I’ve always looked for ways to improve my productivity (not to work more and more, but work less and do more :D ).
One of the best things I’ve found is to get routines in your life: things that you do the same time every time. This frees up a lot of energy that you need during the day to make important decisions. Obviously, put routine in low level decisions. I walk to the office on the same route, I do the same things in the mornings, in the same order, at the same time. And it pays off: it’s easier for me to not eat after 6pm or take a better decision in a particular situation.
Two people that are known for doing this (they dress or used to dress pretty much the same way every time so that they don’t need to make a decision about it) are Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.
You can read more about it in this book (Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength) or, shorter, read about Decision Fatique in New York Times.
So, what things do you do all the time can be put into a routine?
P.S.: it might sound that you do not allow “passion” and “spark” come into your life, that you become a boring person. Well, if you define not boring by the order you brush your teeth or take your shower…
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