The sun is shining, and hot summer days are tempting you outdoors? Follow this simple, easy to accomplish daily productivity checklist, and your profits just may outshine all the other months this year.

1. Eat breakfast. Even if it is a protein shake, feed your mind and body, so it can work for you.
2. Sleep. You might be thinking that sleep is hard to come by due to the high levels of stress at work or the stress of juggling the family summer schedule. Put the suggestions below into practice, and you will be pleasantly surprised as you find sleeping easier and easier.
3. Exercise daily. This is beneficial for many reasons, not only physically but mentally as well. The feel good endorphins will kick in and give you the needed energy boost to finish your day strong. Exercise will also work out the aches and pains from being hunched over a computer most the day. If you can exercise outdoors, even better. Nothing beats the rejuvenating effects of a little bit of sunshine.
4. Take frequent breaks. Walk around your office building block. Be sure to step away from your computer when you eat lunch. This allows for your brain to recharge and be ready to fully reengage with the tasks at hand.
5. Make a daily ‘to-do’ list. A ‘to-do’ list will redirect your focus when your attention span begins to wane. Your ‘to-do’ list tracks your daily progress, too. Plus, it is very rewarding to review what you have accomplished when all of your tasks for the day have been checked off.
6. Give yourself deadlines. You can benefit from giving yourself deadlines for both large and small projects. Chunk your projects into smaller tasks. The easiest way to do this is to plan backwards. If the project is due in one week on Friday, ask yourself what needs to be done on Thursday to be ready for Friday. What needs to be done on Wednesday in order to be ready for the tasks on Thursday? Continue this backwards planning until you reach the present day. This planning strategy reduces overwhelming stress with labor intensive projects and makes enormous projects suddenly easy to accomplish.
7. Schedule email checking. Checking emails continually throughout the day or as they roll in becomes more counterproductive than productive. An entire day can be sucked up in email chasing. Set aside ten minutes every hour to check emails if response demands are high or schedule a morning email check and an afternoon email check. This will minimize your interruptions and protect your focus as you work through your ‘to-do’ list.
8. Only open browsers you absolutely need. Opening unnecessary browser pages is like the Siren calling sailors ashore. Do not succumb to the temptation to browse, before you know it you will be checking ESPN updates and wondering why your team isn’t winning and your ‘to-do’ list isn’t complete.
9. Limit social media use to a certain amount of time or to a certain time of day. Additionally, set a timer for the allotted time. This protects you from spending over twenty minutes on social media when you had just meant to check one post ‘real quick’.
10. Phone calls need to be short and sweet as well. Jot a few notes down of what you want to cover before making the phone call. This will keep your conversation focused and purposeful and prevent wasting anytime in trying to remember what you wanted to discuss. Productive phone calls can also help minimize the need for multiple emails because the phone call clarified the topics necessary.

Infusing a little bit of structure and a ‘no brainer’ productivity check list can streamline your day with ease. If you have other suggestions that have boosted your productivity, give us a shout below.

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