12 Keys to Increasing Productivity and Achieving Success in 2020: Part 1 of 2

I've been giving a lot of thought lately to the secret to success with daily productivity, and I'm building a framework that anyone can use to be more successful. No, I'm not selling anything. This is a collection of concepts I'm using to better myself personally, which you can use as well, to help drive your results forward.

Hindsight is 2020, and 2020 is the year to learn from our mistakes!

Take this opportunity to tune your behaviors and model what generates success.

Here are the 12 things I've been doing lately that you can do too with just a little bit of daily effort. By doing these 12 things, you're removing barriers to achieving your ultimate dreams and reaching levels of success you never thought possible before!

Since this is a lot of content to share, I'm going to do this in 2 separate posts. This post will cover the first 6 keys to increasing your personal productivity in 2020. When you're ready for the next 6 keys, check out the second half of My Secrets to Productivity and Success in 2020.

Golden key unlocking the final puzzle piece needed to finish the puzzle

Key #1: Write and rehearse affirmations daily

I've written before on the 10 daily affirmations I use each day to keep myself focused and motivated. This should be the first thing you do when you wake up, because that's when your brain is in Theta State and can be easily programmed. Right now, write down a few affirmations that you can use each day to guide yourself in the right direction. Each day, rehearse and expand upon those affirmations, adding things like the all-important Why: why am I doing this and what will it mean for me in the future? These daily affirmations will keep you grounded and train your brain to recognize opportunities every day that can help you going in the right direction!

A human head made up of clocks, with more clocks spiraling away from the head.

Key #2: Diligently log how you spend your time

If you aren't logging your time, how can you possibly budget it properly? This is a keystone habit I've taken from brilliant minds like Benjamin Franklin, Seneca the Younger, Tim Ferriss, Peter Drucker and other luminaries that are just plain smarter than I am. Many productive, successful people are smart at budgeting their money... and yet, they still don't track their time, and time is the most valuable and irreplaceable resource in the universe!

To get the most value out of this coming year, make sure you are logging and categorizing how and where you spend your time. I have been doing this very diligently since November 1st of 2019, and I can tell you, this has been the number one most important thing I've done to increase my personal productivity! So much so, in fact, that I'm building a productivity app around this concept... more to come on that subject soon.

A score card to keep track of your daily habits and routines.

Key #3: Keep a daily score card for your habits

Did you spend time meditating today? Did you reach your goal of 10,000 steps? Did you avoid drinking more than 32 ounces of soda, while making sure to drink at least 64 ounces of water? These are just a handful of things that are on my daily scorecard. (I'll blog about this one more soon too!)

To make this objective easier, consider using an app like Loop Habit Tracker, which is free, open-source, and available for iOS or Android. Pretty soon I'll have another app of my own design to show you (VieDay) which will combine this concept with several others to give you a wide array of options for personal improvement!

3 sticky pads, the first saying Dream Big, the second saying Set Goals, and the third saying Take Action.

Key #4: Set goals for each day, week, and month

How do you know when you're doing better than ever before? Do you have S.M.A.R.T. goals? This acronym means that each of your goals are:

- Specific: Put enough information in your goal so you know how to tackle it.

- Measurable: Make sure that there's some kind of milestone or yardstick you can use to measure when you've attained your goal.

- Actionable: Your goal should be something you can start working on right away. For instance, "Become President of the United States" isn't something you can easily action. A better goal would be, "Get involved in local politics by volunteering some time each month."

- Relevant: Is this goal really important for your life's progression towards success, and does it need to happen right now?

- Time-boxed: Make sure your goals are something that can be accomplished in a finite amount of time. Rather than saying, "I'm going to become the world's best painter," you might try setting the goal of, "I'll paint something new every month, while following a different instructional video each time."

My own personal goals include things like spending at least 30 minutes a day on average on my personal fitness each week, getting my body fat percentage below 20% by July first of 2020, and generating at least $10,000 in totally passive income in 2020.

A detailed bullet journal, depicting to-dos and calendar items for the day.Bullet journals are one of the most effective ways to manage your time and energy!

Key #5: Journal at the start and end of each day

The only way you can really track all of your objectives, and visualize your progress over time, is if you are regularly taking time to write down your goals, your thoughts, and your results. Without this crucial element, it's impossible to keep a unified vision and make small, iterative improvements to your lifestyle.

Every day, I start my day by asking myself 9 questions. I'm not going to give you the whole list right now – those will come in a later post – but here are some examples of those questions:

- What am I most excited about today?

- What obstacles need to get cleared today?

- What interesting content can I create today?

Similarly, I end my day by answering 9 questions. Here are some examples of the questions I ask myself each night:

- What am I most grateful for today?

- What's something new I learned today?

- What's most important to focus on tomorrow?

