Use Gratitude to Encourage Greater Productivity

As defined online, gratitude is "the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness", stemming from the Latin word for "pleasing" or "thankful" and providing great emotional fuel.

Gratitude can be a very powerful tool in your productivity toolbox. As Lifehack explains, "Gratitude is a frame for reality, which enables us to align with the good in the world as well as the evolutionary progress of the human race." Research shows how gratitude improves productivity in many different ways: higher energy, alertness, enthusiasm, determination and attentiveness; lower stress, anxiety and depression; improved sleep and decreased illness.

According to HubSpot, there's a causal chain, where "Writing down what you're thankful for increases happiness; happiness increases productivity." Thus, documenting that for which you are grateful can be one of the easiest, least expensive and most effective ways to boost productivity. Yet, it requires a habit of documenting, not simply thinking about, that which makes you grateful.

Whether via your mobile devices Notes application, an electronic journal, a log of videos or a paper notebook, take time to jot down that for which you're grateful each day. I prefer to incorporate this in my daily wrap-up, ending each day reflecting upon the day that I just lived, but it's most important to choose whatever time of day is something you can maintain. Some days, you may be in a rush and have time to add only one item to your list; other days, you may be able to go into more depth and roll off several items for which you are grateful. Regardless of how many you list each day, the process of recognizing all your gifts will drive awareness, fuel gratitude and increase productivity.

What tool will you use to document your gratitude? Will it be electronic or paper? What can you include as today's gratitude list?

Build a Solid Foundation for Your Greater Productivity

For many people, getting organized tops the list of new year's resolutions. All around us, there are people talking about what works for them and experts sharing tips to help. It can be very easy to say "I'll do that" or "That would be great for me" to all the ideas you hear; however, in my experience, trying too many things at once leads to failure and will discourage future efforts.

Instead, think about achieving your goals like eating an elephant. How would you eat an elephant? I have always heard the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time, which is the same way I look at attacking any project... Bit by bit by bit.

Attempt any productivity and organization tidbits one at a time, not all at once, and develop habits slowly so they really stick. Adopting new ways of doing things and making changes can be difficult, but it is much easier when undertaking smaller chunks instead of an overhaul all at once.

Once you've mastered one change, it is a much better time to move on to the next change than seeking to make multiple changes at the same time. Plus, each of those changes is rarely as challenging in reality as we envision it will be in our minds.

Which element of your productivity practices or workflow processes do you want to change first? Have you tried to improve previously and struggled due to attempting too many changes at once? I'd love to hear your experiences!

Business & Professional Women's Young Careerist Finalist

Last night, I was honored to be one of three finalists in Raleigh's competition for the Business & Professional Women's Virginia Allan Young Careerist Program, organized by Paulina Bohorquez of Paulina Real Estate Team and judged by all-stars in our community: Folami Bandele, Executive Director of the YWCA Greater Triangle; Jean Hedges, Founder and Executive Director of Women's Power Networking as well as Senior Loan Advisor at Prime Lending; Pat Howlett, Creator of inSide919.com and President of The Howlett Group. With the competition including essay, interview and speech presentation components, this was an excellent opportunity to review my accomplishments thus far. Therefore, I'm using this week's post to share with you my "tell us your story" speech, hoping you enjoy reading these insights as much as I had fun presenting them during the event. And, without further adieu, here's my speech from last night's Young Careerist competition:

Some people read minds. Some people read lips. I read between the lines... or so I've been told... In 2007, I created my very own business, Organize for Success, using laser-sharp focusing methods to help business people, just like you. As a professional organizer, it is my responsibility to empower clients with a few essential skills. For your listening pleasure, I present them in alphabetical order:

- Skill number 1... Finding what you need when you need it.

- Skill number 2... Getting more done in less time.

- Skill number 3... Taming your technological tools.

But I don't stop with my clients... I believe it's critically important to give back to the community, and here are three ways I'm serving our community, again, presented in alphabetical order:

- 1st, I'm the incoming President for the North Carolina chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers... NAPO for short.

- 2nd, I serve as the Media Coordinator for the North Carolina Lung Cancer Partnership.

- 3rd, I am the Secretary for the Triangle Alumnae Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta.

Before we go any further, a little background info so you'll know a little bit more about where I've come from to get to this point...

I am one of seven children, and my parents were married 35 years.

I am a graduate of Wake Forest University...

I'm a sports-aholic who roots hard for my Demon Deacons (a little tougher this year but I'll always stick with them through thick and thin).

I lost my father to lung cancer one year ago this month.

And, as a Marketing Director for local automobile dealerships, I am a woman working in a man's world, often joking that I created Organize for Success to escape the male-dominated world of automobile dealerships.

I believe I am a good mentor... There are a lot of young women who want to and need to learn how to be successful in a man's world. In other words, with a little coaching, GEN-X and GEN-Y women can easily hit home runs, score game-winning 3-point shots and run entire football fields to score touchdowns... All while wearing Spanx!

I stress the fact that many of today's businesswomen believe they have to walk, talk and act like a man to be successful. On the contrary, I believe it's important for businesswomen to embrace being women while still relating to the goals, thought-processes and communication styles of the men with whom they work.

My marketing background, my organizational skills and my appreciation of the sports world enable me to "get it"; plus, coming from a large family, I really know how to share... and sharing this knowledge is exactly what I plan to do with business and professional women of Raleigh and beyond. I hope to help many young women in business read between the lines, helping them to not settle for bronze or silver but go for the gold medal.

How would you answer the request of "tell us your story" and have you reflected on your accomplishments recently?