Productivity after 7 pm

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A day job takes a lot out of us. Returning home at around 7 pm and then going back to office, the next morning is a bit of a monotonous routine which almost everyone of us do not appreciate. Even our families wait for weekends to enjoy with us and also get the chores done.

When we reach home, we usually spend our time watching news or some form of entertainment on television. We spend time on our mobile phones, watching YouTube videos, scrolling facebook and instagram pages and so on. But is that enough? Are we taking care of the larger goals in life?

The four most important areas of that relate to us are:

Health. This gives us the energy and ensures longevity.

Personal. There are some aspirations that everyone has, but does not address due to lack of time.

Family. These are the people which are with us throughout our lifetime, good or bad, happy or sad.

Net Worth. This is the financial aspiration for the bread and butter.

You need to address all of them in order to lead a happy and successful life. Ignoring any one of them has its negative effects on our lives, either short term or long term.

Therefore, as you return home from work, there is something useful and productive that you can do to address these important areas of life in about four or five hours that you have.

Keep the Big Picture in mind

Write down at least 2 things in each of these areas that you need to address and find the most important one. Plan your goals and take it One Bite at a Time. It may be going for a quick jog in the park or gym, finish 4 books in a month, teaching your kids or even playing with them or so on. But keep a larger goal in your mind.

Get rid of Unwanted activities

Once you are home, do not get involved in activities which eat up your time and do not contribute to any of these four areas. These activities are typically watching youtube videos, engaging in social media, talking to colleagues over the phone, watching television for more than an hour, etc. These activities are the activities that do not require your attention once you are at home with your family. You may also install controlling apps such as QualityTime or RescueTime to limit your smartphone usage. Uncontrolled smartphone usage is a curse to productivity and happiness.

Facetime with Family

Remember that the amount of facetime that you give to any of your relation, has a direct impact on the strength and depth of the relationship. Make sure when you talk to people, keep your phones away, look at them, smile and talk. Listen to your spouse’s or kids’ routine, what has happened to them at their school, college or jobs. You may sometimes plan your weekends on Thursdays or Fridays which gives everyone something to look forward to on the coming weekend. It may be a movie, a visit to a mall, a small pizza party at home or any such thing. Engage and enjoy with them.

Get Selfish

Spend about an hour dedicated to yourself. During this hour, read books, listen to songs or do any activity that pleases you, for which you do not have time but you would love to do! It may also be working towards an idea that you may have had but never got time to work towards it. Even a small step everyday will take you about 300 steps in a year. If you do not take small steps, time is going to pass anyway! It may even be building a skill that may be required for your professional growth at job by doing an online course or something else, but you never got time to look at it. Think and write down the top three things that you will do tomorrow. Spend this time in isolation to be most effective.

Set alarm

The last thing you do before dozing off to sleep is setting up an alarm for the morning. Seven to eight hours of sleep is healthy for an adult. It feels really nice to dim your lights at least 15-20 minutes before you sleep. It tranquilizes you and sets up the mood for a good sleep.

Performing the above activities after you return home makes you productive and gives you a feeling of success. Everyone has the same time when they return home, but some people make better use of it than others, only to be more happy and energetic. It is not necessary to do the same things every day again and again. But try this with a perspective in mind for a month to translate it into a habit!

Please share your comments and more tips below! I’d love to hear them.

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Follow my blog  for more useful articles! This article was originally published on my blog on 30th March 2017. 

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