5 Ways To Mentally Prepare Yourself For Productivity

Whether you believe it or not, we all want to be more productive, because everybody has a dream. If you do a search on the internet you can find dozens of articles teaching you how to be a more productive person. However, sometimes productivity tips will not help you unless you are psychologically prepared to be productive.

All the to-do-lists in the world aren’t going to work unless you are mentally prepared to put in the work. But don’t worry, you don’t have to visit a psychiatrist to get mentally motivated. Here are 5 ways to mentally prepare yourself for productivity.

Follow people with your mindset.

Whether it’s on Twitter, on a website or in real life. You need to follow and interact with people who share your same goal of productivity. Not only will they motivate you to work harder, but they will help you remember that only you can create success for yourself. A few years ago I knew I wanted to do something ambitious with my life, but I didn’t think I was good enough to make it. But after years of following inspirational figures and listening to what they had to say, I finally became brave enough to quit my job and go self employed. I have yet to regret the decision.

Eliminate distractions.

Every person needs hobbies and interests; mine include gaming, music and TV shows. But we all need to know when its time to remove ourselves from these interests so we can focus on our productive goals. One of the biggest deterrents to mental productivity is that our brains are conditioned to seek pleasure. It’s not necessary to completely cut off your hobbies and interests, but you’ll need to be able to find pleasure in being productive as well. Maybe you could even turn your hobbies and interests into your productive goal?

Give yourself time off to reflect.

You don’t have to work like a dog to be productive, time off is important to your psychological state. You could for example commit to 4 hours of work per day, and then spend the rest of the day enjoying life. As long as you make those 4 hours crucial to your progression. Giving yourself enough time off will help you to reflect on life, which helps you to put things into perspective more fluently. You may even figure out a solution to a work related problem that has been plaguing you. I can’t count the number of times I solved a website related issue by thinking about it during my downtime.

Work in the right environment.

Your work environment has a huge affect on your mental productivity. It’s generally a good idea to work away from your most comfortable environment, which is likely to be your bedroom or living room. Working away from home not only eliminates distractions, but it’s likely to also draw you to an environment where like minded people are hard at work. If you’re a start-up entrepreneur or self-employed, coffee shops and libraries are popular choices. My personal preference is to work in a shared office space. The only downside is that it may cost you a monthly fee. Do some research to see if you can find some affordable shared work spaces in your area, it’s worth it.

Reward yourself.

If you manage to stick by your schedule for long enough, you’ll soon see yourself hit new milestones. Be sure to reward yourself once in a while, because although we must make money to be successful, life is about much more than that. Treat yourself to a vacation, or something that will make you happy besides your hard work. Forgetting to live is something we should avoid when chasing our dreams.

Maybe you have your own tips for improving mental productivity, if so then we would love to read them in the comments below.