The only three things that have made a massive difference to my productivity

Hi there guys -

For a long time I struggled with productivity, However, in the past 4 weeks I've done many of the things I've been putting off for 6 months or more.

I can put this down to three reasons:

1. Before I didn't need to get anything done - I was earning a good enough living and was getting by just fine. So I decided to change this by putting myself in a difficult situation. I'm now renting an apartment that is almost double what I was previously paying. This forced me into action and outside of my comfort zone. Sometimes you can't just rely on willpower to get you to be more productive - you need to force it!

2. I set myself an incredibly strict deadline. I had to have a product launched by the end of the 13th of January. That's today and I've just launched. The two times in my life when I've been most productive I've had a tight deadline. Learn from that!

If you don't set deadlines then you'll avoid taking action for as long as possible. You should also make sure this deadline is much tighter then you think is reasonably possible - this removes all the sideline tasks that you put in place to procrastinate on the important things.

3. Exercise & healthy living - I've previously tried to work for 2-3 days straight for 18 hours a day and I burn out very quickly. Now I try to introduce healthy eating (food supplements, avoiding carbs) as well as exercise of both the body and the mind (yoga, meditation and kettlebell swings)

I'd be interested to hear if you've noticed similar results and if there's one thing you could attribute to a massive boost in your productivity.