by Mark Jenney

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alancleaver/2661425133

No matter who you are or what you do, you share a firm reality with everyone else on the planet: you get just 24 hours in a day. What do you do with your time?

It’s so easy to fritter away the days, staring idly out the window and watching the world pass by. It’s also incredibly easy to get distracted from work, as your social media feeds beg to be scrolled through, frivolous magazines wait to be read, and old photos threaten to lead you down a reminiscing wormhole. Before you know it, the day’s done and you’ve accomplished nothing, and it’s a terrible feeling. “Lost time is never found again,” as Ben Franklin is quoted as saying.

You resolve to be better about making the most of your time; you know you should do more, and the regret is consuming. You’ve wasted a precious resource, and you’ll never get it back. Next time, make the most of your time! Here are five tips to help you out.

1. Know yourself — and know your peak hours of efficiency. Some people have a burst of productive energy first thing in the morning, while others are best after lunch, and still others don’t really get going creatively until the sun goes down. The trick to making the most of your time is knowing when your most productive time of the day is, and then using that time to work.

2. Know where your strengths are and where they aren’t. You can be an expert in some things, but you can’t be an expert in all things. If you spend your time doing what you’re good at, you’ll get a lot done, but if you spend your time doing something that just doesn’t come naturally to you, you’ll spend a lot of time not getting much of anything done. Try to use your strengths to your advantage, and delegate other tasks to trusted experts.

3. Have a goal. If you have something to work toward, you’ll focus your energy on it. Knowing what you want to achieve, both short term and long term, will keep you from sitting around wondering what to do next.

4. Stand for something. This may not seem related to making the most of your time, but it truly is. Think of it this way: when you have a cause or a mission, you’ve got a huge life goal to achieve. You know why you were put here on this planet, and that gives you a great sense of purpose. Whether your cause bends toward social justice, religion, healing, or something else, make it a defining part of who you are. It will help you find your way when the going gets tough. And of course, as the old cliché goes, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”

5. Stay positive. It’s not easy, but a positive outlook on life — believing that tomorrow will be just as great, if not better, than today — is a strong motivator. Negativity and depression, on the other hand, can significantly slow down productivity. Choose to be happy, choose to be positive, and choose to not let others chip away at your attitude. You’ll find that you’re much more efficient at getting things done .

More than anything, making the most of your time is a habit. If you recognize that you’re always doing your best work from, say, 10:00am to noon and then from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, then create a routine that has you at your desk at those times.

See 7 Habits of Mentally Resilient People by Mark Jenney

And, efficiency begets efficiency — it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. In other words, if you begin to see yourself as someone who makes the most of your time, then you’ll continue to do so. On the contrary, if you see yourself as someone who isn’t good at getting things done in the time allotted, well, you probably won’t.

These tips should help get you started, though this is by no means an exhaustive list of how to make the most of your time. What works for you? Share a tip in the comments!

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by Mark Jenney

Many people in the business world have read Stephen Covey’s life-altering book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — or they’re at least familiar with the principles explained within. You’ve surely heard many of the big ones: begin with the end in mind, seek to understand, and of course, synergize. We’ve all had time to reflect on how to be more effective at work, but what about improving our mental resilience? Our cerebral toughness? Our — to use a bit of vernacular — grit? How can we maintain and even improve our character and resolve when we’re faced with difficult situations?

It certainly isn’t easy. However, just as we made efforts to improve our effectiveness and success by looking at the habits of people who embody those characteristics, we can boost our resilience by taking note of the habits of highly resilient people. Covey may not have penned a sequel to his best seller entitled The 7 Habits of Highly Resilient People, but not to worry — we’ve got you covered. Here are seven things that highly resilient people do regularly, all of which you can do to boost your mental toughness and increase your success.

1. They maintain their cool. We’re emotional creatures, and as such, it’s easy to let emotions get the best of us. However, losing your cool expends your mental resources and allows control of situations to slip away from you. To prove your grit and keep your resilience, maintain control of your emotions and, by extension, your given predicament.

2. They recognize that some things are beyond their control. We’re all familiar with the first part of the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.” As much as we’d love to have control over every aspect of our lives, we simply have to understand that some things are not under our power. The behavior of other people, the weather, global politics — these are all good examples. Instead, focus on the things that you can control: your demeanor, your actions, and your ability to relate to others.

3. They don’t dwell on the past — but they don’t disregard it either. Listen: mistakes get made. You certainly aren’t proud of them, but you should learn from them. Give yourself time to reflect on a delicate situation that could have been handled differently, resolve to do better next time, and then let it go. When your past occupies your everyday thoughts, you’re never really present for anything. And, it comes across as mentally weak.

4. They stay positive. Putting out negative energy and complaining about things does nothing but lessen your resolve and make the people around you miserable. Instead, focus on what you can do to make the situation better. Remember, mentally resilient people face adversity with solutions, not criticism.

5. They are gracious. Resentment, bitterness, jealousy — nothing good comes from the time and energy spent on these emotions. Instead, when others are successful, congratulate them and wish them well (and mean it). Remember, success is not a finite resource, and just because someone else has done well doesn’t mean that you won’t too. Being gracious keeps your mental strength up.

6. They do what makes them happy. You try to impress your boss, your coworkers, and even your friends and family, but ultimately, if doing so makes you miserable, you’ve failed. We understand that keeping others happy is an important part of any job, but first, make yourself happy. It takes a lot of mental energy to be someone you’re not, and that’s energy that can better used in forging real connections with the people around you.