I simply cannot express enough how valuable it is to write down what you are most appreciative of each day. Especially if you have suffered from anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, etc... just writing down what you're thankful for, each and every day, has immense mood-improving powers. Write this down!

A clock, surrounded by activities people might include in their daily routine.

Key #6: Creating and following a daily routine

Let me just say this: you can get results without following a routine, but even if you don't think you're following a routine, you probably are! For instance: do you usually watch a TV show (or several shows) on Netflix every night? Do you eat any of your meals at the same time? These things that you continue to do every day will ultimately become who you are, as a person!

Instead of following your routines mindlessly, consider actually authoring the routine you want. Don't fall into the trap of trying to plan out every single minute of your day! I find that the best results when planning out a daily routine come from deciding what you want to happen, roughly, in the morning, during the day, and at night.

For instance, in the morning, the very first thing I do is rehearse my daily affirmations. That sets the pace for my whole day and keeps me energized! Before I start my work day, I want to make sure that I've set aside time to meditate, to exercise, and to get organized. I also set aside a little time to ask myself the aforementioned daily questions so I know what the focus of my day will be.

Throughout the day, in addition to my regular work responsibilities, I try to find some time for authoring new content like this blog post, for piano practice, and for self-education each day.

Then, every evening, I make sure that I review my daily checklist to score myself on how I did with my habits that day. I answer my 9 evening questions and do a little journaling to evaluate my efforts and introspect. Last but certainly not least, I fill out a spreadsheet with the time I've logged from how I invested my efforts during the day, so I know – with great clarity and accuracy – where my time goes each day.

Note that I didn't say, "at 6am every day, I'm going to exercise". Those kinds of schedules almost never work for most of the people I've ever talked with! It takes an obsessive, almost sociopathic mentality to schedule every second of your day down to the minute, and I would never wish that upon anyone. Instead, simply have a list of things you'd like to do in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Try that and let me know how it works for you!

A golden stick figure with a golden key, standing in front of the word success, with a lock in the letter U.

Wrapping up part one of this two part series...

Are you still with me so far? I hope so! This is just the first half of my 12 keys to personal productivity and success. Unlike some authors, I'm not just writing this stuff without actually living this process every day! These keys are literally my exact blueprint, which I've been following religiously over the last few months, to radically transform my life into something with far greater output.

If you've been enjoying this post so far, please let me know! Reach out to me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and tell me what you think. Give me some more ideas for the behaviors that are working really well for you. I'll be adding a comments section to my blog soon so that you can also communicate right here about your results.

Next up, be sure to read Part 2 of my 12 Keys to Productivity, Personal Achievement and Success!

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey.

My Secrets to Productivity and Success in 2020 (Part 2 of 2)

Howdy folks! Thanks for coming back to read part 2 of my secrets to success series!

In case you didn't read it yet, make sure you check out Part 1 of The 12 Keys to Increasing Productivity and Achieving Great Success in 2020. We're going to jump right in and assume you're already up to speed on the previous half. By now, you're already practicing daily affirmations, logging your time use, keeping a daily score card of your habits, setting time-boxed and SMART goals, starting and ending your day with journaling, and following a daily routine. You're off to a great start!

A golden key, unlocking the final puzzle piece in a jigsaw puzzle

Key #7: Stay extremely organized with objectives

Have you ever heard of bullet journaling? I mentioned it briefly in part 1 of the series. It's just one of many different ways you can stay on top of your objectives and goals for each day, week, month and quarter of the year. What's really important, no matter how you go about it, is that you're making some kind of list of the most important things that need to get done, so you don't have to track this information inside your head. This helps to relieve tension and stress, and makes it easier to track lots of different things all at once without getting overwhelmed.

One excellent resource I can recommend on this subject is the book Getting Things Done by David Allen. It teaches you things like finishing any task that takes less than 15 minutes right away so it falls off your radar, and organizing your tasks and your life so that you have less clutter, both physically and mentally. One of the key premises of David's system is that you should keep track of all your goals and tasks in a single list, and revise your master list daily so that everything that isn't totally crucial falls off the map.

I manage this by keeping 4 lists in 2 text files. One text file has 3 lists, organized by priority, into high, medium and low priority. These are the items I'm trying to get done on a regular basis, and it's where I log things quickly (until I've had time to put them in a ticketing system... and yes, I do use Jira to manage my personal life!) The second text file only has a single list in it: the very most important things I need to focus on TODAY. I revise the lists in both text files daily to keep them fresh and up to date.

A notebook open in someone's hand, upon which is written, "Share Your Progress"

Key #8: Share your process and progress

I'm certainly not the first person to write about how sharing your progress with others keeps you motivated and honest with yourself. There's powerful psychology at work when you include others in your process. But perhaps most important of all, by sharing your process and progress with others, you can also leverage your own successes to the benefit of other people who can learn and grow from it!

