It’s an uncomfortable truth that if you’re waiting for circumstances or other people around you to “make you” be productive, you’ll be waiting a long time. Productivity comes from the inside out. The good news is that as a time management coach, I see people learn the skills to be more productive each and every day. If you’re feeling stuck in a productivity slump, you can find your way out of it to better use your time and get more done.

Here are five simple things that productive people do to accomplish more of what matters to them every day.

THEY KNOW WHAT THEY WANT

Instead of waking up and seeing what happens, productive people start the day with a clear picture of what’s important to them and what they want to accomplish. They may clarify this the evening before or in the morning at the start of their workday. But they never jump into work without knowing what’s most essential and roughly when they expect to get certain tasks done.

For example, if they have a report due soon, they might decide to complete the draft before lunch and incorporate any edits from colleagues in the last hour of their day.

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