Productivity-Home-Life-Balance
                                                  10 Tips to Improve Your Productivity at Work

Increased Productivity is Good for you?

Increased productivity is the goal of employees and employers alike. The more productive you are the more satisfied you are with your job ( usually!). It means that you have found a role that plays to your strengths and a way to be at your best. Optimum productivity means that you are good at your role and this is recognised by your bosses. Being productive can reduce anxiety  as you feel more in control. High Functioning Anxiety…Is This You?

Why your Boss Wants you to be more productive!

Bosses love to see increased productivity in their employees, for very obvious reasons. The bottom line is improved and the staff appear to be happier and more fulfilled. Staff retention is therefore better. Decreased turnover of staff is more effective financially and less disruptive to the delivery of the end product.

Work Harder?

To improve your productivity means you have to work harder, be at work longer, have less social life? No, it means that you have to work in a way that optimises the way that you use your skills and hours spent at work.

These tips may help!

  1. Set mini targets for yourself. This gives you quick wins to keep you motivated.
  2. Really think about how you use your time. Be brutally honest here! I prevarication your go to time waster or is it chatting about your weekend. Chatting is good for team building but be aware of how much time you spend chatting instead of working.
  3. Can you operate a system that means you only deal with an email/paperwork once wherever possible? Answer it, file it or bin it?
  4. Make sure that meetings are productive and relevant to your projects. Be clear about what what you want from the meeting before attending or give you apologies!
  5. Focus on the task at hand.
  6. Plan when you are going to read & reply to emails. Set a time aside & don’t let them rule your diary. Turn off the notifications banners as this is distracting.
  7. Set phones etc to aeroplane mode if you have a really important piece of work to complete. Focus!
  8. When are you at your best? Early bird? Then do the piece of work that needs the most concentration at that time of the day.  Plan your day in accordance with your body clock.
  9. At the end of the week/day, write down what worked well & what did not go so well. Take time to plan for next week/day before you finish work, see this task as part of your working day. Make it a habit.
  10. Take care of your overall well being. Eat, sleep & exercise well. Your brain will thank you for it! The 2007 Harvard report, says that sleep deprivation makes you less efficient & more likely to make mistakes.

 

To develop healthy habits & routines, consider:

  • What are your routines now?
  • How productive do you feel?
  • Do you have a life outside of work
  • What do you want your work/life balance to look like?
  • How do you effect change?

     Need a sounding board ? Contact me to see if I can help!

Photo by Emma Matthews Digital Content Production on Unsplash