10 Insanely Productive Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs

You sit down on your sofa after a long day of binge watching the last season of Gilmore Girls (again).  Absentmindedly, you start cleaning up the coffee table in front of you.  As you clean, you find a special edition of TIME magazine dedicated to Steve Jobs.  You start flipping through the pages and wonder what habits of successful entrepreneurs make them so good at what they do or what ate the habits of successful entrepreneurs?  As the names: Steve Jobs, Sophia Amoruso, and Mark Cuban, start floating around in your head, you wonder how they became successful. It can’t be luck, right?  You stare down at your comfy sweatpants and you wonder how can I start my career?  How do I start thinking like them?

Going from your comfy sweats and bed at home to a suit and manager’s chair at a multi-billion dollar company seems like a dream that is far out of reach.  However, these successful inventors, founders, and entrepreneurs were once dreamers too.  It was through adopting entrepreneurial habits that they became who they wanted to become.  Entrepreneurial habits are grouped in to three categories: time, growth and innovation, and health.  Together, these categories make up the 10 best habits of successful entrepreneurs to increase productivity and efficiency in your daily life.

Time is one of the crucial habits of successful entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs know that time is precious.  Once it’s gone, you can’t get it back.  That is why entrepreneurs religiously follow these three habits of successful entrepreneurs to utilize their time productively and efficiently.

1. Follow a Routine

This first habit seems simple, but following a routine allows you to efficiently plan out your day.  By sticking to a routine, you will not waste time by clicking the snooze button five times before getting up or spending half an hour on Instagram when you should be answering emails. Routines reduce distractions and give you structure, allowing you to elevate your productivity and efficiency levels making your habit one of the habits of highly successful entrepreneurs.

2. Plan Out Your Day

The first step in staying organized is following a routine.  Routines guide your day and help you develop time management skills. Entrepreneurs swear by planners, notebooks, and calendars.  In them, they write down schedules, important tasks, ideas, goals and other things they want to remember.  They carry these notebooks everywhere they go because the notebooks help them stay focused and complete tasks in a timely fashion.

Entrepreneurs create schedules within their daily routines.  By planning out their day, successful people can complete tasks within allotted times. Their schedules make sure time is utilized efficiently and every minute of the day is productive.

3. Do Things Right the First time

A rule of thumb that many successful people follow is:do things right the first time.  Instead of putting things off and taking the lazy way out, entrepreneurs always complete tasks with accurate efficiency.  For example, you have to clean the floor.  You’re feeling kind of lazy today, so you decide to mop the floor without sweeping.  But as you’re mopping, you find that the dust and grime on the floor is actually sticking to the mop and making the floor look dirtier than when you started.  Instead of having to mop the floor again, an entrepreneur would have taken the time to sweep the floor before mopping the floor.  Doing things right the first time will ensure that you utilize your time efficiently and is one of the many great habits of successful entrepreneurs.

4. Check emails, messages, and social media accounts in groups

Many entrepreneurs check emails, messages, and social media accounts in groups because they schedule a time to check them. They will not waste time answering every ding, beep, or ring because these sounds will distract them from the tasks they are working on at that moment.  For successful people, every minute of the day counts.  Checking emails, messages, tweets, and Facebook posts in groups is efficient and allows entrepreneurs to be super productive in their day.

Growth and Innovation is crucial habits of successful entrepreneurs

After mastering the art of schedules and routines, entrepreneurs focus on growth and innovation.  Every entrepreneur in the world shares one common belief: there is always room for improvement.

Entrepreneurs are not constrained by conventions.  They think outside the box and constantly look for ways to improve themselves.  To the outsider, an entrepreneur’s goals can seem impossible to reach, but entrepreneurs have the focus and passion to reach it.  Like Audrey Hepburn said, “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I’m possible.”

6. Focus on a Goal

Another habit that all entrepreneurs share is focus.  Entrepreneurs are not bogged down by details.  They focus on the bigger picture.  Too many of us get distracted and drown in the little details as we work towards bigger goals.  Entrepreneurs will overcome any obstacle to reach their goal.  Like Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This “can do” attitude separates successful entrepreneurs from the “want-to-be” people that give up at the first sign of adversity.  What really separates entrepreneurs from other people is their work ethic.  Successful people will put up with sacrifice because they know that their end goal is worth it and that is why its one of the habits of successful entrepreneurs.

7. Work on self-improvement

Entrepreneurs never stop being students.  They are constantly learning new things and working on ways to be better.  Successful people know that once they stop learning, they stop growing so its important habits of successful entrepreneurs.

8. Dream Outside the Box

To go along with their constant focus on self-improvement, entrepreneurs keep their imaginations alive.  This child-like curiosity and wonder keeps entrepreneurs innovative.  They are not held back by social conventions or set rules.  Habits of successful entrepreneurs is that they make up their own rules and work really hard to overcome whatever obstacle comes their way.

Take care of yourself. This idea goes with the first few habits, which focus on efficiency and productivity.  If you’re constantly ill, you won’t get things done.

Health is another category of habits of successful entrepreneurs

9. Prioritize What’s Important To You

Some sacrifices have to be made to get to where you want to be.  That being said, you can’t sacrifice everything.  If you sacrifice everything, you’ll lose who you are and you will never make it.  At some point, you’ll feel burned out and stop following the routine you have created. By prioritizing what is important to you, you are taking care of yourself mentally and emotionally.  Because a healthy mind will help you stay focused on your goals and you will make it to 10 habits of successful entrepreneurs

10. Exercise for a Healthy Mind and Body

Mental health is important but so is physical health.  Getting sick or fatigued easily lowers productivity and decreases your efficiency. Many entrepreneurs take pride in eating a balanced diet and exercising.  A balanced diet ensures that their energy stays at a constant high so they can get things done in the time allotted.  Plus, exercising helps alleviate stress, which leads to better emotional and mental health.  Exercising also keeps the body energized and efficient for work productivity.

After incorporating these 10 habits of successful entrepreneurs in to your daily life, just remember entrepreneurs didn’t get to where they are overnight.  It took years of hard work along with a constant focus on self-improvement.  Entrepreneurs are the most positive people in the world because they believe that things can always get better.  Successful people do not separate work and personal life because they live the way they work.  They focus on productivity and efficiency in everything they do.