What we do in and with HOSA is important. Therefore, we should be great stewards of time we have with our fellow members. In an effort to work smarter not harder, slip a couple of these habits into your daily routine and experience an increased level of productivity. A slight change can have a massive effect. 

 

1. Check email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. in the afternoon so you protect the peak energy hours of your mornings for your best work. Or do the opposite, if your most productive time of day is in the afternoon.

 

2. Stop waiting for perfect conditions to launch a great HOSA project. Immediate action fuels a positive feedback loop that drives even more action.

 

3. Remember that big, brave goals release energy. So set them clearly and then revisit them every morning for five minutes.

 

4. Mess creates stress. So clean out the clutter in your work space to get more done.

 

5. Limit your time watching TV. Consider that you’re just watching other people get successful versus doing the things that will get you to your dreams.

 

6. Say goodbye to the energy vampires in your life (the negative souls who steal your enthusiasm).

 

7. Run routines. Massively productive people like Stephen King, John Grisham and Thomas Edison follow(ed) strict daily routines. (i.e., when they would get up, when they would start work, when they would exercise and when they would relax). Peak productivity’s not about luck. It’s about devotion.

 

8. Get up at 5:00 am. Win the battle of the bed. Put mind over mattress. This habit alone will strengthen your willpower, so it serves you more dutifully in the key areas of your life.

 

9. Stop multitasking. New research confirms that all the distractions invading our lives are rewiring the way our brains work (and drop our IQ by 5 points!). Be one of the rare-air few who develops the mental and physical discipline to have a mono-maniacal focus on one thing for many hours.

 

10. Plan workouts 2X a day. Do 20 minutes first thing in the morning. Then another workout around 6:00 or 7:00 pm to set you up for a wow in the evening.

 

11. Drink more water. When you’re dehydrated, you’ll have far less energy. And get less done.

 

12. Work in 90 minute blocks with 10 minute intervals to recover and refuel.

 

13. Write a Stop Doing List. Every productive person obsessively sets To Do Lists. But those who produce at top levels also record what they commit to stop doing. Steve Jobs said that what made Apple Apple was not so much what they chose to build but all the projects they chose to ignore.

 

14. Use your travel time. If you’re driving 30 minutes to school each way every day – get this: at the end of a year, you’ve spent 6 weeks of 8 hour days in your car. Use that time to listen to fantastic books on audio + excellent podcasts and valuable learning programs.

 

15. Get things right the first time. Most people are wildly distracted these days. So they make mistakes. To unleash your productivity, become one of the special performers who have the mindset of doing what it takes to get it flawless first. This saves you days of having to fix problems.

 

16. Get lost. Don’t be so available to everyone. Turn off your devices and think, create, plan and write. Zero interruptions. Pure focus. Massive results.