6 Practices That Will Make You More Successful Tomorrow

We all want to be successful in our lives and in our careers but sometimes we let the busyness of our personal and work lives interfere with taking care of ourselves and doing the things we need to do.

It can be easy to get off track and find ourselves filled with anxiety while we struggle to meet deadlines and prioritize competing demands.

Apply the following 6 practices to your day today and you'll have a better day tomorrow.

1. Turn off the social media. Avoid your Facebook, twitter, and Instagram accounts. These take time away from the important things and we often find ourselves unfavorably comparing our lives or circumstances with others we barely know.

2. Forget multi-tasking. Focus on only one thing and work at it until you complete it. Attempting to multi-task is a distraction and might even lead to taking a look at those social media accounts we suggested turning off.

3. Replace negative self-talk. When you're stressed out or struggling with work you can find yourself stuck in a rut of negative self-talk. You're not good at this. It will never get done. No one will like this. The self-talk can be ruthless. It's important to recognize this and replace the self-talk in your mind with positive affirmations: I've got this. I'm good enough. I'm brave and capable.

4. Take a walk outside and breathe. Get outside into the fresh air, go for a walk, and focus on your breathing. You'll feel better, more relaxed, less stressed, and ready to take on the world.

5. Eat a healthy and energizing meal. Be sure to get at least one meal in every day that consists of healthy food that will make your body feel strong and provide the energy you need.

6. Sleep. You need good and adequate sleep to be at your best. Make sure you get 7-8 hours in order to be rested and focused to start your day well.

5 Tips to Work More Effectively and Productively

If you find that your days seem to run into each other and you're constantly working on yesterday's to-do list, here are 5 tips to manage your work day more effectively and productively.

1. Start the day with a tall glass of water and some energizing food. You need energy and strength to be at your best and so it's important to hydrate with water when you awake and to eat something high in protein and low in sugar, in order to avoid a crash later in the morning.

2. Identify your top 3 tasks the night before. Your day should start the previous night or afternoon. At some point in your day identify the top 3 tasks you need to complete tomorrow and write them down.

3. Ignore email and complete your most important task first. Avoid getting bogged down by email early in your day. Save the email for the afternoon and attack your most important task of the day first. Once that is completed you'll experience a great surge of energy and pride in your work.

4. Work in 45 minute bursts followed by a short break. Allow yourself to focus more efficiently by working hard but briefly on your tasks and then allowing time for a short break. If you work for 45 minutes and follow that with a 10-15 minute walk you'll return to your work with more focus.

5. Eliminate everything in your in-box before the day ends. Attack your email and clear out your in-box in the afternoon, once you've completed your most important tasks. Respond to necessary emails and file away those you need to save. Stop working with an in-box empty and you'll feel a great sense of accomplishment and won't spend the evening worrying about the items you need to deal with.

Implement these 5 tips and your work day will be much more efficient and productive.