This article is not about motivation. Motivation is great but it's highly unpredictable and if you rely solely on it, your life would be a roller-coaster.
Instead, we'll be talking about consistency; how you can stick to your short term and long term goals. In the next few paragraphs, I'll try to summarize what works from my personal experience.
The two-day rule
No matter how consistent you are, or how perfectly you plan your days, you will drop the ball every once in a while and that's okay. It's all about finding your rhythm once again, and that's when this rule comes in.
The two-day rule is very straightforward:
Never, ever, under any circumstance, skip 2 days of a habit in a row.
This simple rule has helped me get back to track so many times. Give it a try next time you're feeling like giving up.
Visualizing progress
Simply planning your todos for a day (or even planning your whole day using your favorite calendar app) can increase your productivity.
Personally, I like planning my whole day in Google Calendar. This allows me to have a record of everything I do and where I can improve. This and a good todos app make a great pair to conquer your days.
My favorite todos apps:
Physical activity:
According to research, exercise is shown to reduce stress, combat fatigue, improve performance. A natural stress reducer, exercise combats chronic stress often suffered by many. With exercise your sleep quality also improves, thus, you wake rested and ready to tackle another day.
Lifting weights, doing cardio or yoga, whatever your style is, physical activity will clear your mind and give you that sharpness we all crave.
Mental health
Burnout is a very real threat if you disregard your mental health, I think it's quite obvious how important it is to take care of it, but how do we do it?
- Taking breaks: If you want to go for the long run, make sure to pace yourself and always take a break to catch your breath.
- Sleep quality: Sleeping quality and work quality are very tightly coupled.
- Entertainment: "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." is a very important quote that illustrates how good entertainment can increase your productivity.
Conclusion
Everything we've talked about so far is great in theory, but you won't know for sure what works for you unless you try! So I'd love to hear your feedback and please let me know if I missed anything that you think is a must-do.
What would you like to read about next? You can suggest any subject (technical or not) to me on twitter!
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