The Science Behind Productivity
In simple terms, productivity is how efficient you are at doing a certain task. It is the amount of time you put in versus how much you get from this time. However, time is a very valuable and limited resource. It runs out quickly and that’s why we end up complaining there aren’t enough hours in the day.
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If you look at it this way, it’s clear that to be more productive, you don’t need to put in more time; you need to be more efficient.
Many studies have tried to measure productivity, how to increase productivity, or how to inspire it. None of them have come up with answers worthy of being set in stone. Still, productivity is something that can be improved and, although there are many productivity tips out there, some tips have been found to work better than others.
Read on to see our top picks for productivity tips you can use now.
4. Take Your Scheduling Seriously
Once you set up a clear schedule by prioritizing your tasks, don’t let yourself be sidetracked. Commit to the schedule you’ve created, and avoid letting other people or other tasks dictate how to change it. Letting yourself be drawn into other tasks will throw you off your game and getting back will be difficult.
When you start working on a task, make sure you finish it. Are you writing a presentation and see a new email in your inbox? If the subject does not start with “Urgent,” ignore it. For any serious tasks, you have to hold several variables in mind, juggle many thoughts and ideas, and form them into coherent code, text, or images. When you reply to an email, take that phone call, chat with a colleague, you completely lose this train of thought and it can take 5-15 minutes to get back into that productive state again.
It may be hard to do this sometimes, but you will need to learn to say no. About this, Warren Buffett famously said that “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”
5. Make Big Tasks Smaller
Starting work on a big task can be daunting. You can often feel overwhelmed, even anxious, by the work involved and delay it altogether. The good news is that getting started is probably the hardest part. So, that’s what you’ll need to learn to manage.
To give you the boost you need to start work on a large project, try to break it down into smaller tasks. They are more manageable and less intimidating. Once you start ticking off the smaller tasks, you will build momentum, and it will be easier to complete the whole project.
6. Meet Only When You Can’t Call or Email
Meetings can take up a lot of unnecessary time, from the time it takes you to get there, to the small talk while you wait for someone who is late, to the side conversations that should be between just two people. Try to limit the meetings you take and the time you spend on them. If you find yourself in the middle of a meeting that seems to never end, do your best to bring it back on track and draw the conclusions that will help end it in a reasonable time.
Some meetings, if not most, don’t even need to be meetings at all. Whatever meetings you can turn into a call or an email will save time and allow you to focus on more important tasks. If there is a discussion or presentation to be held, consider using a webinar software like Easy Webinar (more options here). The time you (and your colleagues) will save on organization and travel is just outstanding.
Source: EasyWebinar
If you do need to go to several meetings that can’t be avoided, you can try to schedule them more efficiently. A good productivity tip you can use is to schedule a group of meetings together instead of having them scattered on different days and at different times. Schedule several meetings one after the other and dedicate a day only to that. Then, you can resume your work on your other tasks without having to pick up and leave in the middle of doing them.
On the other hand, if meetings are part of your every day, try to schedule one day a week without any meetings. Make that your “focus on tasks other than meetings” day and schedule everything else around it. Some workplaces have instituted a company-wide meeting-free day each week.[irp posts=”2167″ name=”Bitcoin Surges2″]
7. Learn to Manage Distraction and Interruptions
Distractions can come in all shapes and sizes. Phone notifications, calls, unscheduled visits, too much noise – it can be anything. Learning how to manage or work around them is the best strategy.
Notifications are easy. Your phone and your computer will have “do not disturb” options. Put your phone on silent mode, mute notifications on your laptop. It’s an easy way to stay focused without interruptions.
If co-workers are constantly disrupting your work, protect your productive time, and learn to say no. This doesn’t mean that you should turn into a grumpy loner. You can tell your co-worker that you are not available right now, and you’ll get back to them when you take a break. Or explain that you are working on a project that needs to be finished, tell them the time you plan to finish it, and that you can get back to them right after that. Some workplaces have flags you can put on your desk, indicating that you’re in the middle of a project, and please wait until the flag is removed.
Jumping from the task you are on to check your other emails is also a distraction. It’s OK not to read them the minute they hit your inbox. Focus on what you were doing and check the emails when you finish or take a break.
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