10 Work and Lifestyle Habits For Success
Successful entrepreneurs have always known that there are a number of work, as well as personal lifestyle habits that lead to success in every aspect of life, regardless of whether the focus is on business, personal relationships or artistic expression.
Countless books, videos and podcasts have been produced over the years that advise entrepreneurs, executives, artists and others on how develop habits that will help them to succeed. The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey is a wonderful example of one such book, as is Getting Things Done by David Allen. Blog Talk Radio’s Life Hack Live from lifehack.org features experts and roundtable discussions on productivity, organization, communication, technology and more.
Here are ten great work habits and lifestyle habits to help you succeed:
5 Work Habits for the Successful entrepreneur
- Check email 2 or 3 times per day and no more. Turn your email client off and set a regular schedule for checking messages and answering them.
- Set a regular business schedule even if your office is in your home. Make a habit of sitting down to work at a certain time each day and be sure to leave your desk for regular breaks and for lunch. Try to schedule meetings for a time of day when the rest of your work day will not be disrupted and schedule as few face to face meetings as you can manage. When scheduling meetings, always set a start time and a finish time; this sets a clear boundary and helps attendees stay on task.
- Utilize systems for everything. With systems in place, you can spend time focusing on productive activities rather than busy work that would be too costly for you to spend your own time doing.
- Set aside 2 hours per day to attend to the unexpected and schedule those hours for a certain time; this way you always have a 2-hour window to schedule in unexpected meetings, phone calls, email responses and anything else that might come up.
- Join groups, get a coach and interact regularly. Set aside time each day to interact – stay visible and engage. Consider working from a co-working space once a week or more so that you have opportunities to network, as well as to get out of your cave; isolating in a home office is not conducive to growth.
5 Lifestyle Habits for the successful Entrepreneur
- Keep a regular work, play and sleep schedule. The old saying “Early to bed early to rise keeps a man healthy, wealthy and wise” has something to it. Many experts advise that it is a good idea get up at the same time every day, try to go to bed at a reasonable hour every night and take regular time off to enjoy life. Many successful entrepreneurs agree that getting up early is a key element to success, though there is a viable argument in keeping with one’s own internal productivity clock, regardless of what “experts” agree on. Pay attention to your daily energetic highs and lows and ultimately stick to a schedule that works best for you.
- Pay attention to what you take into your body. Eat well and eat regularly throughout the day; make sure you always have brain-boosting snacks and eliminate refined sugars and processed foods. Go for super foods that help your brainpower and your increase energy. Limit alcohol intake to evenings that are not followed by an early workday and limit consumption to reasonable, healthy, balanced amounts. Finally, whatever you do: don’t smoke! Nicotine saps your energy and your ability to think.
- Get regular exercise. Even if its just a 30 minute walk in your neighborhood or a 20 yoga practice. If you’re a gym rat, by all means hit the gym. Can’t stand it? Go do something fun like play basketball, hike, surf or swim.
- Meditate Daily: Spend at least 20 minutes in daily mediation to help reduce stress and clear your mind for productivity.
- Personal time. Take at least one day a week, and a minimum of one hour per day of personal time regardless of where you are at on your business track. Use the time to read for fun (not for work!), watch a movie, hang out with your loved ones or do anything else that you enjoy. I hear you when you say, “but I love what I do for business!” I get it. Nevertheless, burnout can come easily when you don’t take any time away to just check out for a while and have fun.
