12 Tiny Habits That Will Quadruple Your Productivity At Work
The most minuscule of changes sometimes make the biggest impact.
Jacob Lund | Canva A major lesson for me in my 39 years: it shouldn’t take a drastic change to make a huge impact. I wasn’t always productive, and I’d often go weeks sulking and watching crap on tv. These tips turned my creative life around. Now I can’t stop.
Here are 12 tiny habits that will increase your productivity at work:
1. Meditate for a minute before starting any work
Focus on your breath. Enjoy the sensation of being there, free of any pressure to perform. Allow your mind to still like particles floating to the bottom of a jar of water.
Meditation has been proven to reduce stress, according to the American Psychological Association. From a place of calm, you have a crucial starter’s advantage. Now you’re a zen monk, and it’s not even 8 a.m. This is where creativity and energy flourish.
2. Stop whining
Most of us are unproductive because we’re complaining to ourselves in the dim theatre of our minds about how hard everything is. Stop whining, and stop moaning. Find your inner champion and unleash his power.
3. Decide to have fun
Most people freeze like frightened bunnies when it comes to ‘productivity’ because they view it as high-pressure and kind of dull.
Productivity doesn’t have to be some heavy ‘discipline’ that takes effort. All you need to do is figure out the next small step and find a way to enjoy it.
You bring enjoyment. You can choose to be silly. You’ll never outwork someone who’s enjoying themselves.
4. Walk an hour a day
Spending time outdoors being ‘unproductive’ seems counterintuitive. But most of us are low energy because we sit all day, and we allow our minds to grow thick with worry.
Walking clears all of this out, gets us into our bodies, and multiplies our creativity. If you want the secret ‘hack’ — walking is it (so is any movement).
5. Free-write like a champion
Write anything that comes to mind for at least a minute. Allow your fingers to perform a lap dance for you on the keyboard, and just have fun seeing what shows up.
Write total and unmitigated drivel. Create something so beautifully disgraceful on the page that you have to laugh. This is pure release. Now you’re in fluid motion and primed for further productive output.
6. Do 'the thing'
Do the thing you’ve been avoiding. Clean the snowdrifts of dust from under your bed for a change. Wash the dishes. Do that ‘dull’ chore. It’s not hard; it just requires effort. Do the thing, and bring as much enjoyment as you can to it.
It’s done, and you feel good about yourself. Now tell me you don’t feel four times more productive.
7. Decide to be a warrior
There’s something incredibly enlightening about how a simple decision can alter reality right now. Decide to be the most courageous, brutal, animal version of yourself. There are always two sides to you: owner or victim.
Embody the posture and vibe of your cheerful warrior-self.
8. Adopt a wild persona
Newsflash: you aren’t your ‘personality.’ You don’t need to buy into the story you keep telling yourself about who you are — that you’re ‘just kind of a lazy dude.’ Shut it.
Choose to be who you need to be. If you need to be calm, open, and receptive, be that. But right now, you need your productivity game on, so be a wild, creative maniac. You can be that right now. pssst. Be it.
9. Rewrite immense goals daily
Most of us never reach our goals. That’s OK. But most goals are boring. The real, secret value of goals is the excitement they stir in you today. Hitch a ride on this hack by rewriting exciting, mega goals once or even twice daily.
Goal setting is linked to higher achievement, according to a study from Dominican University of California. Lean into your greatness. Physically write them down, and you will embody them via muscular activation.
10. Drink like an elephant
I don’t need to tell you what Sally in Biology class wouldn’t shut up about — we’re mostly made of water. So drink up. Most of us are tired because we’re dehydrated. Drink (and don’t pretend that the gin you’re slugging is water). Guzzle it in. Instant energy.
11. Perform the sexy snake dance
I’m not messing with you. Get up right now and perform appalling physical shapes in your room. Be nasty. Gyrate like you’ve been involuntarily celibate for a decade, and you’ve just been unleashed. Productivity is all in the hips, my friend.
12. Triple down on the present moment
The ultimate productivity secret no one tells you is this: do one thing at a time, with full enjoyment and presence. A cheeky little trick to encourage this further is to set yourself a window of timed, dedicated work — like 15 minutes of writing to a timer. This gets you out of your worries and into the untamed, crystal-clear beauty of the right now.
If you learned nothing throughout this, leave knowing this: Pour everything you have into one thing at a time. That’s it.
Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient.