Social media has done an incredible job of making the world a smaller place and connecting those who would otherwise not be able to interact in person.
However, on the flip side of the coin, social media has bred a generation of people who have incredibly short attention spans and struggle with being productive. As the business world begins to demand higher and higher levels of efficiency, many people need to begin to address the bad habits they have that are detracting from their productivity.
Rena Awada was a typical stay-at-home-mother to young child. She ate empty calories on the run and never had time to work out. Her children were her everything and she rarely made time for other aspects of her life. However, even with this ruthless dedication to being a mother, she was not doing well.
This is when she worked to develop better balance in her life, cut back on excess, and adopt healthier habits.
In particular, she made sure to eat healthy and workout daily. She is now the founder of Healthy Fitness Meals, has more children, and balances it all. I talked with her about this incredible journey and what advice she has for those who need to improve their productivity.
Prioritize your personal wellness
It can be easy to forego a healthy meal or skip a day of exercise simply because you need some more time, but in the long run the miniscule amount of time saved will not make you more successful.
There is a direct link between how healthy you are and how much energy you have during the day. You may be tempted to overlook this information for the short run satisfaction, but whether you are a parent, a founder, or a businessperson, your success relies on you staying healthy.
Obviously, there is a lot that goes into prioritizing your wellness and a lot of information on how to be healthy, but Awada broke down the important parts for easy adoption. Firstly, you need to set aside an hour for exercise first thing in the morning.
Starting off the day with exercise will not only wake you up and get your blood pumping for a full day of activity, but also reduces the chances that you forget to hit the gym or let other responsibilities take priority. An hour of exercise a day will be enough to keep your heart in good shape, build better muscle tone, and help you maintain higher energy levels.
Secondly, you need to do your best to mix in healthier foods to your diet. Awada recommends prepping this food ahead of time, since one of the biggest reasons people eat unhealthy is because junk food is quick and easy.
Planning out meals multiple days in advance and having go-to healthy meals will make sure you can get a well-rounded mix of foods in during your days. You do not even necessarily need to cutback how much you eat, so long as you are getting enough vegetables and laying off empty calories from sugary junk foods.
Maintain a strict schedule
As the parent of young children, Awada’s work and life schedules revolves around when her children are in school and need to be transported to various activities.
When first starting her company, she was hesitant to believe she could fit everything into her day, but with diligent work on planning out her days, she made it work. Her biggest trick here is to block out time slots with necessary tasks that need to be done and regardless of how much she gets done, she moves onto the next set of tasks when the time is finished.
When her children are ready to be picked up from school, she cannot choose to clock in another hour wrapping up work; she needs to grab her kids and switch back to mother-mode. Similarly, for other people, she recommends viewing your days more based on blocks of time than on tasks that need to be done.
Not only can this mindset help prevent you from getting bogged down with stress, it will ensure you balance all of your responsibilities equally. Of course, every so often Awada does find herself staying up later to finish up loose ends, but she tends to try to keep a fairly regimented sleep cycle as well.
No matter your field or interests, your productivity dictates how well you are performing and how much you can tackle during any given day. Rather than compulsively checking social media notifications and getting distracted by the slightest thing, dedication to health, wellness, and schedules can help improve overall efficiency and boost focus.
Eating healthy, exercising, and planning out time for work and life help Rena Awada juggle the many tasks she has between being a mother, founder, and individual. These habits can help instill better health and set you on a track to success in the long-run.