Creating Habits to Boost Productivity and Wellbeing

February 1, 2021

This post was written by Malala Raharisoa. During her time with Gii, Malala Raharisoa hopes to expand her perspective lens and contribute to efforts toward globalization. She is currently an MSBA candidate specializing in Economic Analysis; She hopes that with what she learns in the classroom along with a wide-ranging experience, she can make an impact that reaches the international community.

It’s right around the time when we’ve compiled our new year’s resolutions and started the new year with lots of motivation and a positive outlook.

But like any other human, have you found yourself already off track by the time February comes?

It’s easy to want change in your life but the challenges come when actually doing it. For tips and tricks to make your goals more achievable, Global Impact Initiative (GII) invited Elena Agaragimova and Ivan Palomino from Bessern to host the Creating Habits to Boost Productivity and Wellbeing in 2021 and Beyond Workshop. 

As part of GII’s 2021 Professional Development Workshop Series, the January workshop focused on creating goals and finding easy ways to incorporate the journey toward that goal into daily life. 

Here are some highlights of the workshop.

How to Drive Change?

According to research, 95% of actions are done subconsciously. You might have heard humans being referred to as “creatures of habit”; which in this sense, this characteristic of ours can be strategically used to achieve our goals. Creating new routines and replacing old ones can trick your brain into doing things that help you toward your ideal lifestyle. 

There are three main elements of adopting your new routines: Motivation, Ability, and Trigger. 

• Motivation

We often mistake motivation as the sole driver for productivity. Motivation is unpredictable. One day you might wake up feeling productive and the next day you just end up feeling lazy. The takeaway? Don’t depend on your motivation level, consider the other elements.

• Ability

Focusing on your ability to do what it is you need to do is important when finding the easiest way to get to your goals. Unlike motivation, ability is less volatile. A good trick is to modify your actions to match your abilities.

• Trigger

Triggers are reminders. In our daily routines, there are actions that can remind you to do another action. For example, the smell of your morning coffee triggers the perfect ambiance to read a good book. If your goal is to read more, then making coffee is your trigger.

Getting Started 

Now that you have the main ingredients, how should you use them?

Elena and Ivan have provided us with six easy steps you can follow to best plan your new journey:

1. Clarify your Goals or Aspirations
   Fill in the blank- “I want to be the kind of person who ______.” 

2. Explore Behavior Options
   Make a list of potential behavior that can ultimately help you achieve your goal. If your goal is to be less stressed, you can include taking baths, going for a run, listening to music...etc.

3. Match with your Current Lifestyle
   Now that you have a list of behaviors, choose one that best works with your lifestyle. With the goal of reducing stress, perhaps you can’t take baths because your apartment doesn’t have a bathtub. Maybe going for a run is not ideal because you have bad knees. That makes listening to music the best action that can easily be incorporated into your daily life without too much inconvenience. 

4. Start Small...Tiny!
   Signing up for a 6-week fitness bootcamp will definitely be harder than exercising once or twice a week for 20 minutes. Starting smaller will prolong the routine. 

5. Find your Triggers
   Once you find your triggers, apply your triggers to an action that works toward your goal.

6. Celebrate - Make your Brain Happy 
   To prevent falling off track and staying consistent, create a reward system. You can do something as simple as a goal marker to check off your weekly achievements. Consider also treating yourself to something you’ve kept in your Amazon wishlist or eating a slice of cake. 

As you start the new year, we hope you can use some of these tips as a roadmap to accomplishing your goals and staying productive.

We would like to thank the Bessern Team for collaborating with us and contributing to GII’s efforts to provide educational and professional resources to our communities. For more, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on social media (see the upper right hand corner of our website) to catch our next workshop.