The Normal Everyday Person's Guide To Productivity

Go online and you’ll see every single multimillionaire’s guide to productivity, from ice baths, salt in your water in the morning, dipping your face in lemon water, and a whole bunch of routines that mean absolutely nothing.

I own a commission based business. I make a good living. I’ve been a sales trainer for multiple years, teaching people how to make at least six figures. I've taught about productivity for awhile. But what I want people to really know is that work isn’t the only thing necessary for a good life. I’m not trying to sell you a damn thing, and I’m just some random guy on the internet, but I hope I can offer some solid advice here.

Most people suck at life. Most people have a hard time doing anything productive in this day and age. There’s a significant number of distractions and a billion things pulling at your attention. So how do you stay productive and still have a life? Here are my top 3 biggest tips that you can implement today:

1. Get a Calendar

I had a guy tell me early in my sales career, “Show me your calendar and your checkbook, and I’ll show you your future.” What you spend your time and money on is what you actually care about.

Your first step: Get organized with a calendar. Take everything you must do over the next 4 weeks and write it down. Dedicate it to your calendar. Don’t plan the next year, or even 6 months, just focus on roughly the next month.

Write down literally everything: oil changes, gifts you need to buy, changing batteries in the smoke detectors. Every. Thing.

Then, knock out everything that takes 5 minutes or less on your next day off. Follow that up the next weekend with the things that take an hour or more. You’ll now have calendar dates showing the last time you did these tasks, whether it’s an oil change or a fire alarm battery and you can already schedule the next one months down the line.

Calendars are flexible. Make it your calendar. But if you’re having a hard time figuring out what to do, here’s a base structure:

• Block off the first 2 hours of the day for yourself.
• Block off your work hours, your sleeping hours, and your dedicated family time.
• Fill in the rest of the time with your hobbies/fun time/friend events ect.

2. Sleep Time

You need sleep to be productive, seriously guys. Nothing good comes from staying up late or skipping your bedtime. The #1 productivity tip is this: GO TO SLEEP.

You’re not doing anything useful late at night, and you’re just wrecking your next day and your health. I don’t give a damn about your morning routine, I do recommend working out or doing something to stimulate yourself, but sleep is way more important and is what helps you stick to a routine.

Do something in the morning that makes you happy and wakes you up: spend time with your spouse or kids, make breakfast for your family, pray, meditate, or work out. Whatever it is, if you don’t get sleep the night before, none of it matters.

3. Get the Hell Off Social Media (Most of the Time)

I get it, everyone loves social media. But you need to control it.

Block off time in your calendar when you're allowed to use social media. Don’t use it when you're with family, at work, or during your morning routine. Set a strict time frame, and use an external app to limit access if you need to.

If you’re doing nothing at all to help yourself be productive, this is the best starting point (in my opinion). Mainly: control your time and keep distractions to a minimum. And don’t stress about being overly productive right away.productivity will come once you get into a routine and clear out the clutter.

Then can start using timers, AI, tools, and all the other stuff gurus push.