2 Ways to Have Better Habits & Increase Productivity

Do you struggle with sticking with new habits? Do you tend to do well for a few weeks, only to fall off & then get discouraged?

And let’s be honest about your To-Do List: How much do you REALLY get done from it? Do you get frustrated because you feel like you’re so busy but at the end of the day you think, “What did I do today?!”

I’ve been in these situations and have had many clients come to me feeling the same way: stressed and wanting to do something about it, but not sure where to start.

Here are two ways that you can start being more productive, increase your energy and focus, while being able to stick with positive healthy habits! Are you ready?!

Habit Stacking & Time Blocking are two very important tools I teach my clients in order to be able to “run the day” instead of feeling bogged down, frustrated and stressed day in day out.

Habit Stacking

This is a technique where you pair a NEW behavior/habit you want to implement with an existing one. When it comes to habits, we want to keep them SIMPLE, EASY and DIRECT.

Our brains like STRAIGHT-FORWARD; it is constantly finding ways to make things easier, requiring less effort and decision making. Habit Stacking helps with this, because it removes the barrier of “when will I do this ______ new habit?”

You want to make the Habit Stacking SPECIFIC, SIMPLE and RELEVANT.

Here are some examples:

Increasing your Water Intake:

You drink a glass of water as you brew your coffee or tea.
You have a glass of water as you sit down before every meal.

Increasing your Physical Activity:

You take a walk every morning before breakfast and after dinner.
Every time you go to the bathroom, you do stretches, jumping jacks or squats.
Once you log off from work or school, you immediately go work out.

These small habits DO add up and habit stacking makes it a routine & something that you can maintain.

Time Blocking

This is a technique used to increase productivity and create structure within your routine. This can work for anyone, whether you’re a working professional, student, mom, etc.! As a business owner, this has been one of the most important tactics I use for optimal time management and effiency.

Contrary to popular belief, multi-tasking does NOT make you more efficient. In fact, it can actually slow you down! When you are switching tasks constantly or trying to do multiple things at once, your quality of work may suffer & you it takes you longer to re-focus between tasks.

Time Blocking is what it sounds like: You designate specific blocks of time to doing certain things. This is also for those who struggle with consistency of healthy habits (like exercise or food prep), because it forces you to set aside time to “do the hard things!” that you might have otherwise procrastinated on!

How to do it: Look at your daily and/or weekly calendar and designate specific times that you will do certain things. Some tasks to time block:

Grocery shopping, meal planning & food prep, exercise sessions, relaxation & down time/social interaction, doing chores and errands etc.

You then decide on specific (yet realistic) time frames that you will complete these in. Allow for enough time, but also create a reasonable block so that it create a sense of urgency to complete. For example, 30 minutes might not be enough time to grocery shop and food prep, but saying “Sunday afternoon” is not specific enough.

Time Blocking also is fantastic for those with work and/or school with multiple responsibilities. Use this technique to block out times for when you will do admin, meetings, studying, making calls etc. and then of course your personal time.

For example:

Exercise 1 hour 7-8am
Personal (get ready for work) 30 min
8:30a-10:30am Admin and Emails
11am-12:30pm Meetings or Calls
Lunch and Walk
Repeat cycle in afternoon

BONUS TIP: Put away the distractions (i.e. your phone!) and keep minimal tabs open on your computer, to resist the urge to check/distract yourself from the task at hand. Designate only certain times of day (habit stack!) of when you will do these habits, so that they don’t interfere with your focus.

When you are more focused and productive, your energy and confidence will increase. You will feel less stressed and will also give you more time to work on your health goals! And that is my goal: To help YOU become healthier and happier!

Feel free to contact me at allisonbergstromfitness@yahoo.com with any questions.

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