Do you feel unsatisfied after a long, hard day at work, like there were so many tasks left undone despite all your efforts? At the beginning of your day, you probably had a to-do list filled with important goals to achieve. You were set to get so much done. But after several hours of distractions and tackling low-priority tasks, your to-do list is hardly actualized.
You are not alone. Millions of people grapple with the concept of productivity in various aspects of their lives, despite their best efforts.
Productivity is not about being busy; it is the quality of finishing what you start, crushing your goals, and being efficient with your time. When you are productive, everything in your life falls into place because you can effectively manage every resource at your disposal without burning out.
Being productive comes from little habits that promote time management. After all, you need enough time to finish all you set out to do per day.
So, what can you do to become more productive?
Time structuring is such a huge deal for anyone, whether you are a young executive or a startup business owner. The struggle of managing your work hours effectively remains the same, no matter the differences in work culture. With these few tips, we want to show you how you can manage your 24 hours effectively and finish your day satisfactorily.
Methods to Increase Productivity
Productivity is a critical factor in business, work ethics, and personal development, among other areas of life. It is a measurement tool used to assess how resourceful, organized, and successful one can be in output and results.
The preceding clearly defines the significance of productivity. On that note, if you’re struggling to get more work done and believe it’s impossible, we’ve gathered some tried-and-true methods to assist you:
- Declare total war on Distractions
- Concentrate on one task at a time
- Get well-deserved breaks in between works
- Tackle your biggest tasks first
- Set your goals and objectives
- Practice time management through scheduling
- Use the Pomodoro strategy
Declare total war on distractions
Distractions make it difficult to focus and concentrate on any task. And no matter how you try to accommodate it, it invites inefficiency.
If you receive social media notifications while at work, you should turn them off. Is your favourite holiday action movie keeping you from concentrating on your job? Turn off the television to complete the task. If you frequently receive phone calls during the day, set your smartphone to airplane mode or silent mode.
When you are serious about declaring total war on distractions, you will notice that you can get more work done in less time.
Feed your focus and starve your distractions!
Concentrate on one task at a time
According to research, the human brain cannot function optimally while multitasking. Doing multiple tasks at once places a mental strain on the brain, resulting in inefficiency. Not many people can handle the burden of multitasking while remaining efficient.
Therefore, don’t overburden yourself with so much workload if you want to become more productive. Remember, you’re human, not a machine.
Tackle each task for the day, one at a time. If you follow this, your brain will be more willing to assist you in your assignments, and your output will significantly improve.
Get well-deserved breaks in between tasks.
Naturally, your brain requires adequate rest to function properly. Working hard all day without rest does not lead to productivity. Therefore, consider taking short breaks at work. 10-15 minutes of brain rest between hour-long tasks is super effective. This is ideal and better than taking an extended break that lasts at least 45 minutes halfway through the day.
If you’ve lost inspiration and focus, it’s usually because you’ve been fixated on a particular task for too long. A short break away from your computer screen may be what you need to get your creative juice running. Take a short break between tasks and see how calm your mind will be for the next job.
Tackle the most important tasks first
A good rule of thumb for quickly completing tasks is to complete the larger ones first. According to studies, the brain works optimally for the first 3-4 hours, after which energy levels begin to decline. If you handle your most important tasks first, preferably in ascending order, you’ll be surprised at how many chores you’ll eventually complete by the time the day is done.
Set your goals and objectives
Productivity directly results from goals met, which is what most people and businesses want. To get your day started, you should begin by setting smaller goals that can be accomplished one after the other. Have a big picture of what you need to get done, then break it into smaller goals that you can achieve quickly. Ensure you finish all the smaller tasks that you created so that you can achieve the bigger goal.
Things like sending email lists, checking mail, responding to clients on social media platforms, meeting with clients, and delivering services to waiting customers can add to a more important goal.
Practice time management through scheduling
Scheduling is an effective tool for increasing productivity, managing time, and improving work organization. As someone looking to be more productive, you should pay attention to this tip. Scheduling entails allocating time to each task and completing them within that time frame. It’s a proven productivity method used by many professionals and business gurus, even at the highest levels of management.
Let’s say you have a meeting to attend, content to curate, a student to mentor, and a package to deliver, all on the same day. The best thing to do is segment these tasks and allocate appropriate time for each. Firstly, meetings do have a fixed time, so do this first. The next step is to select the best time to deliver the package to the client. Following that, schedule a time to mentor your student before curating content. It is worth noting that the task involving a formal client is prioritized over an informal client, which is prioritized over personal dedication. The beauty of productivity gained this way is that it is based on effective scheduling, which is relatively simple.
Use the Pomodoro strategy.
One of the most productive time management strategies is the Pomodoro technique. It is comparable to scheduling but more detailed and practical. The Pomodoro technique uses a timer, the brain, and the task.
Set a specific task timer for 20 to 30 minutes to accomplish this. When it goes off, you’ll withdraw from whatever you were doing and take a 5-minute break before returning to the task. This method effectively blocks distractions and rests the brain while increasing productivity.
Conclusion
Nothing thrills an employer more than an efficient worker who saves the company time and money. Become an essential part of your workplace by learning how to be productive.
As a business owner, your productivity is the difference your business needs to generate better revenue. You don’t want to sleep on this!
With the tips we mentioned, you can finally learn to focus on what is necessary, do away with distractions, and achieve more within your allotted office time.
