‘Good, I still have two hours left to pen down this weekly report. But wait! Is it five o’clock already?’
Have you ever found yourself in such a situation? There are times when you might feel that eight-hours day seems no longer enough to get your stacks of work cleared and sorted out. No wonder, you often feel overwhelmed with the workloads. Is there any way you can fix this unhappy portrayal?
When assignments are mounting, job pressures are high, schedules are tight, and deadlines are coming closer, you always wish only if there could be more hours in a day. While the fact is, the point doesn’t lie in getting additional working hours. But rather, how you should manage productivity and creativity.
Being self-aware of how you spend your time on tasks of little or most importance is the key to getting things done during the day. Don’t let distraction and procrastination prevent you from achieving the expected goals within the designated time frame. That being said, it is crucial to stay productive and focus on matters at hand.
If you want to be more productive during the day, take a look at the following quick work hacks to keep you on track:
See: 27 Cool Employee Engagement Ideas for a Productive Workforce
Is you start your day by hitting the snooze button, then is not a good sign for being productive all day. To avoid this habitual snoozing-off ritual in the morning, you should go to bed earlier at night. Early risers are often associated with better productivity and success, since they are able to work with focus and refreshed minds.
Knowing what you have to accomplish for each day is crucial to keep track of your daily productivity. Therefore, you should make a to-do list that includes simple tasks you need to get done during a day. By breaking down bigger tasks into smaller chunks, you can easily manage and allocate your time to complete all tasks within a specific time period.
If you tow the toughest tasks for last, you will likely have no motivation ever to finish it. Rather, it is best to get those dreaded chores done first, before you get down to dealing with easier ones. While you might need to use more time to work on it, at the end of the day you will find more time to complete everything else.
Working out in the morning will give you better mood and happy feeling. When you wake up early, you can go for a quick jogging, stretching your arms, or even doing some simple yoga. This exercise not just relaxes your body, but also sets the tone right to carry on strong for the rest of your day.
Almost the same with point number 2, establishing a working system will help you organise your time better. This will give you a clear idea of what are you working on, the progress, as well as necessary actions to be implemented. By following a system, you can focus on only the top priorities.
How many hours do you spend on your smartphone? While you might think that taking five-minutes break to check Facebook updates won’t hurt, but you are wrong. Social media is a great distraction, even if you don’t intend to be distracted.
Therefore, put your phone away in the morning and turn off those social media notifications. Even if you need your phone to work, make sure to use it properly and not get distracted with games, and social text messaging platforms online.
Keep the clutter away from your desk and cubicle. Take some time to clear off your desk before you start working on tasks for the day. Clean and organised workspace is not only comfortable to live in, motivating and also help you focus better on yourjob.
If you think that multi-tasking is a great way to get several things done at once, then you perhaps need to rethink the idea. Rather than switching and dividing your attention to multiple projects at the same point of time, it will be better if you try and focus on completion of one project first.
Giving full attention to one project on hand, helps getting one task finished, before moving onto another. This strategy is more efficient rather than heavy multitasking, that leads to divided attention and not 100% productivity gains.
Listening to some music will help you concentrate better. However, in order to help you focus, it is critical to play the right music as your background tune.
When you have long to-do list of tasks to be done, people tend to push themselves harder and suppress their needs for a break. Whereas, immersing yourself with too much work might lead to burnout in the long run. Therefore, you should know when to take a break, get a quick power nap and sign off from your work for some time.
The best advice to be maintain consistent productivity levels each day, is to stay focused on your job and eliminate unnecessary distractions.
What helps you get things done and stay productive at work? Write back to us and share with the community!
Read also: Three Strategies for Business Travellers to be Productive on the Go
