Top 5 phrases to tell yourself to have a productive work day

Here are 5 key phrases you can tell yourself at work in order to prep for a productive day at work. All five are based on personal mind hacks that work well for me. They’re science-based tips, more or less, but either way, they just work to be productive. Give them a try, make them into your own, and tell us how goes the productivity.

“Just Breathe”

First priority is to tell yourself to breathe. Getting all caught up in the stress of what you perceive you need to get gone will start triggering your amygdala response in your brain. This will leave you thinking more like a lizard and less like that value-add professional the company cannot manage without. Breathing in fresh oxygen in the brain and relaxing your mind will let you regain access to higher cognitive functions. Keep breathing till you feel more oxygenated than stressed. If you can start off your day with a Mindful breathing exercise you will be more set for success.

“I may have some challenges but I’ve got this”

Positively prime yourself for getting through what you need to get through. Be your own cheerleader. Accepting that it may not be smooth sailing but that you will be ready for whatever comes because you are a resourceful person and you have people around to ask for help if you need. Tapping into acceptance and believe you have what you need to advance will make you more resilient to obstacles that do come up. Alternatively, you can think of previous times that you have had productive days and use those memories to further support you priming yourself with, “I’ve got this”.

“Just get started”

Stop overthinking about what to do and start doing something. Your overactive thoughts about strategies and risks may be clouding your vision and self-sabotaging your ability to start. When it’s time to think, think. When it’s time to do, do. Think more agile, more flexible and be ok with good decisions rather than waiting for a perfect decision (which doesn’t exist). You may need to take corrective action and you will learn from that too. An ol’ boss of mine used to tell me, “Jason, you have to walk before you can run”. Today I see the wisdom in that. If you are stuck in a state of paralysis from analysis from running too many scenarios in your head, break free fast. Before you can think, do the smallest, simplest task you need to do. Start with manageable chunks and soon they will become building blocks for more.

“I don’t have to do it, I want to do it”

Language is so important. What we tell ourselves is as important as what we tell others. Using words like “I should” or “I have to” do not evoke warm supportive feelings within us. Those words hold with them guilt and responsibility. While it may surely be a responsibility of yours to do something, how you perceive the reason for doing it is your business. “Wanting” to do something is a far more powerful statement. It also adds intrinsic motivation which is a big plus. Reframe an internal dialogue from, “I have to do my status report for my boss”, into, “I want to do my status report to maintain my professionalism.” Now the undesired task holds more purpose for you than before.

“Nothing is more important that what I’m focused on right now”

Your mobile phone rings because you forgot to turn it off. An email notification chimes at your desk. Someone walks to your office space and starts talking to you. What do all these scenarios have in common? They are all distracting you from the productivity you seek. When these distractions occur tell yourself, “Nothing is more important that what I’m focused on right now”, and manage the distraction quickly so that it doesn’t happen again. There is no need to get frustrated if a new distraction comes up. You got this, remember, and these distractions are making you stronger at disabling future ones. Rinse and repeat until the distractions are disabled and your focus is back on track with being productive the way you set out to be.

If you are really having a hard time to focus then practice a mindful breathing practice for 3-5 minutes. Mindfulness is an excellent approach to gaining more focus.

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