easy Habits of Highly Productive People

These top 5 habits of highly productive people are easy to incorporate into your daily routine for increased productivity.

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What are the 5 easy habits of highly productive people?

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There are many different professionals that try to pinpoint the habits of highly productive people. Personally, I believe that everyone has different methods that work for their own productivity. A lot of times, these lists are made up of personality traits that can also be seen as habits.

I want to look at this differently. I want to look at the easy habits of highly productive people. It’s challenging to change your personality traits. But, what about starting with adding a few easy habits into your daily routine?

Would adding a few small habits eventually create a more productive routine?

I have managed many people, and worked through many different personalities and scenarios. In this time, I have learned that there are many similar habits between the most productive people.

This doesn’t have to just apply to work though, it can apply to your household, your relationships, and your life. I want to provide a few simple tools that can set you up for success!

Some links in this post my be affiliate links, this does not affect the price to you, but does provide commission for items purchased.

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What Is Productivity?

Simply put, productivity is a measure of performance. In other words, how much did you get done and how much did you use to complete it.

You may have cleaned the entire house, but if it took you 7 days to complete it, it may not be considered productive. On the other hand, if you cleaned your entire house in 5 hours, that would be considered very productive.

Now… consider this. If you cleaned your entire house in 5 hours but you already cleaned it yesterday, was it really productive? Also, if you cleaned your house in 7 days, but it was strait off an episode of hoarders, it was likely much more productive than it sounds.

I wanted to give this example because productivity is a measurement of performance, but everyone’s base line is different. This ties into one of the top 5 habits of highly productive people below.

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Top 5 Habits of Highly Productive People

Keep in mind that I am not a psychologist or professional in human behaviors. With that said, these 5 habits are the most common I have encountered through managing people, research, and experience.

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1. Make A Schedule

Most commonly, the most productive people schedule their time. This can be difficult habit, or it can be an easy habit. The commitment to a schedule depends on you and your ability to maintain it. Planners are typically the easiest source for scheduling, especially if you have a well made planner. With the right planner you can schedule your day’s, weeks, months, and year. Now I completely understand… this might sound like a lot. It doesn’t have to be!

Start small, and work your way towards larger goals. Even the strongest hurricanes started with a single rain drop. These things don’t happen overnight.

My suggestion is to start by planning your week. The reason I say to start with your week is because it is a short enough timeframe to see results, but does not require the amount of detail that planning your day demands. A week long schedule feels attainable, and will show results early in the game.

Choose a planner. I recommend one that has divisions between days, weeks, and months, like the ones below.

My husband and I use a couple different methods to schedule together as well. First, we use a shared calendar through our Google Calendars. This is very helpful in planning and communicating our schedules and the rest of the families (you can add so many people). Also, We have a calendar and notes dry erase board on the fridge.

For instructions on how to create a shared calendar, go here: How To Share a Google Calendar.

This is the refrigerator calendar we use! I like that it’s clear, and doesn’t stand out as much.

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2. Create To-Do Lists

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You cannot rely alone on your mental capacity to remember all the items you need to complete. You are bound to forget an item, or become overwhelmed with the continuous cycle of trying to remember everything. Plus, what is more gratifying than being able to cross out items on your list as you complete them?!?! I know it’s not just be me that feels this way.

Don’t underestimate the power of physically writing down the items you want or need to complete. This process can help relieve overwhelmed feelings, and can help to map out what needs to be accomplished.

According to Sarina Schragner, MD, MS at the American Academy of Family Physicians “Taking an idea and putting it down on paper (or in a digital notes app) has been shown to decrease anxiety, and completing a task and crossing it off the list provides a sense of tangible satisfaction”.

Don’t limit your to-do lists to just one day. You can create to-do lists for any timeframe, or for different categories. I have a to-do list for house projects that need to be accomplished, and a separate one for yard projects (for example).

Again, I want to reinforce, start small! Start out small with your to-do lists, and work your way up. You can’t move mountains in a day. Once you start getting the blissful feeling of completing a whole to-do list, you might just become addicted to them! In a healthy and positive way… of course.

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3. Set Goals

Being goal oriented is definitely considered a personality trait, or a soft skill. I am not asking you to be goal oriented for this to be successful. I am only asking that you start setting a goal or two that you want to achieve.

Your goals don’t have to be huge, and it’s best to make sure they are attainable, otherwise you will feel discouraged. Start by setting small goals, such as cleaning all the bathrooms (or bathroom) every Wednesday. This is an attainable goal, and is something that is within reach. If you have a project, set your goal to finish that project.

Additionally, don’t set goals just to set goals. The best advice that I can give is to use SMART goals. What are SMART goals?

Make sure that your goals are specific, easy to measure, achievable, relevant to your life, and have a timeframe applied. The timeframe is very important. If you don’t set a timeframe, a goal can last for the rest of your life as just that, a goal.

Examples of SMART Goals:

• Clean and organize the entryway closet before Sunday afternoon.
• Have a daily task routine set up and working by the end of July
• Complete laundry room renovation by June 2024
• Do 2 self care items/days/trips per month starting now through December 2023.

Your goals can be big or small. My suggestion is to start small and work your way up. Show yourself that you can achieve your goals by starting with small goals that have short timeframes. Then, work your way up from there.

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4. Don’t Dwell on Perfection

When you dwell on perfection it’s likely that nothing will get done. We can become so overwhelmed and stressed with the thought of getting things perfect, or the idea of screwing something up if we try. This overwhelmed and stressed feeling can cause us to not be productive at all. NEWS FLASH… no one is perfect, and many productive people have failed multiple times before succeeding.

If you spend all your time dwelling on how to do something perfect the first time, you will never have time to actually try it. In order to be productive you need to quit overthinking things, and just jump in and do it! Don’t put it off until later just to assure it’s perfect. Put on your thinking cap, problem solve in the moment, and MAKE IT HAPPEN! Perfectionism will make a 5 minute task turn into a 2 hour task.

Ask yourself, is it better for the task to just be done, or is it better to make it perfect and have end up not having it done at all?

Additionally, even if perfection isn’t holding you back from completing the task entirely, it can still decrease your productivity by a significant amount. You will spend much more time on a task when you are trying to do it perfectly.

For example, I don’t like to clean my house unless the whole house is going to be clean. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to clean the whole house every time. This means, I either don’t clean anything at all until I have time to clean the whole house. OR, I forget about my need for perfection, I clean what I can in the time, and that is one less thing to do later.

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5. Reward Yourself

So many people that are productive reward themselves for their efforts. Just like you would do with your kids, if you have a job well done, why would you not reward it? Providing some type of reward system for yourself (although it may sound silly) is a great motivator to get items completed.

These don’t have to be outrageous rewards, but make them something you truly enjoy. Make it something that you will look forward to at the completion of your tasks. Rewarding yourself will provide a more satisfied feeling once you have been productive (if finishing a project or enjoying your clean house isn’t enough).

It may not seem like it at first, but providing yourself a reward will start to create a subconscious or internal feeling of reward for being productive.

Examples of rewards (after being productive):

• Relaxing time to watch TV, read a book, or do what you enjoy
• A treat that you enjoy
• Getting something small for yourself that you have wanted
• Just sitting to relax and unwind
• Enjoy your favorite beverage in your favorite spot to relax
• Go do something you enjoy

What would you do to reward yourself for a job well done?

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Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions in the comments below!

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