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Being productive can be challenging. It can be hard to know where to start managing your time in ways that are conducive to your productivity. No matter who you are, it can be a struggle to understand how to structure your time effectively. No matter what you do for work, you need to be on point with how to manage your time.
If you’re looking to become more productive with your time, then you have to understand that you need to make constant and never-ending improvements to the way that you work. Fortunately, there are many ways that will help you become more productive. Here are some to dramatically boost your productivity.
Turn Off All Distractions
Every time an email pops up on your screen, every time your phone buzzes, or when your office door opens, your train of thought is destroyed. We all like to believe that we can both participate in a group chat and write our presentation, but the truth is, we can’t. Your best work comes with silence. If you want to increase your productivity, then you have to turn off all the distractions.
If you don’t make an intentional effort to limit the distractions around you when it’s time to work, your productivity will take a hit.
Distractions are everywhere. If you work from a computer, you have the temptation of checking your social media and surfing the Internet, among other things.
There are plenty of tools that can help you minimize these distractions.
Stop Multitasking
It can be incredibly tempting to want to try and take care of several tasks at once. However, it has been proven that multitasking just doesn’t work. If you think that you can efficiently juggle phone calls, emails, and presentations without losing your productivity, you’re fooling yourself. If you want to increase your productivity, you need to focus on one task at a time.
Take Breaks and disconnect
You might think that spending more time working will help you get more things done; however, if you want to keep your mind fresh and your energy levels up, then you need to take a break from your work frequently.
Studies show that taking regular breaks during the day will dramatically help increase concentration and boost your mood. Don’t continue to work under the assumption that you have to work harder to accomplish your goals.
To help boost your productivity, take short breaks disconnect from your email and phone calls, walk around the office or grab a mid-day latte.
Taking frequent breaks throughout the day and stepping away on the weekends, will allow your brain to refresh and your body to recover.
Have Lunch away from your desk
While small, this habit can have a huge and powerful effect on how you work for the rest of the day. Using your lunch to get out of your work environment can refresh your creativity, significantly reduce your stress levels, and help you re-focus when it’s time to get back to work. Consider taking a short walk to help clear your head and think about what you want to accomplish the rest of the day.
Implement the 2-Minute Rule
Make the most of your time by filling those tiny windows of downtime with actual tasks. Finding and completing tasks that take less than two minutes to finish will save you time during the day. If you have tasks that you can complete in two minutes or less, just jump in and do them.
Use Your Calendar
Most people only use their calendar to remember special events and birthdays, but this dramatically undermines the power that your calendar can serve in increasing your productivity. A simple strategy that can increase your productivity is to schedule the major tasks you have to accomplish during the day. Don’t just create a to-do list with the functions you need to accomplish, but time block your most important tasks and projects that you need to get done.
Have a Plan and Plan Ahead
While most entrepreneurs have a long-term plan on how they’re going to reach their goals, they fail to plan and prioritize their days. When you are scattered throughout the day, you aren’t able to maximize your time. If you want to get more done, then you need to set some time aside every evening to plan out and prioritize the tasks you need to accomplish the next day that will move you forward toward achieving your goals.
Before you go to bed each night, take a few minutes to evaluate what you achieved. Spend a few minutes clearing your workspace, and create a list of the tasks that you need to complete the following day.
Spending just 15 minutes before you go to bed creating and prioritizing your to-do list for the next day will give you a head start the following day. After you create your to-do list, spend a few minutes marking the tasks that are important to remind you that those tasks have to be done to push you forward in achieving your goals.
Planning your day in advance can help you get a good night’s sleep because you won’t end up staying up all night trying to remember everything you have to get done the next day. It also helps you to wake up excited about attacking your day because you already know what you need to do instead of wasting time trying to make a plan.
Perfect Your Morning Routine
If you want to take your productivity to the next level, then you have to perfect your morning routine. How you start your day is an excellent indicator of how the rest of your day is going to go. You need to find something that works for you and start putting it on your calendar. If you want to increase your productivity, then you have to get serious about your morning routine.
Develop a Sense of Urgency
Not having a sense of urgency will not only keep you from increasing your productivity levels, but it will also keep you from reaching your full potential and achieving your goals. Create a trigger that will remind you to move forward with a sense of urgency. Whether you write a reminder down on a notecard or put it in your smartphone, you need to have something that will continuously remind you to get moving.
Employ the 80/20 Rule
If you want to get more done in less time, then you need to create your daily work schedule around the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule. Creating a daily work schedule using the 80/20 rule will allow you to spend 80 percent of your day working on the most critical tasks, and 20 percent of your time on the menial, but necessary tasks.
Not every day will be productive, so don’t beat yourself up over it. Instead, try to refocus your energy and implement these productivity tips into your day. Once you find what works for you, you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done.
Changing these habits will move you toward being a more productive person. Keep track of your results and watch as the small daily victories start to transform your life
