Have you ever noticed that high performers aren’t frazzled?
Their to-do list would give you hives. You know darn well they’ve got a mile-long list of major ambitions on their dockets—from launching a new enterprise and buying a building to reclaiming market share from a rival and heading two boards of directors.
Yet somehow they play it cooler than Don Draper circa Mad Men Season One. And are just as devastatingly effective.
This is what we like to call the “zen of making things happen.” Getting things done and ticking things off your to-do list with ease and efficiency. But how do you get there?
In Week One of Giant Academy, our flagship course for people who want to be marketing masterminds, we dive deep into methods to multiply your productivity. This includes seven stress-lowering, high-impact productivity tactics that maximize your output.
- Sleep
- Exercise
- Strike a (power) pose
- Plan tomorrow today
- Watch the ball
- Eat that frog
- Have a why
7 Stress-Lowering, High-Impact Productivity Tactics
Tactic 1: Sleep
Insufficient sleep makes you unhappy, unproductive and snack-prone. Enough said.
Tactic 2: Exercise
Exercise is not only a focus-booster and a proven antidepressant, it’s also sure to put an appealing glow in your cheeks.
Tactic 3: Strike a (power) pose
This fascinating TED Talk by social psychologist Amy Cuddy reveals how simply changing your posture for two minutes can trigger a cascade of confidence-boosting hormonal changes.
Watch it here: Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are
Tactic 4: Plan tomorrow today
High performers know you should separate planning and execution. Identify your most important tasks the night before.
Tactic 5: Watch the ball
Know, define and focus on your ambition. Don’t get so hung up on one way of getting it that you overlook another, quicker way. Evaluate every task with the simple question, “Will doing this help me reach my ambition?”
Tactic 6: Eat the frog
There’s always one on your to-do list. That task you hate doing (and, subsequently, put off accordingly).
Or maybe it’s not a task you hate doing, but it’s such a big, difficult-seeming task that you put off starting it.
If you have to eat a frog, the saying goes, eat it first thing in the morning. That’s where the name of Brian Tracy’s productivity bible Eat That Frog! comes from.
Make a habit of eating the frog first. Watch your productivity skyrocket and the quality of your days rise, too, as you no longer spend your time dreading That One Task.
Tactic 7: Have a why
Have a higher purpose for your everyday work—whether that’s giving the world beautifully-made products or providing for your family.
Lost touch with your why? Read our post on Rekindling Your Business Passion.
In addition to multiplying your productivity, Giant Academy is also a powerful professional development course for anyone—from solopreneur to creative to marketing firm senior account executive—who wants to learn successful strategies for creating brand awareness, marketing campaigns and advertising campaigns, design social media key messages and learn how to grow a business.
