5 Ways to Increase Your Productivity
Everyone wants to be more productive. Between work, life, outside activities and other obligations, the feeling of trying to get it all done and keep up with “life” stress can begin to take over – and this is not healthy.
The idea of being productive is simply defined by:
1. Keeping your To Do List under control
2. Staying on top of your game to meet and reach deadlines and goals
3. Spending time doing what you love with family and friends
Consider a productive day to be one when you accomplish what is most important first and then continue throughout the day checking things off of your list and reaching goal after goal after goal.
So how can you increase your productivity?
1. Identify your organizational personality. Are you best writing things down on paper? Or does your personality work better when using an electronic app to track what you need to do?
2. Once you have identified how to best be productive, dedicate the time necessary to make your choice work for you. If you work better with using a pen and paper, then get your notebook and get started! If you work better using an app, do the research necessary to make sure that you are using the best app for you.
3. Don’t over-obligate yourself! I think this is the biggest mistake that most people make. There are only so many hours in a day and the idea that you can work, work, work and “play” later is not productive. It is important to know what you can handle in a day.
4. Break out your day into minutes – not hours! The act of chunking out your time will drastically increase your productivity. Working on a project all day for 8 hours straight, and not taking a break may seem that it will be a good idea – but when you become tired your productivity decreases.
What I have found while working with clients on their projects is that after about 60-90 minutes they need to take a break. Setting the expectation that we will work as hard as possible for a specific period of time and then getting to take a break is something to look forward too. And it allows your body and brain to refresh and then move forward to your next goal.
5. Schedule time for yourself. Doing something (anything) for yourself every day will increase your productivity. The desire to be productive is directly related to the time that you spend taking care of yourself. Some of the things that I enjoy doing for myself are: reading a good book, taking a walk, just sitting on the deck and watching the squirrels in the woods. I enjoy the quiet of the day for 15-30 minutes at a time. It gives me the push and energy to move on to the next thing on my list to accomplish.
Remember that being productive is all a matter of perception. My idea of a productive day is getting in 30 minutes of time at the gym, spending time with family and time with clients, networking (making at least one new connection), being present on social media, following up with emails and with at least 2 potential clients. Eating dinner as a family and taking the time to prepare for the next day. Most days, this means that my day consists of 15 hours of non-stop activity. While this may sound extreme, it is what also allows me to sleep well at night!
The best way I have found to increase my productivity is to identify wasted time. This can be time spend perusing through Facebook or other social media sites, wasted time on email or spending time on that phone call that is just not productive. I have found it very helpful to pick and choose when I spend time on email. I also allow my phone to go to voicemail when I know that the person calling will occupy too much of my time – I will call them back later when I have the time available and it fits into my schedule.
Lastly, I have found that my productivity is greatly increased when I avoid drama! This helps me stay focused on what is important every day…being productive.
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Linda worked with business owners and homeowners to declutter their life, increase productivity and realize that they can do more and have more than they ever imagined possible.
If you would like to work with Linda, call 540-220-5912 or email linda@organizationdirect.com
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