Three Key Strategies For Maximizing Productivity In 2012

By Edward Foxworth III/Tell Us USA News Network

DETROIT - 2011 may not have been what you expected it to be. Sure there were high notes and low valleys but after all was said and done, here you are! Hopeful, excited about the opportunity to start anew, leaving the challenges of the past behind you and focusing on making things better.

Because success is not an accident, you will have to operate purposefully. Here are my top 3 three areas to address in order to maximize your efforts over the next 12 months.

1) Forget about Multi-tasking. It only works for octopus. By prioritizing what you do and aligning those tasks with a bigger goal, you will minimize trying to please everyone and have time and energy to focus a lot more on you. The health benefit is a reduction of stress and high blood pressure which can trigger other concerns. At the same time, with a rested mind and body, you will be better positioned to connect with your creative side. You will not only experience a high from being much more in control, but once again realize greater and more meaningful output.

2) Overcome Yourself. Now that you have regained some of your focus and energy back, it is time to get out of your own way. Evaluating your habits, behaviors and attitudes when things happen is an important second step. Often referred to as ‘Emotional Intelligence’, it is critical that you understand what pushes your buttons so that you can respond differently. In 2012, we cannot be lead by our feelings! Yes, it is easier said than done, yet, if things are to move in the best possible direction, we will have to take inventory of our attributes as well as our areas of improvement.

3) Decide, Believe and Pursue. Rounding out this list is probably one of the most important strategies for maximizing productivity. Finding some quiet time, and I do mean QUIET time, away from the cell phone, the television, the radio, the family, significant others and everything else, will allow you to complete the priorities that you have listed in strategy number one. In order to maximize your productivity, you must know where you are going. S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) goals do work, but cannot be completed, at least for this writer, in a room full of distractions. Once they are, it is necessary that you believe you can, based on your contacts and their rolodex, your insight and finally your spirituality, that second voice. The final measure in this strategy is to relentlessly pursue those efforts as though your life depended on them!

You cannot and will not maximize your productivity doing what you did in 2011. To get different results, you must do things differently. I trust that you have a plan for the transformational breakthrough that you are about to experience.

Edward Foxworth is a National Speaker and the author of The Six Routines of Self-Discovery. His soon-to-be released CD, “Think! Productivity” is set to be presented in early 2012. You can pick up your copy of his book at www.edwardfoxworth.com.