Habits that affect your productivity the most at home or at work

This answer by Nicolas Cole, an artist, writer, and creative marketing strategist, originally appeared on Quora as an answer to the question: "Which daily habit affects productivity the most?"

I thought long and hard about this question, and I'm not sure if there's one single thing that changed my productivity.

I think it was a series of small changes overall that ultimately created the big change.

I'll detail them here:

Hal Elrod talks about this in his book "The Miracle Morning." What you do in the early hours of the day is what ultimately sets you up for success. This is your foundation.

For me, I used to sleep in, ignore my alarm, and snooze, snooze, snooze. Not anymore. I get up when I say I'm going to get up — but there's a deeper reason why this is important.

When you set your alarm the night before, you are making a promise to yourself: "I promise to get up at 6:30am." If you snooze on that first alarm, then before you've even gotten out of bed you've broken a promise to yourself. Not the best way to start the day, and not a very good way of practicing honoring and trusting yourself. This simple action is what helps reinforce the deeper habits that need changing.

Once you're up, set your intention for the day — this will help you see the positive in all that unfolds, and keep you focused on your goals.

Take a deep breath, and then begin.

2. Read while you eat.

Arnold Schwarzenegger taught me this — albeit indirectly. I eat a lot throughout the day, and those hours are precious to me. Yes, there are times in the day when it's best to enjoy the food and the experience of eating, but you'd be amazed how many books you can read by putting a book beside you while you eat — instead of watching the T.V, browsing the Internet, etc.

Flickr/Pedro Ribeiro SimõesA book and a snack

There are a few reasons why this is a good habit.

For one, it educates you — there is nothing more beneficial to your productivity and aims in life than reading about others who have done the same and learning from them.

But second, it keeps your mind fresh. Reading before a meeting, a presentation, a day of work will help keep your skills sharp — and that means getting things done better and faster; aka the building blocks of productivity.

Read, read, read!

3. Exercise the body.

Do you really think you're going to get more done by sitting in front of your desk for another three hours? No, you're not — and if you do, it's going to be sub-par work.

Too many people live with this belief that "doing more" means actually getting "more done." False. Oftentimes, you get more DONE by DOING LESS.

Part of this requires keeping a clear head and making time to take care of your own body. All the great minds of our past made time for exercise. You need to too. Otherwise, you will live in your head, disconnected from your body and emotion, and you will never produce anything of value.

Exercise! Get back in your body!

4. Review before bed.

However you want to go about it (journal in your notebook, Microsoft Word doc, etc.), it's important that you take a moment at the end of the day to review the day — otherwise, how will you know whether you've improved or not?

Nicolas Cole, Quora

Make note to yourself how well you were able to stay on track throughout the day — both the positives and the works-in-progress. Be honest with yourself. Could you have made better use of your morning hours? Did you spend too long browsing social media this afternoon? Did you consciously choose not to read during lunch? How come?

But also, maybe you finally made it to the gym for the first time in two weeks! You didn't hit the snooze this morning! Don't forget to pat yourself on the back as well.

Ask yourself these tough questions, and then write down what you can do differently next time. Every day is another opportunity, and if you fail today, celebrate at the fact that you were aware enough to catch yourself, and be excited for the chance tomorrow to do something different.

flickr user Nicole AprilReview your day before bed.

This review before bed will help you really see, each day, if you are working towards your end goals for the week, month, year — or, it will reveal to yourself the ways in which you work against yourself, or stand in your own way.

These tiny shifts throughout the day then will paint for you a very different reality. Your mornings will be powerful, invigorating and a reminder of where you want to go. Your meals will act as reminders to feed your body and your brain, to always be growing. Your exercise will help you breathe, take a moment from the business of your mind and remember what is truly important in life. And your nightly review will give you a chance to see where you made mistakes, and what you did well.

All these combined are what create a productive person. Because a productive person is one who understands the value of their own time, and puts it to good use.

If you liked this answer, you can read more on my blog: www.nicolascole.com, or follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/nicolascole77 or Twitter @NicolasCole77.

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