7. They are thankful. As bad as a situation may be, it’s important to recognize all of the good things in your life. More than living in the present, more than being positive, and more than being happy, feeling thankful for what you do have will help you weather any work-related storm.

What are Your Habits?
Like the habits of highly effective people, the habits of highly resilient people aren’t all that hard to implement. Like all changes in life, they require that you recognize the problem and put some thought into making necessary improvements. These don’t necessarily all have to be implemented at once, but once you do implement them, you’ll be surprised at how easy they are to maintain; they are habits, after all! Take them as your own, and you should soon see a change for the better in your own mental resilience.

by Mark Jenney

There are only 24 hours in a day, and as much as we’d like to increase that number, we simply can’t. We’re all pushing to be more productive, but there’s only so much we can do before the few shreds of sanity we have left are gone. We pack so much into our days, but it never seems like enough.

Yet, there are people who are incredibly productive. They get everything done and then some — they punch out at five and stop thinking about work for several hours. And as crazy as it may seem, you can be one of them: you can work fewer hours and still get everything done.

In fact, some companies are putting a lot of faith in the idea that they can get the best out of their employees by not restricting time off and allowing them to work when they want (within reason, of course). The thinking is that downtime helps people recharge and decompress, making them happier and more efficient at their job. It may sound too good to be true, but companies like Chegg, Prezi, Factual, and others have unlimited vacation policies and a happy, highly productive workforce.

What do you think? Can you do more and work less? It’s not easy, but it can be done. Here are eight things you can do to help make it happen.

1. Schedule everything. It may seem overly particular (and borderline OCD behavior), but creating a schedule is essential if you want to make sure that everything you need to do actually gets done. Work, errands, chores, even down time — schedule it all. It’s like making a budget, but instead of money, you portion out your time. Eventually, the strangeness of penciling in grocery shopping or dinner with the family will go away, especially when you realize that scheduling time for everything — everything — helps to make you more efficient.

2. Keep a consistent schedule. We’ve all heard the old Ben Franklin line: Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. This isn’t just a fun rhyme that we teach to school children — it holds a lot of truth. When you go to bed at a reasonable time and wake up early, you establish a schedule that will keep you feeling rested and refreshed every day. It may be tempting to sleep in on the weekends, but this can interfere with your regular schedule and, consequently, how good you feel during the work week.

3. Take advantage of that first energy. The majority of people are at their most productive right after they wake up. As nice as it can be to have a relaxing, leisurely morning, you’ll actually get quite a lot done if you spend that first waking hour on work-related tasks. Rather than linger as the sun rises, get out of bed, brew up some coffee if you need it, and use that early time to knock out some things on your to do list. As a bonus for those with families, there will probably be minimal distractions, as everyone else in your house will likely still be sleeping.

4. Be prepared. When you’re creating your schedule (see the first strategy), be sure to include time for preparation. How you do this will depend on your personal preferences and how busy you are. You can take time on a Sunday evening to prepare for the week ahead, you can spend 15 minutes each night preparing for the next day, or you can even use that first hour you’re awake (see the previous strategy) to lay out the day ahead. The goal is to always be ready for what you know is coming; it helps to make you more productive and less stressed.

5. Don’t always be on call. We often feel indispensable and irreplaceable, but the truth is, we’re not. Life will go on if you can’t be reached for a little while. When you’re in the moment with your family or friends on a day off, have your calls go right to voicemail, don’t check your email constantly, and don’t reply to text messages immediately. On evenings and weekends, be present when and where it matters — work will be there in the morning. Yes, you’ll want to schedule a small block of time to check and return messages, but don’t let them spoil quality time with the people and activities you love.

6. Take time to reflect. Time may move in one direction, but it’s always a good idea to look back at what you’ve done and ask yourself a few questions. How did everything go? What worked well? What could have been better? What would you do differently next time? Giving yourself honest answers can help prepare you for similar situations in the future and, as a result, make you more efficient at your job. As for when you should reflect, days off are typically best so you’re not distracted with the urgency of work. However, like preparation time, reflection time should be scheduled when it works best for you.

7. Be physically active. Now: we’re not suggesting that you suddenly start training for a marathon, engage in intense weight lifting sessions, or take up an extreme sport. What we are saying is that sitting behind a desk or at a conference table all day has numerous drawbacks, and declining health is just one of them. Many of us are kinetic thinkers and learners, meaning that we have our best ideas when we’re moving around. By engaging in physical activity, you give yourself time to get your brain going and be creative. Even if you’re not a kinetic thinker, going out for a long walk or playing a pickup game of basketball helps you release job-related stress and tension. When you’re back at the office, you’ll be more relaxed and ready to take on new challenges.

8. Do what you love. We’re always told to pursue our passions when it comes to choosing a career, but this advice also holds true for choosing hobbies and how we spend our down time. Engaging in an activity that we feel passionate about, whether it’s painting, kayaking, dancing, or anything else makes us feel emotionally fulfilled. It eliminates that feeling that we’re watching life pass by and helps us feel more present at everything we do — including work. Ultimately, happy people get more done.

How Will You Be More Productive?
It may seem counterintuitive, but all of these strategies suggest that the key to doing more and working less is making the most of your non-work time. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. People who leave work only to complain about work come back the next morning with a negative attitude and resentment toward the things they need to accomplish. People who leave work and live a fulfilling life come back the next morning feeling positive and refreshed, ready to tackle the day ahead. It works for lots of successful people, and it can most certainly work for you too.