Many of us place a lot of importance on being productive. We want to achieve our goals, succeed in our ambitions, and accomplish something worthwhile. That’s all great … but sometimes it  can go too far.

Have you ever pushed yourself too much, only to end up producing poorer quality work … or worse, getting sick or ending up just plain miserable?

To be truly productive over the long-term, you need to take care of yourself. In his bestselling self-help book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey distinguishes between our actual “production” and our “production capability”, explaining that we need to pay attention to the latter in order to continue to have the former.

So how can you take care of your ability to keep on working towards your goals?

Take Regular Breaks

Working for too long without a break will sap your concentration levels and leave you feeling exhausted. When you’re truly focusing hard on a difficult task, you may find that you can only work effectively for 30 – 45 minutes before you need a break.

Learn to distinguish between the times when you’re unfocused and distracted – and the times when your mind and body are demanding a rest. If you’ve been working for a while and you find yourself struggling to maintain concentration, that’s often a signal that you need to stop and take a complete break.

As well as taking mini breaks throughout the day, make sure you’ve scheduled in time to rest each week. Many of us have jobs and other commitments which eat into our weekends – but try to have at least one weekend day when you simply relax and recharge. You’ll really see the difference in your commitment and focus levels on Monday…

Find Sources of Energy

What energizes you and gets you motivated? Much of my life involves writing, and sometimes this is hard and draining: I find that talking to writer friends and being part of an academic creative writing course helps me to keep up my energy.

We all draw inspiration from different places, but here are some things you might want to consider:

    * Finding like-minded friends – people working towards a similar goal. That might mean joining a weight loss club, going to an evening class, or finding an internet forum to be a part of.
    * Creative activity – perhaps drawing, painting, knitting, writing, cooking… anything which you enjoy doing purely for the fun of it!
    * Relaxing times – a long bath, journaling, being outside in nature, sitting in silence for twenty minutes, meditating … whatever helps you to switch off.
    * Reading inspirational material – you might have favorite blogs, or particular authors which you enjoy. Biographies of people you admire can often be inspiring.
    * Favorite television shows or novels – TV gets a bad press from productivity writers, but watching something you truly love can be a great way to recharge your batteries. Reading a gripping novel can be even more engrossing.

[1] [2] 下一页