When all is said and done, everyone wants to get a range of different things handled and accomplished on an everyday basis, and over the course of life as a whole.

For this reason, among others, there are a huge number of different tools, guides, systems, and methodologies that are designed specifically to help boost productivity, and to ensure that we are able to track and manage our assorted projects in a smooth manner, while communicating effectively with anyone we might be working alongside.

Ultimately, though, productivity doesn’t always come down to having the most cutting edge tool at your disposal, or maintaining the clearest lines of communication with your colleagues. A lot of the ability to actually “get things done” will have to do with your everyday habits, routines, and assorted systems.

Whether you are looking to use your time more effectively, so that you can make headway on personal hobbies, or to spend more time with your loved ones, or whether you are striving to be more productive in your career, here are a few tips for getting more done each day that are likely to be reliable and broadly applicable.

Minimise highly stimulating distractions

This first point here may well seem unexpected, and may not immediately be obvious. Nonetheless, when you want to get more done on a daily basis, minimising highly stimulating distractions and activities in your day-to-day routine can be one of the most effective steps to take of all.

Today, there are a huge number of different entertainment and “time wasting” options on offer, ranging from endlessly scrolling through social media feeds, to surfing the web all day and skimming dozens of articles about any number of different subjects.

The thing is, these sorts of highly stimulating pastimes – in addition to others like playing video games – have been associated with impulsivity, and with difficulty concentrating, or feeling satisfied when engaging in more mundane everyday activities, such as reading a book, dealing with household chores, or going for a stroll.

According to various writers on the subject, a key part of the issue is that these sorts of highly stimulating activities lead to quick, frequent, and relatively powerful bursts of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which over time makes us more “addicted” to those activities, and more desensitised to other things.

If, for example, you have been habitually playing lots of video games and have found that your motivation for dealing with virtually anything else in your life has diminished significantly, this may well be because the games themselves have caused everything else to feel dull and un-motivating to you, over time.

The more you can cut out these kinds of highly stimulating activities, or at least limit them, the more motivated you will tend to feel to deal with less innately stimulating tasks that may play a very important role in directing the course of your life as a whole.

Use a to do list that you find satisfying and aesthetically pleasing

On any given day, there may be all sorts of different tasks that you want to deal with, ranging from things like introducing phonics to your child, to tidying up the house, getting your car serviced, reading a particular book, sending an important email, or taking the initial steps to begin your own business.

In order to keep on top of the various tasks arrayed before you, there’s a good chance that you will use a to do list – and it’s more and more likely in today’s digital world that you use a sophisticated to do list app of one sort or another.

The thing is, if your to do list is just a haphazard list of tasks that you don’t find particularly engaging or motivating in and of themselves, there is a real risk that you will never end up making significant headway on it, or feeling motivated to do so, either. Your to do list can, then, become just another source of stress and frustration.

When you’re looking to get more done on a regular basis, using a to do list that you find satisfying and aesthetically pleasing can be a very good way of adding a bit of motivation and initiative to your routine.

Among other things, you may want to consider using a to do list app that has a design style that you find motivating and uplifting, along with certain cues – such as colours and sound effects – that give you a real sense of satisfaction when you cross off an item from your to do list.

Of course, you may opt to go for an analog paper list, and may find that a system such as “The Bullet Journal Method” gives you that extra dose of motivation.

Do what you can to get more sleep

Sleep deprivation is at epidemic levels today, across much of the world. According to leading sleep scientists and researchers, there seem to be many different potential causes of this unfortunate development, including the fact that more and more of us today are exposing ourselves to bright light in the evenings, and are filling our nights with highly engaging forms of digital entertainment, instead of winding down.

Whether as a result of too much blue light at night, too much caffeine during the day, a prolonged work schedule, or any number of other things, there’s a good chance that you are one of the many who find themselves feeling chronically sleepy and fatigued on a day-to-day basis.

Among other things, sleep deprivation reduce productivity, impairs problem-solving, damages motivation and increases perceived exertion. In other words, if you want to get more done on a daily basis – and especially if you want to get things done to a high standard – doing what you can to get more sleep each night, and more restful sleep each night in particular, is likely to be a very good idea.

Pay attention to your everyday habits

Your everyday habits will tend to have a lot to do with how much you get done, and how productive you are as a whole.

Certain habits will naturally tend to make you more motivated, confident, and energetic, whereas others will tend to have the opposite effect. Pay attention to how your particular habits impact you, and take steps to strengthen the habits that uplift you, while weakening the habits that drag you down.

Among other things, habits such as getting some regular physical exercise, having nutritious meals at set times, and maintaining regular sleep and wake times are likely to be very useful.

Work to generate momentum as quickly as you can each day

Have you ever heard the saying, “if you want something done, give it to a busy person?”

The basic idea behind the saying is that people who are busy tend to have a lot of momentum working in their favour, and are also likely to be significantly better at prioritising and time management, among other things.

A lot of the time that we all tend to spend “unproductively,” is really spent procrastinating or trying to get ready to put ourselves in a position of momentum where we can effectively and powerfully take action. 

The key thing is that the more quickly and effectively you can generate momentum each day, the more you are likely to be able to get done on a given day, and the more driven, positive, and balanced you are likely to feel as a result.

Try to get started on some meaningful task or activity as early on in the day as you can, and there’s a good chance that you’ll find it much easier to move onto the next task, and the next one, and the next one, without feeling the same level of internal resistance as you otherwise would.