Chapter 3: 4 Home Productivity Hacks by Celebrities like Richard Branson

In our last productivity chapter, we elaborated on hacks that can make your productivity at work go from a dull zero to an exhilarating 100. While there is still an ample amount of advice available on the internet for work, very few foci on the homefront.

Most of us associate productivity with things we do at work and fail to understand that productivity at work is directly proportional to productivity at home. The way we start our day or actions that we take back home, augment our productivity and allow us to make most of our day.

Keeping this in mind, we did some hard work for you and dove into the daily lives of successful people to understand what keeps them going. Here are four actionable takeaways that you can start immediately to make a difference in your daily life.

Have a morning ritual
How many of you snooze the alarm until you have no choice but to quickly shower, race out the door, and grab some (unhealthy) breakfast on the way to work? We see a lot of heads nodding.

A productive day undoubtedly starts with a productive morning. Having the first 30-60 minutes of your day to yourself is a highly effective yet most understated productivity hack. These first few minutes of the day not only give you a great head start but also allow you to invest in your body and mind.

In fact, a lot of millionaires of our generation have their own version of morning rituals. Where Richard Branson (Founder of the Virgin Group) swims around his island and play tennis before sitting down for a healthy breakfast, Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter & Square) wakes up at 5.30 to meditate, followed by a 6-mile jog, Indra Nooyi, on the other hand, wakes up as early as 4 am and reaches office no later than 7 am.

So the first step to being productive at home begins with finding your version of ‘morning time’ and sticking to it.

To-do list to the rescue
The way you structure your day can either hurt or help your productivity. When you know exactly what you need to do and get done, you can then hit the ground running the first thing when you start your day.

You save time without having to think or organize your day because you already know what to do. But unfortunately, most people get to the office at the very last minute and then spend their time thinking about what to do. And that’s where a ‘to-do list’ comes into the picture.

Just like a morning ritual, it is also a productivity hack that contributes to many people’s successes, including Elon Musk (CEO of SpaceX) and Nathan Blecharczyk (billionaire, and co-founder of Airbnb). In fact, some successful people go the extra mile and give each day a job or theme. This means that they devote certain days of their work to different types of work. For example, on Mondays, they would focus on meetings, Tuesdays for product development, Wednesdays for marketing and so-on.

Simply put, start your day with an agenda and a plan ahead because people who fail to plan for their day, eventually become a part of other people’s plans.

Accomplish something beyond work
A healthy work-life balance is not only about succeeding at work or earning a certain digit figure. It’s about having a sense of accomplishment, both at work and at home. Make room for things that can fit into your overall vision for work and life.

It could be as simple as reading a book you’ve always wanted to, watching a long DIY video, being more involved in your kids’ football, dance or drama practices or doing something long-planned as learning a guitar or any new language.

All you have to do and decide is that ‘one thing’ that always takes a back seat and you will definitely see a change.

Make it home for dinner (Always!)
There is always more to be done, more that should be done, and more that can be done. But work shouldn’t stop you from spending time with your family, and most importantly yourself.

And making it home in time for dinner is a productivity hack that makes you realize that there will always be more to do at work, you just need to decide when to take a hard stop intentionally. Just remember that spending time with your family and taking time at night to rest and recharge is always a wise decision.

Bonus Tip
By now, we’re guessing that our tips are being put to action. So, try and keep things as simple as possible. If you are writing down your to-do list, focus on things you intend to finish in maximum of 32 hours, starting a workout regime- start with 30 minutes a day, making room for things you always wanted to do- take baby steps and start with something simple. The idea is to find your inner peace, both at work and at home.