How To Win The Day And Be More Productive

This article is for those that have a goal they want to achieve or to do more with their day but aren’t sure how to achieve it or are struggling to make progress. My aim is to give you a way to make sure you do the work that moves you forward towards your goal. Your goal could be something specific like learning a skill, completing a qualification, or starting a new business. The way I’m going to explain can also be used to master your life as a whole in the same way and you’ll see how as you read on.

We all have a goal of some kind. Big or small, easy or hard, it is very subjective and relative to the person at hand. However the way you achieve any goal is putting in the work and making progress from the starting point towards the end point. For many the beginning is where they see most progress. When the journey is new and exciting, motivation is high! But as the days and weeks go by they become bored and slowly as the motivation diminishes so does the progress. This is your first task.

Discipline is what makes you do the work, not motivation. Motivation is that fire in your soul that gives you energy. It makes you feel good and driven towards a task. This is when you do the most work. However, when that fire dies down or isn’t being fuelled in the right way the work still needs to be done. This is where discipline comes in. Discipline is the mental strength to do the work regardless of the situation. You’re tired but you still get the work done. You’ve had a bad day but you still get the work done. Your girlfriend/boyfriend broke up with you but you still get the work done. Without discipline you crumble and fail at the first obstacle that comes your way. Discipline is a hard skill to master but after you’ve mastered it it becomes something you just do because you are disciplined. 

You can build discipline. It is a skill that requires practice and time to master. The more you do it the stronger you become and the more disciplined you can be. Discipline is one of the key principles to master in your journey of self-mastery. The best way to build discipline is to find a vice you know you have that isn’t benefiting you or your life and saying no to it. Do it for a week, then a month and even more. I had a time in my life when I questioned myself if I was drinking too much and whether or not I could quit if I chose to. So I did. For 100 days I said no to any and all forms of alcohol. When you start saying no to one thing you build the ability and the confidence to say no to other things. Which gives you back the time, energy and freedom to complete more fulfilling and productive tasks. 

You can use discipline to work on your goals and get the work done everyday to move you closer and closer towards success. The first thing you need is to clearly define your goal(s) and know what it is you want. Next you need to figure out what it is you need to do to achieve this. If your goal is to lose weight and become healthier you need to exercise and eat better. If you want to save money for a car you need to increase your income, reduce your outgoings, and save so much in a certain time frame. With this information you can break it down even further into what you can do each day to move towards your goal. It can be the same thing each day like going to the gym and sticking to your diet. Or it can be setting a task, completing it and then setting the next task. This works for specific goals and I would advise you to limit how many you work on at one time. Try to limit it to one goal to each area of your life such as fitness, finance, relationships etc. The main thing to take away is that you will come up with a “to-do” list for each day. 

This to-do list is now your map to follow. When you aren’t sure what to do or find yourself procrastinating you check the to-do list and if there is something you haven’t completed go and do it. Only when you’ve finished that list can you watch netflix, play video games or go drinking. Better still you can move onto the next task and continue being productive. You don’t have to work 24/7 and relaxing and recovering is a key part. But the more productive work you do and the less netflix you watch the faster you’ll move towards self-mastery.

Your to-do list for the whole day, including each specific goal and it’s tasks together, needs to be made into a list with the biggest priority at the top and descend in order or priority. This is now the order you should aim to complete each task and action. Simply having this list will improve how productive you are and how much you do each day. The next level is to plan when, where and how you’ll achieve each task.

If you think of your to-do list as a map then the list by itself is showing you each leg of your journey through the day. The details like time, place and method will be the details in the map that show you how you will complete each leg, how far you are travelling and how long it will take. The more detail you have the better you can prepare and increases your chance of success for each task and overall success in the day. The details may take time to figure out. A good way is to journal your tasks and use that information to figure out what works best. Finding your own way to complete each task in your own life while still working, sleeping and eating is up to you. As long as you complete all the tasks you set then that is your own path to take.

Your to-do list and the plan to complete it each day is now your map to success every day. All you have to do is follow the path. You will come to parts of the journey where you are tempted to stray from the path. This is when discipline is vital. It is the glue that holds you to the path. If you stray from the path, find your way back as soon as possible. The longer you wander the forests and hills the harder it will be to find your way back. 

This will not be an overnight success. You will need to practise and perfect your to-do list and the way you manage your tasks and the way you complete them. I have found a to-do list and planning the day has improved my own productivity massively. It not only means I have a plan to follow but I’m more aware of what I will be doing the next day. Instead of chasing the day and the tasks that pop up and appear I am locked into each task, one at a time, knowing exactly what it is I need to do. I have seen this mentioned many times by various people but the best way I have seen it discussed is by Craig Ballentyne in his book “The Perfect Day Formula.” I highly recommend giving it a read as it goes into so much detail as well as the reasoning behind every point he makes. Click here to find it on Amazon. I’ve found listening to the audio-book on long journeys is a great way to make the time spent travelling more productive.