In our last blog, which you can read here, we began a mini-series on productivity tips. Understanding how to maximize your time and talents is essential as a leader. Strong leaders understand the value of time management and make the most of their hours so that they can accomplish more and still maintain quality in their work output.
Today, we’re revealing 5 more habits that productive leaders master that help them to realize their goals and ensure their teams are operating at optimal levels.
Adopt these habits as your own, and the way you conduct business and check off your goals will never be the same again.
5 Things Productive Leaders Do Differently:
1) They have a morning ritual
Productive leaders understand that the morning is the most important part of the day. Why? Because it sets the tone for the rest of the day. That’s why they create a morning routine that helps them to get in the right frame of mind mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Indeed, instead of doing more to achieve more, Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning, recommends ‘becoming’ more so that you can do less to achieve more! Becoming more is simply. It’s all about investing in yourself and nurturing yourself. This may mean quiet time to read first thing in the morning, exercising, enjoying a healthy breakfast, or whatever else makes you feel at peace.
2) They take care of themselves
This goes along with the habit above, except that it extends beyond just a daily morning routine. Productive leaders know that if they want to be at their very best, they need to take care of their mind and bodies. They think of their bodies like cars, and in the same way that we refill a car’s fuel tank when it’s running on empty, they restore themselves as well when they know it’s needed. In short: don’t skip meals, don’t miss sleep, and don’t overwork yourself just to get more done. When you take care of yourself, you actually end up giving yourself more energy—which allows you to be fully present in the workplace.
3) They assign themes to days of the week
Productive leaders use this effective strategy to give 100% of themselves to every project and task. Instead of drowning under a sea of paperwork and to-do’s, they set aside a special time for everything that comes their way. Mondays may be for meetings. Tuesdays may be for team-building. Fridays may be for finances. Grouping similar tasks together in this manner helps you to maintain a unilateral focus that makes you more effective.
4) They check email sparingly
At one point or another, we’ve all been guilty of checking our email far too often. The problem with this is that it takes away essential brain power for more important tasks. Productive leaders recognize this and actually schedule a time in their day to check their email. In fact, some leaders may only check their email once a day! This frees up your time and allows you to go through all emails in one fell swoop.
5) They write things down
How often have you found yourself carrying the weight of dozens of ideas in your head, only to forget half of them by the time you’re able to give them attention? Productive leaders free up valuable brain space by writing everything down the moment an idea occurs to them. In fact, Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines is known for carrying a notepad with him wherever he goes. As it turns out, writing things down by hand activates more creative parts of your brain, which can help you in the long run as a leader when it comes to analyzing insights from a new perspective and generating new ideas for your company’s next venture.
Now that you know 10 things productive leaders do differently from this post and its forerunner, which strategy will you adopt moving forward? Let us know in the comments below!