A picture of a hammer breaking the words, "Bad Habits"

Key #9: Break your old, bad habits

Are you still spending 2 or more hours each day in front of a television screen, binge-watching Netflix or playing video games? Perhaps instead, you're spending a couple of hours each day scrolling through your social media feed. If so, you're probably making rationalizations like, "I've worked hard all day and deserve a little break." Truth be told, however, these activities dull your senses, waste your time, and can even be the root cause of depression and anxiety.

Before you can establish great habits that will propel you forward, you need to break the old ones. It can take up to three weeks to break a bad habit, so it's important to start right now, to track your progress with your habits each day, and to replace these useless habits with better ones.

How will you reclaim this time? You can spend your leisure time reading books, practicing a musical instrument, authoring unique content to share with the world, or studying a new language or skill. All of these things can be great fun and will stimulate your brain and senses instead of hypnotizing you like the television does. Best of all, after you've done these more fruitful activities, you'll feel amazing at the end of each day because you actually have something to show for your time.

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete. - Jack Kornfield

Key #10: Be honest and compassionate with yourself

This one is incredibly important, because it's something that even the most productive people can neglect to do. In order to get any value out of better time logging and habits each day, you need to be totally honest with yourself about how you're spending your time, and whether that time was invested in something that can actually generate returns and value in your life.

It's not enough to just be honest, though. It's also incredibly important to have compassion for yourself, and not beat yourself up about making mistakes or spending time in ways that isn't optimal. When you've done something that isn't the best you could've done, simply observe the behavior, and let it go. Don't berate or chastise yourself for not being perfect.

Simply acknowledge the behavior you're trying to course-correct on, and say,

"I can do better at this. I'm improving every day. I'll try harder next time!"

The best project you'll ever work on is YOU!

Key #11: Diet, exercise, meditation and good sleep

Let's say you're lucky enough to be driving a Ferrari. Would you fill up your tank with regular gasoline? Not if you're smart! A high-test, high-performance vehicle needs high-octane fuel! This simple concept makes sense to almost anyone... yet, why do so many of us not follow the same rules with our body and mind?

You'll never get maximum output from your days if you don't first take care of the machine that powers your entire existence: your physical vessel. If you want to be ultra-productive and ace whatever your chosen goals are every day, you need to set yourself up for success by taking immaculate care of yourself!

Get better sleep by avoiding all screens within 2 hours of bedtime. Make sure you block out all sources of light in your bedroom at night, and don't let yourself hit that snooze button! Getting to bed at the same time each night, and waking up at the same time each morning, is incredibly crucial to getting healthy sleep each night. Make sure you don't drink too many liquids late in the day, so you don't have to wake up at night to use the bathroom. If you're doing all of this, you should be able to function at a high level with only 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

As for diet, make sure to choose a healthy diet that works well for you. Everyone's different. For me, a ketogenic diet (mainly meat, cheese and low-carb veggies) works really well. I also practice intermittent fasting, where I only eat food between 2pm and 8pm each day. With both of these daily practices, I find that I have more energy and it's easier for me to stay fit as I grow older.

Daily meditation is one of the best ways to get outside of your own head, improve your focus, and have a better mood and a clear head all day long. For the last couple of months, I've been using a course for this: Waking Up by Sam Harris. It doesn't matter how you do it, but make meditation part of your daily practice if you want to maximize your effectiveness each day.

Last but not least, get some exercise! At least 10,000 steps per day is a great metric for getting some cardio in each day. I also like the DDP Yoga course for flexibility and low-intensity strength training. I'm also a fan of the 100 Pushups course for increasing your core strength. By committing to daily exercise, you're making your body more capable to tackle whatever comes at you each day.

A smiley face emoji, holding up a banner that reads, "Good job!"

Key #12: Positive reinforcement and encouragement

This is the final key to success in productivity and life, and it's a fairly simple one: keep feeding yourself constant positive reinforcement and encouragement as you progress. Your body and mind will grow weary over time, as you try to adopt new habits and behaviors. You need to keep reminding yourself that you are doing great, and the extra effort is worth it, because you're molding yourself into a better person each day, and achieving more than you ever thought possible!

Remember to give yourself credit when it's due. You're awesome!

Made it this far? Congratulations: you're doing great!

Thanks so much for staying with me on this 2-part series to improving your productivity and output. I want to know how things worked out for you, so make sure to hit me up on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and let me know how you liked this article. Tell me all about your own productivity strategies and techniques. Let's work together to make 2020 the best year of our lives (so far)!

Table of Contents

12 Keys to Increasing Productivity and Achieving Success in 2020: Part 1 of 2

My Secrets to Productivity and Success in 2020 (Part 2 of 2)