A routine is there to serve you. When we forget this, bad things happen, because we end up serving our routine without any sense of why we’re doing it.
Change is critical to your well-being and even to your productivity. Here we’ll look at a few small, practical shifts you can make that will make a big difference.
1. Take More Breaks
The busier you get, the more projects you add to your queue, the longer your to-do list, the greater the temptation there will be to stretch out your workday to accommodate pressing deadlines.
But study after study shows this could be more detrimental to your productivity than you even realize.
Taking breaks at regular intervals can boost your productivity, increase your creativity, prevent decision fatigue, and more.
Although taking more breaks might seem like the opposite of what you should do when your schedule is bursting at the seams, it may well be the key to accomplishing more in your day.
2. Add Some Movement to Your Day
It’s easy to get caught up in an all or nothing mindset when it comes to exercise. “Well, if I’m going to do it anyway, I may as well go all out and push for a two-hour full body workout.”
And the catch is that, when we think that way, we often end up doing nothing. We either can’t find the time or are too exhausted by the end of the day to try to squeak in a workout.
You’re much better off going for a walk during your breaks, knocking out a 10- to 15-minute HIIT workout in the morning, or engaging in some other hobby you can easily pick up – basketball, fishing, skateboarding, surfing (depending on your locality), and so on.
You’ll catch some rays, get your blood flowing, your sense of self-confidence will increase, and you’ll feel refreshed to tackle the rest of your day.
3. Change Your Environment
If you have the flexibility of working remotely, then it might be to your advantage to mix things up on occasion.
The monotony of working at the same desk doing the same things at the same time day in day out can wear on even the most disciplined and prolific of individuals.
Changing your environment can shift your mood and inspire new ideas. The trick will be to find a space that works for you, whether it’s the library, Starbucks, or a pub. Find a space that adds to your vibrancy and doesn’t distract you from your work.
4. Schedule Something Fun
Have something to look forward to in your week. If your days are filled with nothing but work, no matter how much you love your work, you will start to wonder what all the sacrifice is for.
Let your inner child out. Go out and play. You will always have more work to do, but time is one thing you can’t recover. Once it’s spent, it’s gone. You owe it to yourself to have more fun in life and guaranteed it will enhance your work life too.