Productivity is a sought-after attribute in any workspace. But most individuals would honestly agree that staying productive can be a challenge. Whether you are in the office, in a coworking space, or at home. It takes courage to defend yourself or your small team from distractions, disruptions, and all other kinds of commotions.
Enhancing your work productivity as an individual or a team will undoubtedly be rewarding as you tick off tasks from your checklist at the end of a day’s work. Many individuals and companies take on numerous practices to boost their workplace productivity. Exercising these approaches may prove to help develop the ability to stay focused.
Effective Techniques to Improve Work Productivity
Establish a powerful morning routine.
A quote from Tim Ferriss states, “If you win your morning, you win the day.” By developing an inspiring and effective morning ritual and sticking to it every day, you can significantly increase your clarity, motivation, and productivity for the day.
Include activities like meditation, exercise, visualization, and planning. Completing these actions before timing in your working space will make you feel empowered to conquer the day.
Prioritize the tasks on your list.
If you are the type who makes a list, prioritize your tasks according to the Pareto Principle. Also known as the 80/20-rule, this principle is an analytical framework for understanding effort versus the results of your actions.
In your projects and undertakings, 20 percent of the inputs are responsible for 80 percent of the possible outcomes. You should then focus on the top 20% of your tasks. These are the ones with the highest impact on your goals. Doing this will have you working smart rather than hard.
Schedule the crucial tasks in your calendar.
Compared to a task list, to-do list, or checklist, making entries on the calendar has added perks. First, it helps you remember what needs to be done for the time, day, or week. Second, it pushes you to estimate the time it takes to do so you do not get overwhelmed.
The key is to write only the most critical errands in your calendar. Push yourself to see these to completion within your specified time frame. You end up being a better organizer and time manager.
Eat the Frog.
Sometimes, the most important task is often the one you dread the most. You waste time putting it off until you feel ready to do it. By procrastinating, you end up running out of time for it.
Your most important task is the frog. Go ahead and eat that frog first thing in the morning. Getting it out of the way will give you the confidence to efficiently complete your remaining minute tasks.
Try the two- or five-minute rule.
After swallowing the frog whole, you may start following the “two-minute rule,” the “five-minute rule,” or another similar one. You are essentially asked to identify quick errands in your list. These tasks will take two, five, or fewer minutes to finish. Do them right away. You will save time compared to returning to the duties later on.
Group similar tasks together in a batch.
Batching is putting similar chores together so you can do them in one go. A classic example is when you take a trip to the mall and take advantage of the extensive establishment’s convenience. While in the mall, you can do grocery shopping, make bills payment, drop or pick up your dry cleaning, and purchase office supplies. Not only do you save precious time, but you also get to save gas, effort, and energy.
Have you tried the Pomodoro Technique?
Many individuals in the workforce swear by the Pomodoro technique. Essentially, you set a timer for 25 minutes, during which you try to attend to your work for that total amount of time. Take a quick break when the timer goes off, around five minutes. You may take a sip, a small bite, or a short stroll around your space. After four Pomodoros (four sets of 25 minutes), you may take a more extended break, 20 to 30 minutes.
This technique’s effectiveness is based on the fact that a person can only stay focused for 25 minutes regardless of age. You accomplish more by breaking up your working time into chunks of your maximum attention span. Plus, you are continuously gratified with the frequent short and long breaks within the day.
Avoid multitasking.
Multitasking may seem like a good idea, but studies have shown that it hurts productivity. If you think about it, you waste time switching from one to another when you do multiple tasks. This slows you down. The constant switch might also confuse leading you to make mistakes. If you still believe that you accomplish more by doing many things concurrently, you need to move on!
You better start engaging in one chore at a time. Deep focus is a vital skill these days, especially with all the distractions of the modern world.
Make use of productivity tools.
Aside from to-do lists and calendars, the information age offers many tools that can simplify some, if not most, of your workload. In other words, these programs, apps, or equipment can make life easier for you.
Spreadsheets help you save, access, and track information that you need from time to time. Team collaboration software aids you in leading your team and assigning projects efficiently. Project management programs assist you in keeping project elements and information at hand wherever or whenever you need them.
Dodge time wasters and disable irrelevant notifications.
There are so many distractions looming in today’s workplaces. Take control of the ones that you can. Pick up your phone and turn off notifications during your working hours. They can surely wait until your break; whether for texts, voicemails, or emails.
Another trick that can help is when you document how you spend your time for an entire week. Track your mobile screen time. After identifying your time wasters, minimize them by allocating an adequate amount of time per week or day.
Plan your meetings wisely.
If you have been working with a team, you may have already learned that meetings take valuable time away from other tasks. But if you lead the team, you know that meetings are a necessary evil to track your group’s progress. It helps you communicate and ensure that everybody is on the same page.
Set clear agendas. Highlight the purpose of your get-togethers and try to keep them as short as possible. You can do this if you know how to steer your team on topic and avoid veering away from it. This will increase the chances of your employees to remain attentive in the huddle and allow them to get back to other tasks immediately after.
Utilize your lost time.
Lost time is scattered within the day. You can find them on your commute, when you are in a line at the café, or while waiting for a meeting. Catch up on your reading, update your spreadsheet data, or listen to podcasts. You won’t believe how much stuff can be done in your lost time!
Coworking spaces offer an excellent work-conducive environment. When you work around like-minded individuals, you feel more engaged and motivated to accomplish your goals. The sight of busy people, the sound of them consulting one another, and the sense of fulfillment you get if you give a hand to a stuck coworker ignite and boosts productivity.
If you’re looking for a good coworking space in Houston, Texas, try Uoffice Executive Suites. We offer spaces that might suit your job and team requirements. If you are interested in coworking or the memberships we offer, contact us today at 214-406-3326 or send us a message at jmerritt@rfs-inc.net.