Don’t we sometimes feel overwhelmed when looking at our daily tasks? Don’t we all beat the tables in frustration when we see mountains of unfinished works piled up in front of us? In today’s world, it’s easy to get frustrated by endless distractions that we are not able to perform to our fullest potential. According to a research by Gallup, 87% of the workers worldwide are emotionally disconnected from the workplace and are likely to be less productive. Productivity is an issue that is bothering every organization that they often end up in no man’s land while searching for an answer to boost it.
Being productive is not just all about working hard, it’s more about working smart. It’s about proper planning, effective utilization of your resources and using the proper methodology in planning. So, instead of feeling crammed about the tasks that appear too daunting, focus instead on how to ensure you could do the things mentioned earlier.
Here are 5 tips to help you stay productive in your workplace. While we understand time is something not under our control but the secret to success is about using the time we have to our maximum advantage.
1. Start your day with a solid plan
The key to success is coming up with a proper action plan. Most of us start work in a hurry. As soon as we arrive, we start off with checking and responding to emails, hurriedly responding to service requests without giving the slightest thought about what’s in stake for us this day. All these activities are done without any planning. When you start planning ahead of what to do, you may easily dissect things that require immediate attention and things that can be done later. When you regularly follow this, not only you save time but also avoid exasperation.
2. Eat the frog first
It makes a lot of sense to do the tough task first. This is one of the main reasons that cause most of the workers worldwide to dread. The longer it stays on our shoulder the heavier it becomes. As Mark Twain observes “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day”’. By frog, Twain means it as the most daunting task that we are most likely to procrastinate. Once, you dispose it the other tasks appear very easy.
3. Set your own deadline to boost your productivity
Deadline is something that is inevitable in most kind of jobs these days. Most jobs require their employees to stick to a tight deadline which may appear inexplicably daunting to handle. But there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. Fix a personal deadline for you before the actual deadline. Avoid procrastination at any cost. It is proven that delaying things to its last minute just complicates it by magnitudes.
4. Develop an alternate morning routine & change to a healthy breakfast
If your daily routine is not helping you then it’s smart to look for alternate stuffs. A change of routine will bring about remarkable improvement in our productivity. Research indicates any activity performed on a regular basis will become a habit. For example, you can habituate playing any skill based online game for a few days. Skill based online games are proven to increase memory power and concentration.
5. Collaborate
When you are in a conundrum, it’s always wise to seek assistance from those who are good enough in that trade. At times, you can even collaborate to complete a task. As you collaborate you would get inputs from your partners that will allow you to gain a clear perspective on the task. By that way, you can finish the task ahead of time and increase your productivity.
By the way, you can create new habits only by constant practice. Consider practicing any of the ideas mentioned above and boost your productivity to move forward in your career.
