Be Pro Using Simple Yet Effective Way.
Sometimes people confuse the term being productive with being busy. But these two are completely two different things. You can be busy for hours but your productivity could be zero.
you can check the level of your productivity with the goal you reach in a certain period of time, which pushes you in the direction of your goal.
No matter where you are working, whether you are an employee, solopreneur, entrepreneur or homemaker, or student, how productive you are, sets the tone for your success.
Yesterday I was on a call with one of my friends and he told me that wherever work he does in eight hours he can complete it in three to four hours if he stays focused and dedicatedly to the work.
Post covid the culture of working from home is in vogue. Many people become so used to working from home that they still work from home. There are many benefits of working from home at the same time there is the possibility of getting easily distracted as well.
In the modern tech-savvy world, technology also has a great impact on the level of your productivity whether you are an office goer or a student, or a business person. you can use technology for your gain or you can toss your productivity. In most cases, you easily get distracted by just a beep of notification while working on any serious topic.
If you are also struggling with productivity if you also want to complete your task strategically which aligns you with your goal this blog is for you so let’s start, with how to stay high on productivity.
- Take care of your mind, body, and soul: start your day with at least 15 minutes of stretching, and 15 minutes of breathing exercises if you don’t have time to go on a long walk in the morning. Stretching will help you in improving your performance in physical activities and enable your muscles to work most effectively and it also decreases the possibility of injuries. Through breathing exercises, you would increase your concentration and effectiveness in working out on any task.
If you devote half an hour to exercising your stress level decreases and with a calm composed mind you could smash any task effectively and in the minimum required time.
- Eat well: Having a healthy breakfast in the morning is a prerequisite for a sound body as well as a sound mind. Give yourself a healthy start to the day. You could include healthy as well as tasty food/snacks in breakfast. You could include sprouts, nuts, fruit juice, eggs, and anything which is healthy, tasty, and easily digestible. Now you could ask what is the relationship between eating well and productivity. Good question. Healthy eating will increase energy level and level of alertness. It ensures a healthy immune system which effectively reduces absenteeism. It will effectively improve your sleep which ultimately improves your concentration level and also your mental health. Resulting in higher productivity.
- Write a to-do list: you can write your entire to-do list a day before. When you plan whatever you have to do the next day you set the direction where you have to go. and there is a human tendency to forget things so when you write things down you can refer to them when required. It also helps you in prioritizing more important tasks. You can also use this to-do list to clarify your intention, goals, and priorities. Writing things down also motivates you to take action. It helps you to process your emotion and ultimately it encourages your daily progress and productivity.
- Complete your hardest task 1st: once you plan your day and write things down now all you have to do is to start doing the work which scares you most. It may be a planning strategy for a marketing campaign or outlining a blog post or making an unpleasant call. Start with anything which overwhelms you, which you find hard to do and you are ready to push it for the next day. If you want to stay productive, complete that massive task first otherwise unconsciously it will keep pushing you and you would feel that burden and sluggishness in your other work at hand. So if you have to write a blog post decide what would be heading, header, and footer. Write in points whatever you have to write in the body and start writing.
- Let go of all distractions: there are hundreds of distractions in your everyday life all you have to do is to combat all distractions effectively. Technology boosts your productivity as well as ruins it also. According to the employers survey by CareerBuilder cell phones, internet browsing, gossip, and social media are the most common distractor at work. These days if you ask anyone what is the first thing they do in the morning they might say checking email or social media notifications. And these social media notifications keep beeping/ringing throughout the day. Even when you are focused on doing important work and no matter how much self-control you have, a single beep has the power to distract you and impact your work adversely.
So while working, silence your phone, log out from all social media, create a schedule for replying to emails, schedule a separate time for social media scrolling, limit your screen time, and turn off all notifications. Only by turning off all unnecessary notifications and calls, you can complete your task in a reasonable time frame.
Whenever you have to focus on an important task that requires attention and deep focus, create a space to give your best. If you are in a meeting, switch off your phone and other outside-world distractions this way you can amplify your productivity.
- Have breaks at regular intervals: the law of diminishing returns starts working everywhere even in your level of productivity. After a certain period of time, mental or physical fatigue starts decreasing your effectiveness and productivity no matter how energetic you were when you started working. So it’s sagacious to have intervals or breaks even when you are too busy. And at those breaks you could have a glass of water, you can stretch your body or can walk around the corridor, or could have a short nap. Anything which refreshes you mentally and physically. Then join your work.
- Keep your space neat and clean: decluttered space has its own advantage whether it’s your office or home. When the space around you is neat and clean you tend to be more productive and the reason behind this is that decluttered space reduces stress and it benefits you by making you calmer, happier, and more relaxed. Having a clean space increases your focus. In a cluttered space, you find it hard to find things when you need them. Having a neat space also increases your self-esteem. If you face trouble in staying organized, sometimes you may feel out of control. An improved living space can fule the feeling of competency and pride and increase your productivity as well.
- Break work into small sections: when you divide a colossal task into pieces psychologically you feel less pressured and you can complete the whole task without fatigue and extra pressure. A big task may overwhelm you. You could find it insurmountable but if you part it in a small doable piece it became manageable and you could complete it without procrastination, in a stress-free manner.
- Let go of the habit of multitasking: most people think multitasking is a great way to get a lot done at once, but according to research multitasking can slow you down by hampering your productivity. It can reduce your comprehension, attention, and overall your performance. When you do multiple tasks all at once what actually you do is keep shifting your focus and attention from one task to another. And this shifting from one task to another one could make you more distracted and it can cause you mental blocks which ultimately slow you down and hampers your level of productivity.
To break the habit of multitasking:
- Do one work at a given time.
- Batch tasks, and schedule a set time to do similar tasks.
- Limit distractions, switch off the phone, and notifications.
- Practice mindfulness.
- Delegate: no individual can do all the tasks alone. In everyday life, you do share responsibilities but when it comes to your job do you need to do all work alone? If you constantly keep working on every minute detail by yourself your performance may decrease. So learn to delegate the task, develop a team, assign them the task, communicate clearly, give them the necessary authority then implement a follow-up strategy. by doing this you could have more time to do more productive and rewarding work.
- Say no: sometimes what happens, you overload yourself with too much work. Psychologically you pressurize yourself and block your creativity and productivity. Is it really important to say yes to every assignment/ task you get offered?
Taking care of your mental health is more important than people-pleasing.
Sometimes refusing extra work is more rewarding than accepting every proposal. It will not only decrease your stress but also increase your productivity. It would give you a greater sense of control over your work, schedule, and life.
Set healthy boundaries and say no to people, or project which is not aligned with your goal. And use your energy and focus only on an important task.
- Reward yourself: self-motivation is also an important factor in productivity. If you really want to stay focused and possess a high level of productivity, celebrate your achieved goal. Reward yourself with something you love doing or having. You can reward yourself with a coffee date or a session of self-grooming or visit those places that you always wanted to visit. And then resume your work in high spirits. In high spirits, people tend to work more efficiently.
Sum up: whether it’s your life or work efficiency matters, productivity matters, and your little effort and attention could make a huge difference in your level of productivity, and your career as well as in your everyday life. There is an author of a self-help book Shiv Khera, who quoted that “ what is easy to see is easy to miss” so don’t miss simple things which can improve your productivity.
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Thanks,
Aarti
