If you’ve ever felt like your workload is piling up on you, or perhaps frustrated that you didn’t get enough done in the morning, then perhaps its time to have a look at your work habits, and develop a productivity checklist for yourself. We spoke with a number of companies and organisations to discuss productivity, and the best ways to nurture it. An IT support provider London businesses choose for their highly efficient services spoke to us about how they help their employees maintain high levels of productivity.
Planning for Productivity
Where there are some people who may be able to work efficiently by nature, it is not a flaw to have trouble staying productive. Instead, make a plan about how you will keep yourself on track and focused. The company we spoke to suggested a number of tips to help with this – when providing IT support services London businesses rely on, they find that having a reliable system for working through tasks is best. Here are some of the top tips for maintaining a productive workday:
1. Set Goals for Your Workday
In order to succeed, you need to know what you’re working towards. Creating goals help you figure out what steps you need to take throughout your day. You might want to break a complex task down into a set of small goals, which can make it feel less daunting. Remember to take time with every step towards a goal.
2. Manage Your Time Differently
Time is a precious resource which can very easily slip away. Make sure that you are managing your time in the best way possible. This ties in with the principle of setting goals. When you have goals and tasks to work on, you can begin to figure out how much time a task should take to complete. This gives you a frame of reference to how efficient you are being. Be aware of time-wasting activities – such as checking emails, low-priority tasks, and even switching between tasks (which, incrementally, can account for a lot of lost time).
3. Schedule Focus Sessions and Breaks
Have you ever found that you work hardest near the end of the day? Perhaps that’s because you can see an endpoint in sight. You can create this by scheduling focus sessions that are punctuated by breaks. It’s easier to spend a chunk of time focusing as hard as you can, when you know you will be having a justified break soon. Taking breaks also help you clear your mind and stay refreshed.
4. Avoid Multitasking…
Every time you switch from one task to another, you’re wasting a little chunk of time – it’s like spending 99p and throwing away the change; it may not seem like much, but those discarded pennies add up. As well as this, when people try to juggle tasks, they often find it hard to focus on one task. Monotasking is much more time-efficient.
5. …Instead, Group Tasks by Relevance
You can optimize monotasking by grouping tasks that are similar or relevant. This way, you can seamlessly move onto the next task, once the previous is completed, and before you realise it, you will have worked through a portion of your to-do list.
6. Let Your Space Reflect your Mindset
It is very true that your environment influences your mental state, and if you’re working in a messy room, with a cluttered desk, then your mind will become cluttered as well. Not only will a clean desk and tidy office look much nicer, but it will make you feel less stressed out. You don’t necessarily have to balance the feng shui of your environment, but at least keep it organised.
7. Don’t Forget to Communicate
Finally, you must not forget to reach out to your colleagues or manager when you need to. If you’re running into roadblocks with tasks, don’t just sit there and try to figure it out on your own – the more productive solution is to ask for help; someone else might be able to find the right solution in seconds, and you will have learned how to overcome the same challenge in the future.
