7 Habits to Prevent Burnout and Boost Your Productivity
7 Habits to Prevent Burnout and Boost Your Productivity - Twos
For the past 7 years, I’ve worked at 2 major tech companies (Google and Qualcomm), two startups (Twos and Trustwork), and launched 5 apps and websites.
These are the habits I’ve developed to stay consistent and prevent burnout.
1. Find what you love to do
You’ll inevitably have hard days and tough challenges to overcome. This is where loving what you do will make a big difference.
If you get started down a path you don’t love, make a change. You only get one life to live so you may as well keep searching for the thing you love to do.
I found my love for programming by accident. I always thought I’d be an architect. Now, coding wakes me up excited to see what I can build each day.
“Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” — Mark Twain
2. Maintain a good sleep pattern
Sleep is crucial to our overall performance and energy levels.
Try to go to bed and wake up around the same time and shoot for 7–8 hours of sleep per night.
I’ve also heard it’s helpful to finish eating 2–3 hours before you go to bed so your body isn’t focused on digestion and can rest.
The key here is to be consistent so your body gets used to it. Many people will ruin their sleep every weekend, which has a drastic impact on their performance throughout the week.
In my junior year of college I decided to start waking up at 5 am with an alarm. It was tough at first, but usually, by the end of the day I was so tired I would fall right asleep.
Now I try to get in bed by around 8/8:30 pm and read until I fall asleep around 9 pm and wake up around 5 without an alarm.
“Sleep is an essential part of life-but more important, sleep is a gift.” — William C. Dement
3. Allow yourself to take a break
Nowadays we’re always on the move, jumping from one activity to the next.
Allow yourself time to relax and to stop thinking about work.
If your energy is low or you aren’t feeling well, take a break and you’ll be back and ready to go before you know it.
If I’m feeling down, I’ll take a walk or a short break with some music and, within 15–30 minutes and a little reflection, I’ll be back to normal.
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott
4. Don’t be so hard on yourself
If you didn’t hit your goal, it’s okay. What’s more important is the effort you gave.
Continue to show up and make progress and congratulate yourself on how far you’ve come.
We’re all more hard on ourselves than we are on the people around us, so pretend you are talking to your best friend.
I have a list of affirmations I’ll read that paint myself in a nice light and I try to reflect on three things I am grateful for every day.
“Quit being so hard on yourself. We are what we are; we love what we love. We don’t need to justify it to anyone… not even to ourselves” — Scott Lynch
5. Schedule in buffer time
Don’t schedule work and events back to back so you’re always in a rush.
Schedule in buffer time for 5–15 minutes between activities so you can relax.
This was a trick I learned from The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, it makes a huge impact on your anxiety throughout the day.
“Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.” — Coreta Kent
6. Spend time every day on activities you love
This could be reading, taking a walk, going to the gym, or going to dinner.
Make sure you are making time to do the things that make you happy so you can continue to show up with positive energy.
I enjoy breaking up my work with walks or rollerblading and making time to read before bed.
“Love what you do; Do what you love.” — Wayne W. Dyer
7. Recognize there is always another day
If you’re just having a bad day or aren’t feeling well, take a break or call it a day.
I like taking a break before calling it a day because a lot of times I just need to relax for 30 minutes to feel better and get back to work.
Stepping back to see where you are headed in the long term can take a lot of unnecessary pressure off of the day-to-day.
“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” — Abraham Lincoln
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