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New year, new you—right? If you want to be more productive in 2018, I have six tips to help you stay on track and maintain your daily tasks. 1. Remain calm. We all have bad days or days that have been a little tougher than most. No matter what’s going on in your personal life or what’s happening with a difficult client, your client doesn’t want to hear about it. If you are having a difficult time, take a deep breath, relax, and be professional. Remind yourself that it will all work itself out. 2. Don’t jump into your inbox first thing in the morning. If you want to stay focused on certain tasks, don’t start your day with your email. If you do, you’re more likely to get distracted and do things that aren’t cost-productive. You’ll be too busy replying to emails, checking your Facebook, or shuffling papers. Focus on important things like prospecting first thing in the morning. Once your important tasks are done, you can take some time to check your emails. That way, you won’t have to scramble to finish something important later in the day, either. 3. Do what’s important first. This goes along with my second tip, but it will really help you stay focused and be more productive in 2018. No matter what you’ve got on your plate, do what is going to make you money that day. That means you need to talk to your clients, so look at your prospecting log, see if there is anyone you need to follow up with, and make sure you do that. “At the end of the day, write down what you are supposed to do tomorrow so that you can hit the ground running.” 4. Get rid of all of your distractions. Cell phones can be incredibly distracting. I shut mine off in the morning so that I can focus on prospecting. Keep your phone out of sight while you are tackling those important tasks first thing in the morning. 5. Develop a consistent morning routine. Believe it or not, consistency is key when it comes to maintaining your daily tasks. If you wake up at 6:00 a.m., work out, shower and eat breakfast around 7:00 a.m., and then head to the office at 8:00 a.m., try to stick to that each morning. Experts say that waking up at the same time every day is important to our Circadian rhythm and actually helps us sleep better at night. Even if you don’t head to the office on Sunday, wake up and stick to the other aspects of that morning ritual.  This ritual might include meditation, exercise, reading, journaling, or listening to a business podcast or inspirational music. Do whatever it takes to get going. Your body will adjust to that, and you will be in a state of mind to get to work.   6. Start tomorrow today. This is the most important thing that I do each day. When my work day is done, I pick up my planner and write down what I am supposed to do tomorrow. That way, I can organize my important tasks and hit the ground running. Writing a to-do list for tomorrow will also prevent you from lying awake at night and stressing out about the next day because you’ll already be organized and ready to go. Although these tips are designed to help you be more productive, don’t forget to plan some personal time. Write it into your calendar and honor that time. If you only focus on work, you will get burnt out and be less productive. We all need to rest and recharge, so schedule some time for yourself and stick with it. If you have any other questions or want to talk about our team’s approach, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!