7 Surprising Habits of Women Who Get Sh*t Done

How to stay loose and produce, no matter what the day throws at you.

By Kate Rockwood

Published: Feb 28, 2023

Short of cloning yourself or hiring a personal staff, there’s only so much you can do in a day. But the resourceful, creative, and clever women we tapped for this story somehow achieve loads in the same 24 hours we’re all working with, and with seemingly less effort. These smarties aren’t superheroes; they’re super hackers. They’ve fine-tuned ways to block out distractions and sustain motivation, and they know when doing less is more. Lucky for us, they’ve shared the goods.

1. They don’t reach for their phones first thing.

Los Angeles–based multimedia artist and musician Beatie Wolfe, whose music is included in the underground Arctic World Archive vault in Norway and who regularly speaks on topics such as climate activism and data expression in the arts, isn’t immune to the siren call of Instagram Stories. But she carves out the first hour of every single morning for prayer, writing, meditation, or reading — not electronic devices. To make it easier, she sometimes stows her phone far out of reach (a smart move considering that even the mere presence of a cellphone can be a major distraction) or even disconnects from her wi-fi. “This grounds my entire day in an internal space and power rather than one where I am reacting to external distractions,” she says.

2. They let solutions wash over them.

Do you get your best ideas when you’re on a walk or zoned-out during a snoozy meeting? A whole lot of good can come from putting your brain on autopilot and letting your subconscious do its thing, says Khadijah Robinson, founder of the Nile List, a discovery platform that connects online shoppers with Black-owned e-commerce brands. When Robinson is struggling with a sticky issue, she hops in the shower. The distraction-free space and the sound of running water calms her mind.

“Spending 10 to 15 minutes in the shower helps me tackle some of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered with far more clarity,” she says. “I almost always come out with a few new ideas or at least feeling more grounded to tackle the challenges at hand.” Research shows that letting your mind wander not only boosts your creativity but also enhances your memory. Win-win.

3. They savor the taste of victory.

Watching pro basketball games or documentaries about elite athletes gets Desireé Talley’s blood pumping and her competitive mojo flowing. “It hypes me up and encourages me to face each negotiation as a championship game,” says Talley, vice president of legal and business affairs for Revolt, a music-oriented media company founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs. “There can only be one winner, and it is going to be me.” That take-on-the-world feeling you get when you watch your favorite team score? It’s physiological—cortisol and testosterone levels rise when people watch competitive sports. So the next time you need to get your game face on, cue up The Last Dance.

4. They beat procrastination with a change of scenery.

We all tend to put off boring, hard, or emotionally trying tasks. When Kim Pham, cofounder of the Asian food-focused company Omsom, can’t motivate, she moves to a more “joyful environment.” That might mean crafting an uncomfortable email from a swanky cocktail bar or holding a strategy sesh at a café. “The combination of a [tough task] with a new environment and doing something you naturally enjoy helps to clear the cobwebs and channel some freshness and creativity,” she says. There’s research behind her theory: A 2020 study published in Nature Neuroscience found that new environments actually make us happier.

5. They live minute-to-minute.

Rather than doing a sink full of dirty dishes or answering a day’s worth of emails at once, Gretchen Rubin, host of the Happier podcast and author of the forthcoming book Life in Five Senses, sees how much she can get done in one-minute bursts throughout the day. “You can put a dish in a dishwasher, decide you’re not going to read a book and put it in the donate pile, print a paper and stick it in the file. Getting those things cleared up makes way for things we really want to do,” she says. Not to mention that it helps conquer clutter, a proven focus-killer, according to the Mayo Clinic.

6. They give themselves permission to quit.

Laura Vanderkam, a time-management expert and author of Tranquility by Tuesday, hates washing her face at night. “It seems like just one more thing before bed!” she says. She knows she should do it, and so she does, but she gives herself a psychological out. “I tell myself, Wash your face tonight, and then you can reconsider this habit tomorrow. Then I don’t have to think about it for another 24 hours, and when I’m back at the sink again, it seems like a small thing,” she says. Knowing she can quit at any time doesn’t make her like washing her face more, but it’s the mental fake-out she needs to keep up the habit. Rinse and repeat for just about anything you know you should do but don’t want to do, be it flossing or calling Mom.

7. They don’t let any idea go to waste.

Nigerian American Luvvie Ajayi Jones, the bestselling author of Professional Troublemaker, jots down thoughts and ideas on sticky notes, in notebooks, or on her phone. And like the musings of an FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer, her scribbles sometimes take on more significance with time. “When I come across these notes months later, I’ll think, Oh snap, that was right on. I’ve had a bunch of ideas that I’ve come up with in the past that I end up accomplishing years later,” she says. One that went viral in a big way: being part of a group of Black women who devised the #ShareTheMicNow media campaign that saw famous white women such as Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Senator Elizabeth Warren temporarily turn over their social media accounts to Black journalists, activists, and academics to amplify their voices.

Writing things down not only helps you remember your thoughts better, research shows; it can also help you sleep better at night. One study found that making a to-do list before bed can help stop nagging thoughts so you can drift off to dreamland faster. Because if there’s one thing you need to get shit done, it’s a good night’s sleep.