Best Practices for Improving Productivity
Posted February 13th, 2020
No matter how much you have to do, there are only so many hours in the day to get everything done. This means you need to make the most of your time, ensuring you can accomplish your to-do list consistently. Otherwise, you’ll be working harder instead of smarter.
Boosting your level of productivity doesn’t have to be a challenge. With a few simple adjustments, you can accomplish more each and every day. If you don’t know where to begin, here are some best practices that can help.
Monitor How You Use Your Time
Many people struggle to accurately gauge how much time they spend on various activities. By calculating exactly how much time you dedicate to tasks like email, preparing for meetings, and anything else you do daily, you can figure out if you have some time-wasters that you need to conquer and how to budget your time properly.
Take Your Breaks
While it might seem counterintuitive, taking breaks actually boosts productivity. If you are dealing with a long task, a break allows you to rejuvenate and relax. Then, when you return, you can focus with greater ease as your energy levels may be higher. Without a break, you could become a victim of fatigue, causing it to take longer to finish the task or diminishing the quality of your work.
Give Yourself Deadlines
If you have an activity you need to do that doesn’t have a rigid deadline, setting one yourself can be a smart move. By self-imposing a cut-off time for the work to be completed, you are giving yourself a challenge. That can boost motivation, making engaging in the task more enticing.
Do Short Tasks Immediately
If you come across a task that you need to handle and it will take two minutes of your time or less, don’t set it aside. Doing it right away usually requires less of your time than setting it aside and coming back to it later.
Limit Meetings
Meetings can be a major time-waster. Often, they deviate from the intended topic, causing them to be inefficient. Before you schedule a meeting, determine whether you could meet your goals using a different approach, like an email. If so, use that method instead.
Similarly, if you are invited to a meeting, don’t accept it automatically. Instead, consider whether your presence is necessary and whether you could provide any value. If not, then decline.
Don’t Multitask
Most people aren’t actually capable of real multitasking. Instead, they rapidly shift their focus between several activities, and, with each shift, they have to take a moment to reacclimate themselves to what they were doing before progress can be made.
Instead of trying to multitask, spend more time single-tasking. Give an activity your complete focus and stay with it until it’s done. Usually, you’ll get finished faster than you would otherwise.
Find a Better Job with the Help of Bayside Solutions!
Ultimately, all of the tips above can help you boost productivity. If you’d like to learn more, the team at Bayside Solutions can help. Contact us with your questions today and see how our performance management expertise can benefit you.
