10 basic and potent ways to improve your productivity at work
In the corporate world, employees generally feel burnt out easily. They struggle to keep their productivity intact. Especially in IT companies, start-ups, law firms and Brand marketing and advertising agencies, the workload is huge. Here is how to ensure a more gratifying day at work without creating a hassle.
Prioritising
Simple and probably the most effective step, to prioritise your tasks on the basis of their importance and urgency. Decide what tasks can be set aside, delegated, or eliminated. Lining up unnecessary tasks can occupy too much of your headspace and make you feel clumped up. Eventually, this may cause you to get less, or no work done.
Schedule your day
Monitor yourself and identify when you are your most productive self, throughout the course of the day. If your brain feels fully operational in the morning, then make sure to utilise that time and energy for the more vital tasks, or even the tasks that you dread the most. If the post-lunch slump gets you, then schedule that time of the day for the smaller tasks – like checking emails.
Eliminate Distractions
Online organisation is just as important as offline organisation. Close all unnecessary tabs and remove all phone and email notifications that are not useful for the task at hand. There are several meditation tips and apps that help in understanding how to improve your productivity at work. This way you could get rid of the clutter in your head and feel motivated and focused.
Avoid multitasking
A recurring mistake people make is to try and finish multiple tasks at the same time. Giving any task your divided and partial attention is not going to get you the results that you are seeking. It has been proven via scientific research that switching between tasks costs us energy and time. Therefore, a more practical approach to your to-do list would be to deal with the tasks at hand, one at a time and not try to complete them in a haphazard manner.
Take breaks
A common misconception that exists is that breaks are counterproductive. But there is no dearth of studies that have demonstrated that breaks, in fact, boost productivity. It is only natural to feel slow at some point during the day and to push yourself to work during that period will only have an unpleasant repercussion. It is not rocket science to understand that you cannot always work at your optimum productivity.
Give yourself feedback constantly
For any kind of growth to take place, it is imperative to acknowledge the shortcomings. You need to ask yourself if you are utilising your time in the best way possible and whether or not a particular kind of routine is working out for you or not. It is only then you will be able to devise a strategic schedule for yourself that will enable you to maximise your productivity.
Give up your obsession with Perfectionism
It is an unpopular notion, but consistency should be a priority over perfectionism. It is a proven fact that perfectionism often hampers or derails success whereas consistency is the key to progress. Perfectionism is wanting to put all your effort at once, while consistency means putting in a considerable amount of effort continuously.
Reward yourself
Each time you achieve a goal that you set for yourself, be sure to reward yourself for the hard work you put in. It can be anything that you enjoy – a holiday, a day out with friends, quality time with family, or just simply picking up a hobby you love. Remember, life is no fun if you do not reap the fruits of your hard work!
Say no to pointless meetings
You could spend a lot of time in meetings. Especially when nothing fruitful comes out of a meeting. The best way out of such situations is to simply say no and prioritise what is more important. If you do have to attend a meeting, write down in advance as to what it is that you want to talk about during the meeting, it will help save up your and everyone else’s time.
Take care of your physical and mental health
In this list of “how to improve your productivity at work,” this step is probably the most essential. We all can agree that nothing comes above self-care. In this day and age, where the word “hustle” has almost become toxic, it is imperative to remember that getting enough sleep, exercising, eating healthy and taking out some time for yourself is just as important.
These were a few of our tried and tested strategies on how to improve your productivity at work. Mindfully inculcate these in your routine and you will be good to go!
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