Success In The New Normal Part 3: 10X your Productivity in the New Normal

 [The Foolish Couple are founders of the Foco Academy, nutrition specialists and success coaches. We focus on teaching Jack Canfield’s Success Principles and applying the principles to the 3 areas of life that money can’t buy, that is, Health, Time, and Love Relationship.]

A few years ago, we started talking about where we should retire, and we came up with a few exotic places that is remote but not isolated, with nice weather, friendly people, and all that. And then we talked about how do we transition from our work. So the topic of working from home came up and our goal was to eventually transition our work so that it can be done 100% from any location in the world.

So this year, the year 2020, may have been a weird one and has turned many of our lives upside down, and our daily routines have become a complete mess.

But this has also been the best year of my life! My dreams of many years have finally manifested! We wanted to work 100% from home, now we can! There's no negotiating with the people I work for, there's no transition period. Nothing like that.

Bam. One day, it's a dream came true!

And my experience is not unique. Sure,  I see that my experience with shelter-in-place is not common. Day after day, I hear my co-workers mumbling their kids, their spouses, how their lives are a mess and they're in living hell. I hear babies crying in the background, little kids showing their cute little faces and dirty hands in our conference calls, dogs barking, kettles whistling, door bells ringing.

But there are also people that came out of this pandemic stronger and more successful than ever before!

The difference between those turning their lives around and becoming successful, and those whose life have turned into a complete mess, a big part of it lies in what I'm talking about today.

We get all sorts of distractions working at home. And none of us were prepared to be at home 100%. So that left many of using feeling stressed, unable to focus on work, productivity goes down and the quality of our work is compromised.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, if you stare at your computer all day long but you don’t have anything to deliver to your boss, if you feel that you are not as productive as you should be. Read on.

Productivity is not about how much you can get done with the time you have, but how much you'll improve your quality of life with what you do with the time.

Don't mistaken productivity with time management. I love talking about productivity. Time management doesn't make sense. You simply cannot manage time. Time will pass by regardless. You cannot find time. And you definitely should not kill time.

And don't mistaken productivity with convenience. Having an iPhone is convenient. You can access all your apps in one place. But it is also a huge time sucker.

Here's 3 things that you need to work on right now if you want to 10X your productivity at home.

1. Home Office

Years ago I wrote a book called 'Setting Up Your Home Office'.If you are Intersted, you can check it out here!

Your home office is your sanctuary. It is sacred. It is where you produce your best work and contribute to this world. So set up your home office properly.

If you can, find a room with good sunlight, that is quiet and warm, and set up shop. Make sure that you have good lighting, and all your equipment is within reach. Your home office doesn't have to be a huge space. Most people only have a cubicle of space at work anyways, which is probably about 30 square feet of space. Designate a part of your home as your home office, even if it's just a corner of your bedroom. Partition if off. Better if it comes with a door. Your office should be comfortable, private, without any clutter and mess.

The key though, is to get buy in from your family.Help your family understand that when you do your work, it is important that you focus on your work without them distracting you.

Ask them, specifically, to stay out of your office during work hours. It may be difficult to work with small children. I have 4 cats, each have their own sleep schedule so the cats are constantly roaming around the house.

2. Self Care

2 people, with the same situation, can react to the situation in completely opposite directions. While one person can handle this pandemic crisis beautifully, the other one just could not cope with the changes.

Some people were totally enjoying their time during shelter in place, and others whining and complaining about everything that's going on. Their situation are the same. Their response, totally different.

The difference lies in their mindset. It is often said that humans generally have 2 types of mindsets:

Growth Mindset

Fixed Mindset

When you have a fixed mindset, everything seems to act against you. The kids are behaving badly. Boss is being unreasonable. Neighbors are noisy.

When you have a growth mindset, every challenge you face is a chance for you to grow, to become a better person. You have a chance to guide your kids, your boss is giving you a challenge that could benefit your work, your neighbors are friendly and can be helpful.

First, decide for yourself, which type of mindset person you want to be. If you are not already there, that's ok too. Take this as a growth opportunity. How you train your mindset is to consciously assess every situation you face and every reaction you have.

What is your reaction when your kids make a mess in the bedroom?

How do you feel when your boss is assigning more work to you?

When you see someone who is happy, healthy, and living a great life. How do you feel? Are you filled with envy and jealousy? Or are you all pumped up to make your life even better?

Your mental wellbeing is the key to survival during these times. If you don't already meditate regularly, I strongly suggest that you start now. Meditation is not about the woo-woo give me the life force of the universe kind of thing. Meditation is a way to quiet your mind, clear your head, so that you can think clearly and focus on what's important to you.

Your mind is like a glass of water. When you have too much in your head, the water turns dirty and muddy. The only way to clean it is to dump out the dirty water and refill it with clean, clear water. Meditation will do that for you.

3. Reset your Routines

Let's start with your morning routine. We all have various tasks that we need to do every day. Some we like to do. Some we don't like to do.

Brian Tracy likes to talk about 'Eating the Frog'. All it means is that you do the nastiest, hardest, most grueling task first thing in the morning.

If you have never eaten the frog, I urge you to try it soon. Try it tomorrow morning. Get that nastiest, dirtiest task out of the way first thing in the morning will lighten up the rest of your day.

Schedule your breaks. Take a 2 minute break every hour. Walk around the house. Drink some water. Take a bio break. Walk away from your office and go breathe in some fresh air. But don't pick up your phone and start browsing social media. Social media can suck the life out of you. It is a major distraction that you need to keep out of your work until you are done for the day.

Summary

Anybody can boost their productivity. I did. You can too. Work with your environment, set up your office properly, get rid of distractions and work with your stakeholders. When you are home, your family are your stakeholders. Help them understand that it is important that they don't distract you. Remember to eat the frog, not literally of course. Just getting that worst thing out first thing in the morning will lift your mood for the rest of the day.

Schedule your breaks. In fact, schedule everything. Move your to-do list onto your calendar so that all your tasks has a due date. You will notice your productivity skyrocket through the roof.

You can turn your life around, not only for yourself, but for your entire family, your business, and your community. If you decide on what you want, and really take massive action and go for what you want, focus all your time and energy on exactly what you want, you will get there sooner than you think.

Happy Shelter in Place!

Until next time, love what you live, and live what you love. 

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