Staying productive and focused for the whole day is not an easy task by all means. There are a lot of distractions in the office. Jiji.ng has compiled a list of the best tips to boost your productivity and ensure that you get the most out of every single day.
Staying Productive at Work
Budlight shows us all how to stay productive at work
Get Enough Sleep
The key to your next productive day is in getting a good night’s sleep. If for some reason you stay up late, it’s likely your productivity will decrease significantly the next morning. Rejuvenating effects of sleep have been widely described by scientists.
Tip 1: Scientists recommend sleeping 7-9 hours
Start Your Day with a Breakfast
A healthy breakfast is the best way to start your day, boost your metabolism after sleep and give you the energy you’ll need in the morning. If you skip eating breakfast or opt for something unhealthy, chances are you’ll feel tired and distracted.
Tip 2: Opt for a low-glucose breakfast to ensure your body gets slow-release energy
Stay Fit
Physical exercise is a great way to keep your stress level low. Even if you don’t attend the gym on regular basis, a half-an-hour walk during your lunch break will suffice. It will help you clear your mind and cope with your workload better. Experts stipulate that a daily dose of sunlight and a breath of fresh air is the best remedy for stress.
Tip 3: Being chained to your cubicle (or desk in the office) does not help you get things done better, it works against you
Write Down Your Daily Task Priorities
Make to-do lists every day. Even genius people can’t keep everything in their heads, so don’t even try to. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re using a simple notepad or a task manager app on your smartphone or computer. Include only realistic tasks in your to-do list and be sure to set your priorities for the day.
Tip 4: Prioritize your tasks and start your day with getting the most important things done by afternoon (if possible)
Set Deadlines
If you’re used to working under sharp deadlines you know how hard it can be to follow them. On the other hand, deadlines are important to make sure you don’t procrastinate at work. Even if you don’t have deadlines – set them for yourself every day. It will really help you with getting things done.
Tip 5: Set a deadline for the time you leave the office (like 6 pm sharp). This way in all likelihood you’ll work more efficiently
Schedule Social Media Use and E-mail Checks
Constantly checking Facebook and E-mail inbox for updates is a major distractor and a real productivity killer. If you want to fight procrastination it’s time you schedule your social media use and e-mail checks.
Tip 6: Schedule your social media use and e-mail checks and limit them to not more than twice a day (if your work doesn’t depend on that, of course). Leave specific time slots for these purposes and make sure to turn social media reminders off on your desktop
Keep Your Calls Short
Much like the social media, phone calls can be a great distraction especially if you’re in a middle of a productive project. Chatting with clients or suppliers is an important task by all means, but try to keep your calls at work short. Don’t be afraid to turn off your phone if you’re really busy.
Tip 7: Try to keep your calls short by explaining that you’re “on deadline” and don’t have a lot of time for chatter
Get It Done Immediately
Use the 2-minutes rule. This simple rule states that if a task can be accomplished within a few minutes, it should be performed right away. There’s simply no point in postponing it, as chances are you’ll eventually end up forgetting about it. This rule doesn’t apply to larger tasks and projects.
Tip 8: If something can be done in 2-5 minutes – do it right away
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Avoid Distractions
It might be hard to avoid distraction, especially in the open space office environment with a lot of your colleagues constantly chatting around you. But there are quite a few ways you can avoid distraction. The first and the simplest one is – just wear headphones.
Tip 9: It’s also helpful to use anti-distraction tools, like Freedom, SelfControl or Think. If you’re wearing headphones listen to calm music on Sleep Sound or tune in to SonicMood
Concentrate on One Thing at a Time
Multitasking might seem to be a more productive approach, but in fact it only slows you down. Start your day with accomplishing the most important large tasks that require most energy and leave smaller and less significant things to do for the afternoon. It’s hopeless trying to get everything done at once so a good idea is to split large and time consuming tasks into smaller parts and manage them one at a time.
Tip 10: If you come across a task you can’t finish and eventually get stuck – take a break and move on (if you can), choose another task and get it done. You might find the inspiration for accomplishing the task you ditched later on
