I don’t believe there’s one person in the world who doesn’t want to be productive and healthy? I mean, nobody in their right mind. Without being an overachiever or getting stressed out and overwhelmed, healthy productivity to me is working towards your goals while still being present for all that life has to offer. Today I want to share some of the habits that make a healthy and productive day for me.
5 Habits For A Healthy & Productive Day
1. Plan and Prioritize
Planning is key for staying productive and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If you want something to happen plan for it and make a commitment.
If you want to make exercise a habit – make a workout plan, know what you’re going to do upfront and it’s more likely to actually do it and to create a routine.
Plan for your meals for the day – you don’t need to be super strict, but have an idea what you want to have in your meal plan and what you don’t want to have. If you’re struggling with eating healthy at least 80% of the time, this simple habit will help you a lot.
And finally, if you want to be productive and achieve big things that day – prioritize what’s actually big. What would make the biggest difference if you get it done that day? What would bring you a (tiny) step closer to your big dream, your big goal? One step at a time in the right direction will get you where you want to be sooner than you know.
Here are some examples of healthy and productive things to plan for during the day:
- Reading
- Stretching and Exercise
- Journaling
- Cooking & Eating healthy
- Writing / Creating (Focused Work)
- Walking
- Drinking Water
- Meditation
- Self Care
- Spending quality time with friends and family
Whenever you make plans, I want you to remember that you have more time than you think. I know it sounds counter productive, but thinking that you don’t have time to achieve everything you want, can make you lose your mind, stress you out and ultimately make you unproductive. This list might not include as many things that people would usually perceive as “productive”, but trust me, give yourself the space and time to do them and everything else get done as well.
2. Work On Your Top 3 First Thing
We need boundaries and priorities in order to live a healthy and productive life. So how do we identify them on a daily basis?
In my experience, it’s best, to begin with the end in mind. (which, is the 2nd habit from the book 7 habits of highly effective people).
So, imagine going to bed at the end of the day. What would you wish you had done that day? What would make you feel at peace, happy and proud of yourself? Identify 3-5 things in different areas of your life and write them down. These are your top priorities. Treat them this way and start your day off working on them first thing.
For example if some of your priorities include getting into a consistent workout routine, drinking more water and writing a book, your priorities first thing in the morning might look like: drink water, get ready for a 30-Minute workout and write 5 pages for the book. That’s all you need to do. You don’t need to overcomplicate things. Keep it simple.
3. Get Moving Outdoors
I made this one a separate habit, because spending more time in nature and outdoors has so many positive effects on your mental and physical health. We are the indoor generation. We keep looking for indoor plants to filter the air for us, furniture that looks good and quite neutral, while living life staring at our phones or computers. But beyond that, there’s so much life outside.
Go out and experience it. Really look and listen. That squirrel, that tree – allow yourself to be the weirdo and to be happy for no reason. Then go back to your computer and you’ll feel refreshed and you’ll be so much more efficient. Walking and spending time in nature will release stress, which in turn will help your brain find new ideas, solve problems you couldn’t figure out sitting at your computer and it burns calories.
4. Use small bits of time to fit in big things
Reading, exercise, cooking, meditation, focused work…they don’t need to take hours out of your day. Have a running list of things you want to do and fit them in the small time windows you have during the day. 10 minutes of reading here, 10 minutes of reading there – you’ll finish that book sooner than you would if you plan for it and postpone it over and over. So plan, but be flexible in how you execute.
5. Leave your phone
I think by now we’ve all realized the world is much bigger than the things we can find in a phone. Lift your head up, leave that phone alone, let it charge for a moment and do things that actually matter to you. Be here and now.