Five Productive Habits to Build Early in Life

By: Kriti Shrestha

I was telling my sister about writing a blog on this topic. She told me that the narrative of being productive could sometimes be so daunting as not being productive or not wanting to be productive can leave people feeling guilty or unaccomplished. I do get her sentiments. With Facebook/Instagram posts, blogs like this, and so many youtube videos telling us how and why we should be productive, anyone can invariably feel exhausted with this idea when they are not feeling productive.

However, the idea here is not to be productive all the time. Rather, it is to cultivate productive habits from early life to guide us to be productive when needed and have positive outcomes we desire in our lives. I read a book called “Ikigai” where I read the line “Rituals over goals”, and I so much resonate and try to follow this line in my daily life. Habits take time to build, and when we invest our time and efforts religiously to build productive habits, these habits start working for us to achieve our goals.

What are these five habits that we should build early to make our life more balanced, productive and support us in fulfilling our other goals in life?

1. Reading Books: Reading books is often considered a hobby rather than a habit. Let’s look around in our social circle as well. Individuals who inherently love reading books are avid readers. Otherwise, people hardly read books besides their academic course books. However, I feel we all should read books regularly as reading books of different genres introduces us to a wide variety of concepts, culture, traditions, worldviews at the comfort of sitting inside our house. Also, it induces our imagination, critical thinking and helps us challenge our; otherwise prejudices and stereotypes. Reading 20–30 mins alone daily can offer us new learnings regularly, and it can help us become a more aware, knowledgeable and confident person.

2. Saving Money: “A penny saved is a penny earned.” We all must have heard this line at one point or the other in our lives, and as cliche or basic it may sound, it is so true and a must habit to have. Again, the habit of saving is such an individualistic thing, meaning some people have natural tendencies to save money, and some people just like to spend. However, saving money is something we all must do no matter how much we earn, and the earlier we start to build this habit, the earlier we will be financially independent or secure than others. I have come across many people who tell me they work hard to earn money to buy things or spend money on things they like doing. However, I am not defying that saving a part of our income or any other money we get from relatives or friends can serve us in emergencies, fulfil our bigger goals and dreams in life, help us get early retirement or serve us after retirement.

3. Exercise: Exercise can sound like one of the most overused or over preached ideas, but again, no one can deny the importance of regular exercise in our daily lives. Exercise doesn’t only mean going to the gym or yoga or any other physical activity that needs many efforts and energy. There are other simpler forms of exercises, to begin with, such as going for a walk or jog everyday, simple exercises that we can do from home, dancing, Zumba, and so many others that we can choose based on our time convenience and energy level. The basic idea is to get started and consistently follow an exercise routine. Doing exercise regularly not only has physical health benefits, but it equally contributes to our socioemotional wellbeing. While we all know all of these, it is hard to get started or be consistent; hence taking small steps and starting early like any other healthy or productive habits is the key. Once we consistently follow something, it becomes a habit, and then they become easier to follow.

4. Meeting new people: Meeting new people in itself can sound vague and misleading, but what I am trying to say here is meeting the right and like-minded people with similar values, life goals, and rich experiences in their respective academic, career or life journeys is another “must” habit to build. Building networks with the right and like-minded people can enhance our learning process, help us get inspired, and support our personal or professional goals. For example, almost ten years ago, I was in training with a group of 10 other people. Among those people, I met a teacher who was planning to start her Montessori school and was looking for a young female who loves children and feels comfortable working with children. Experience in related fields was optional, and I referred my sister to her, and that is how my sister got her first official job. That first job became a milestone to her career in Education. This is just a simple example. Today networking has been so much more important than ever to land better job opportunities or any personal or professional development.

5. Self-Care: Self-care is another commonly used/heard/advocated thing in the current time. Self-care can sound like a western or a modern concept and sometimes lavish, too, as many people associate self-care with doing manicures/pedicures or going for spa, massage or luxury vacations or shopping. However, self-care doesn’t necessarily mean doing expensive things; in fact, self-care can be as essential as going for a walk, cooking your favourite meal, listening to favourite music, reading a book or making a bed(one of my self-care rituals in the morning). Self-care generally refers to doing things that make us feel good, make us put together, bring clarity and positive emotions. For me, cleaning and making bed early in the morning are some basic and free self-care practices I do that makes me feel fulfilled, clears my mind and brings a certain level of positive feeling in me. Practising self-care from early life can help us manage our distress, focus our energy on doing something more positive and fulfilling, leading us to feel better about ourselves and the environment around us.

Building productive habits is a continuous, persistent process, and hence at #thebettermehustle, we encourage people to start small but start today. :)