Being productive is improving your performance or results with the same or less effort. The best way we can do that is to find our flow, zone of genius, or what I like to call peak performance, more often. I've found it's based on factors that are in your control entirely and internally. Not only that, but you can learn to help other people using these methods too.

When people first talk about wanting to be more productive, they usually say they need more motivation. Working with dozens of individuals on their goals, I’ve never actually seen this being true. Motivation is simply the reason you have for acting or behaving in a particular way. It’s not the ‘how’ you’ll do something, it’s the ‘why.’

When you're not clear on your priorities, you're wasting a lot of your energy by being unfocused. On the other hand, when you're clear about your priorities, it's so much easier to quickly focus on what needs to be done, get it done, and move forward faster on your projects and goals.

Leaders know that time is their greatest commodity. They understand the value of their own time (and that of others) so they don't waste it. They don't let their calendar get taken over with meaningless meetings, they don't waste time spinning their wheels on a project, and they don't commit to more than they can handle.

I recently gave a presentation at an event honoring International Women's Day and the content felt too good not to share more widely here. In addition to celebrating the progress of women, it feels important to recognize how we can continue making progress moving forward, because there is still so much work to be done. We need more female leaders, and not just C-suite executives, although we need those too, but in all facets of life.

Learning habits and structures to support your meetings are what will help you stand out as a leader in your organization. You will help your team to get more accomplished in less time, you can decrease the number of meetings, and you will be sought after by your peers to teach them your techniques.

So many of us start the year with great intentions, big aspirations, a hit of motivation, but quickly see our progress dwindle. Use the below recommendations to re-evaluate your current goals and see how you may need to adjust the goal itself, your habits, or your mindset in order to find momentum this year.

Productivity guilt looks like this: you're all excited about what you wanted to accomplish this summer, you go on a few trips, spend more time outside and with friends, then realize you aren't hitting your expected (or usual) levels of 'productivity.' Then you go down a guilt spiral: shaming yourself for not being further along and maybe even regretting the time you spent away from your work or projects.

Personal development is extremely important for leaders and professionals because without it, you will become stagnant. Personal development is an on-going process to continually learn more about yourself, how you show up in the world, and how you can be more effective in your pursuits.

A lack of confidence for me usually looks like: waiting for other people to speak up first, following other people's social cues, and feeling constantly anxious trying to control everything around me. A lot of women feel this way on an everyday basis, I know I used to. So I compiled three steps that will help you boost your confidence in the moment, no matter what you're looking to accomplish.

Not all productivity tips and hacks are created equal. It's crucial to first understand where you're getting stuck so that you know where to focus your energy creating momentum. Otherwise you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something works, and you're just continuing to waste energy instead of moving forward.