Productivity

If you change nothing, nothing will ever change.

 

I love that quote. There has never been a more true statement.

 

The easiest thing to do in life is nothing.

 

“I’ll start that tomorrow.” “I’ll finish that tomorrow. “I’ll think about doing that later.”

 

I think everybody has tasks in our lives that we KNOW we should be doing. Even is it not a task that is required of us by others, it is a task that we feel we should be doing for our own personal benefit. Yet, everybody puts these tasks aside and says, “I’ll do that later.” (I know that whoever reads this can think of at least one task/goal/project they know should have already finished/started/achieved.)

 

I am determined to stop doing this. I am a considerably happier person when I feel as though I’m being productive.

 

Now, I think everybody has different opinions on what productivity can mean. A productive day to me may not be a productive day to someone else. And vice versa.

 

I really like being creative. I like writing and I like photography. There is just something satisfying about creating something that can not be duplicated by anyone else.

 

Here are the daily goals I am setting for myself to allow me to feel more productive:

1. Journal. This is not to be mistaken with “Dear Diary, this is what happened to me today and this is how I feel about it.” Yuck. I tried that. It’s not for me. What I mean by journaling is writing my daily “to do” list. Goals I need to accomplish for that day, tasks I need to do in the future, things I need to buy, notes about projects I’m working on, etc.

2. Read 50-100 pages everyday. I read a lot anyway, but I go through phases when I don’t read at all for weeks. I get very cranky when I don’t read. A weird withdrawal symptom, I guess. However, it’s VERY easy for me to spend ALL day reading a book (I’ve done this a lot) and this is not a productive thing to do. I feel like I need to get my reading time in everyday, but I need to limit how much I do.

3. Get in some camera time. Man, I like my cameras. I realize this is not necessarily a productive thing, but I sure am happy when I’m taking a new picture, or editing a new picture. I would REALLY like to improve my photo editing skills. Hell, I would like to improve everything about my photography habit.

I love my cameras.

4. Writing. This is the big one. I like to do it, but I never do. At all. I find this weird. If I like it, why don’t I do it? I tend to liken it to running…..I only really love running once I’ve finished with a run. I like running a lot less WHILE I’M RUNNING. But, I still get my butt out there and run, so I should commit myself and just write.

5. Blogging. I feel productive when I blog. And since I have a contract with Foodbuzz, I really need to be doing it more often. I’m going to try really hard to commit myself to at LEAST two blog posts a week, one post being food related. (Though, I confess, food-blogging is not my favorite thing. But it is my favorite thing to read.)

6. Eat healthy and exercise. I run 3 days a week now, and I eat pretty healthy most days. But, food intake and exercise has to be an effort every single day. A person has to strive to make good, healthy choices every single day. When I make good choices about my food and exercise, I go to bed feeling better about myself. I feel better physically too. So, even though this is something I am already doing, I like to make it a daily goal. It’s easier to feel like you’ve accomplished something good if you make it a day-to-day goal. 

 

The most important thing about assigning daily tasks is to make them a habit. I have heard that it takes 3 weeks to form a habit. I think this is very accurate. I’ve been running for about 2 months now, and on my assigned running days, I just get up and go. There is no question about whether or not I will run that day, I just do it. It’s a habit now. (Unless, of course, I’m under the weather.)

 

And…..that’s it. Now that I’ve put this out into the world….. I have to hold myself to it.

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