With many of us now working from home, our daily routines may no longer be as organized as we would like. And while it’s nice to roll out of bed, log right onto work and play the day by ear, it’s better to incorporate some daily habits that will set you up for productivity and success. In today’s “Financially Savvy Female” column, we’re exploring four daily habits you should consider making a part of your routine based on Dojo’s study of how 26 successful female business owners, CEOs and founders spend their days.
By Gabrielle Olya
Keep Up With the Latest: Sign Up for The Financially Savvy Female NewsletterSee: 5 Easy Financial Habits Every Woman Should Pick Up
More From Your Money: Choose a high-interest saving, checking, CD, or investing account from our list of top banks to start saving today.
1. Divide Your Day Into Time Blocks Dedicated To Specific Tasks
Time blocking involves breaking the workday into specific time slots during which you focus on one specific task. These blocks can include checking email, working on a project, attending meetings and taking breaks (yes, breaks are an important part of the day!). You can decide when to slot what based on when you tend to be most productive and what tasks require the most energy or attention.
Grace Beverley, owner of TALA fitness, schedules her daily rest. And instead of time blocking days, tennis great and owner of S by Serena, Serena Williams, blocks out specific days of the week for different tasks — Mondays are her “think days” while Wednesdays are dedicated to meetings.
Tips: How To Ask For a Raise — and Get It
2. Prioritize Your Daily To-Do List
If it always seems like you have a neverending to-do list, it’s best to take some time to prioritize your tasks — it’s likely that many of these items don’t need to be addressed immediately. Beverley uses the Eisenhower Important Principle to help her categorize her tasks by urgency.
Using this method, divide your tasks into the following categories: urgent and important, important but not urgent, not important but urgent, and not important and not urgent. Prioritize tasks that are urgent and important, schedule tasks that are important but not urgent for a later time, delegate any tasks that are urgent but not important, and consider eliminating anything that is not important or urgent.
3. Plan Out as Much as You Can in Advance
Planning out as much of your day as you can ahead of time can minimize “decision fatigue,” which can be a major drain on your productivity.
Many of the female entrepreneurs and executives analyzed by Dojo plan many aspects of their days in advance so that they can focus on more pressing matters as they arise. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour wears a similar outfit every day so she doesn’t waste time choosing clothes every morning, while reality-star-turned-mogul Kim Kardashian West lays out her workout clothes the night before and meal preps to reduce the number of choices she has to make each day.
See: 4 Money Lies Women Tell Themselves (& Why They’re Not True)
4. Make Time for Exercise
Nearly all of the successful women analyzed incorporate exercise as part of their daily routines, including Beyoncé, Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
In addition to the physical benefits, exercising has a number of cognitive benefits, including improved concentration, sharper memory, faster learning, prolonged mental stamina, enhanced creativity and lower stress, the Harvard Business Review reported. In addition, exercise has been shown to elevate mood, which can improve workplace performance.
