Productivity comprises techniques and tools. But, come to think of it, productivity is a mindset. It is a conscious desire to do more and be more. Hence, the desire to be more productive has to do with a positive, strong and resilient mindset.

However, there are times when your desire to be productive with your time is an attempt to escape from your personal problems and inner turmoil. Productivity then becomes a form escape, which leads to nowhere actually. This one of the reasons behind our failure to be consistently productive. Hence, the more mentally at peace and emotionally stable you are, the more productive you would be in your work and life.

7 Crucial Steps to Increase Mental Peace and Cultivate Productivity

Here are 7 basic steps to increase your inner peace and emotional stability in order to cultivate your productivity:

Start Afresh

We are often held back by limitations and circumstances. Sometimes, we create our own limitations by holding on to the past, our grudges, regrets, fears and negative beliefs. All this baggage basically leaves no room for productivity and creativity.

Hence, learn to leave behind all that emotional clutter and start afresh every day. You failed to do something yesterday? Don’t carry forward the guilt to the next day. Were you upset about something yesterday? Na…forget about it. It’s a brand new day!

Start every morning with zeal and energy, as if you have been born just today and everything is new, exciting and full of possibilities. Hence, the lesser negative energy and emotional clutter you carry around, the more productive you would be.

Meditate for 5 Minutes Every Day

You can start a day afresh if you have ended the previous day on a positive note. One way to do so is to meditate, even if it is for 5 minutes, before going to bed. Meditation helps us connect with our inner self and re-align our energies.

Meditation starts with taking deep breaths, which lowers our stress and fatigue. Similarly, it helps us re-connect to our inner core and align our energies. It helps us let go of the negative aspects and the chaos of our day and allows us to relax.

Once you wake up the next day, meditate again for 5 minutes. Allow yourself to be reminded of your power and purpose. This way you can start your day on  a positive and productive note.

Identify Your Triggers

We tend to react to certain things because all of us have certain triggers. For instance, you might get triggered by people who are argumentative, jealous, criticize too much or lazy. Similarly, sleep deprivation and hunger can be your triggers.

Once you understand your personal triggers, you learn to manage your emotional and physical energies accordingly in situations and around people. You would learn to interact with people, react to situations and deal with them according to your triggers. This way you would be able to avoid unpleasant situations and conflicts and maximize your productivity.

Screen Out Negative People

We are social beings and live and work with people. But not everyone is like us. Some people can be negative or toxic in their thinking, beliefs and way of working. Consequently, they end up negatively impacting our mood and energy as well, thus bringing down our productivity.

While it may not be possible to entirely cut out these people from our lives, we can try and limit our interaction with them. The most important thing you can do is not to waste your time arguing with them. Just distance yourself politely and choose to focus on yourself and your work instead.

Watch What You Consume

We consume a lot of social media every day. Some of it is good, positive and entertaining. But a lot of it is frivolous and negative, which does nothing but waste our time. More importantly, it negatively impacts our mood and energy and ultimately our creativity

So, be wise with your time and what you digitally consume every day. Don’t watch the news if it’s negative, a movie if it is depressing. Instead, watch something positive, motivating, and thought provoking something worth your time.  

Prioritize Yourself

Many of our persona setbacks and failures are because we don’t give importance to our ‘self’. We are not realizing what we actually ‘need’ to get where we want to ‘go’. We may need the time, the energy, and most importantly, the skill set to achieve something.
But our days and lives as working women, as moms, daughters, supporting friends and doting sisters, are all about taking care of others, nurturing others.

As a result, we end up compromising on our dreams and priorities. We might not be taking care of our health and emotional needs too. All of which ultimately impact our productivity.
 Hence, sometimes, do make things about you. Do allocate 70% to your family, your job, your projects, but don’t  forget to allocate 30% of your energies to yourself. Rest, re-charge, study, rebuild, so you can be your best!

Let Things Go

Much of our anguish and emotional issues stem from things in the past, our unresolved trauma in the past. We think too much about it, we relive it again and again. It doesn’t help always. There are more regrets and anger. It makes us forget about the power and potential the present, the today, the here and now hold. Thus, holding on to the past impacts our productivity.

Don’t keep thinking and wishing the past to be different, for people to be different. Let bygones be bygones. You would discover that the lesser baggage you have, the more you are able to do in the present. The more productive, purposeful and powerful you will be.

To Conclude

Productivity is not just techniques and tools. It is a mindset that allows us to eliminate the negativities and focus on the positivities. But you cannot be negative and expect positive outcomes in your work and life. Make sure that your productivity is not an attempt to escape from your personal issues and problems. For this, you need to cultivate your mental peace first so that you can focus on your goals. To sum up, learn to take positive, conscious steps to increase your mental peace, and this would positively impact your productivity.