By Michelle LaBrosse

It’s hard to concentrate and focus on the tasks building up if your mind is cluttered, your body is driving on empty and your space is like the aftermath of an “everything-must-go” sale.

In our project management training, we offer four proven techniques to ensure that, inside and out, you are functioning at your best to complete your daily to-do list. Try them yourself and watch your productivity and energy increase two-fold.

1. Peak Performing Mind

What you eat, the way you breathe, the amount of time you blow off steam through exercise can all put your brain in a peak performing state so you can learn at your best. It’s a no brainer that junk food and lack of exercise is not helpful. Opt for a healthy diet, 30 minutes of exercise and take time to consciously breath to give your brain the boost it needs.

2. The Road to Zen

An organized area provides a state of relaxed focus that will enable you and your team members to move fast. Try this Japanese practice called the 5 S’s to create a workspace that stimulates a state of relaxed focus:

Sort – When in doubt, throw it out. Get rid of the clutter in your work space.

Straighten – A place for everything and everything in its place. Organize your workspace so everything can be put away easily.

Scrub – Keep your work space clean.

Standardize – Provide people with standards and processes to keep their things organized in their workspaces.

Sustain - Fight entropy and keep your work space organized and clean.

3. Rapid Synthesis

A favorite technique to help speed up instant recall and improve your retention of information is key-word identification. This is the headline to the story. When reading reports, emails and other important documents try to recap paragraphs with a key word that sums it all up.

4. Visualize Positive Outcomes

A technique used by many successful people in all walks of life is visualization. If your brain can see it, chances are that you can achieve it. Cut through the fog and find clarity in these simple exercises to make everything clearer. Which technique is the answer that you’ve been looking for?

Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, is an entrepreneurial powerhouse with a penchant for making success easy, fun and fast. She is the founder of Cheetah Learning, a virtual company with 100 employees, contractors, and licensees worldwide. To date, more than 30,000 people have become “Cheetahs” using Cheetah Learning’s innovative project management and accelerated learning techniques.