Last time we talked about the importance of sleep and its impact on your productivity level. If you missed that one click here to read habit no. 1 – Sleep.
The second habit to implement is exercise. Physical activity helps you work smarter instead of harder. But how?
Successful People Take Exercise Serious
When billionaire Sir. Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group, was asked what one thing he accredits his mega success to he said exercise. He said he easily gains 4 hours of productive time a day by exercising.
It’s not uncommon that successful people mention exercise as one of their top reasons behind staying on the top of their game, which is why they take it serious.
Science shows that exercise can boost your focus for hours afterwards! That’s why exercise in the morning or in the middle of the day is a great way to boost your focus and when you are focused you get more done in shorter time.
Even a short 10-15 minute exercise break can give you a quick energy and focus jolt anytime during the day. And, it doesn’t have to be traditional “exercise” as in going for a run. Crank up the music and take a dance break! It is both fun and energizing.
Exercise not only helps to boost your focus, but it also helps you to prioritize better, make better decisions and it boosts your memory. Exercise has so many great benefits for your brain and focus, besides your body and health in general.
Heads up though! Since exercise boosts your energy exercising at night can mess with your sleep. I know many that can’t sleep after they exercise. If that’s you, figure out a way to exercise earlier, maybe right after work instead of later in the evening.
But I Don’t Have the Time!
One of the most common excuses people use is that they don’t have time to exercise. That’s a load of crap.
If the President of the United States of America can find time to exercise daily what is your excuse? If Fortune 500 CEO’s and other highly successful people prioritize exercise and find a way to fit it into their schedules, often with non-stop traveling, what is your excuse?
Everything in life is a matter of priority. On average people spend 5 hours a day watching TV, surfing the internet and going down the rabbit hole of social media.
5 hours a day!!! And people say they don’t have time to exercise! Yikes.
If you think you don’t waste much time online I dare you to use a tool like RescueTime on your phone and computer. It will show you how much time you’re wasting on things like social media and other internet sites each week that can easily take you down the “busy but not productive” rabbit hole.
Action Step: Use a tool like RescueTime to track where your time goes every day. You can also track it manually. If you do, you will see that your excuse of not having any time is just that, an excuse.
Is watching TV for an hour or surfing the internet more important to you than your health? Is checking email and social media on your phone first thing in the morning more important that getting your exercise in? What about that lunch break? You can fill it with junk or you can fill it with purpose.
It’s all about what you decide to prioritize. People that prioritize exercise has the same amount of hours in a day as you do.
If you want to be more productive take breaks throughout the day and do a few minutes of yoga, jumping jacks, dance or other, in addition to your regular workout.
