Getting to the end of your work day and feeling like your to do list hasn’t gotten any smaller? Managing your time can be difficult, especially when you have different people and tasks pulling you in different directions.
Working out your most productive work environment can be key to improving your workflow and productivity. Below, we’ll share some of our top tips for improving productivity. We’d recommend testing a few out to work out which work best for you.
1. Stop Multitasking
Stop splitting your attention between tasks, often we think it’s more efficient to do more than one thing at a time (writing an email whilst maintaining a phone call). However, when our attention is not in one place we often have to spend more time going over something to make sure it’s been done correctly or redoing it. Focus only on one task at a time and you’ll complete it faster and more accurately.
2.Break It Down
If you’re working towards a big project and it feels overwhelming, so you’re not really making any progress because you’re jumping from one thing to another, break it down. Create small goals that are achievable, this will give you a stronger feeling of control and boost productivity.
3. Schedule Breaks
Working long hours might feel like you should be getting more done, but if your brain is burnt out you’ll be working harder with little reward. Schedule breaks throughout your day to give you a small reset and time to recharge. Anything from 5 to 15 minutes can make a massive difference, step away from your desk to make a cup of tea or a walk in fresh air. You’ll return to your desk with a fresh perspective and increased concentration.
4. Know Your Window
Identify what time of day you work best at and schedule your biggest / hardest task in this window. So, if when you arrive at the office in the morning you feel geared up and ready for the day, tackle these tasks first. Whereas, if you take a while to get going in the morning and hit your peak in the afternoon, fill your morning with smaller, easier tasks so you can tackle the biggest ones head on in your peak.
5. Use Time Blocks
Be ruthless with your schedule. Allocate a set amount of time to each task such as 60 or 90 minutes to help productivity. Time blocking works by helping to create a visual schedule to track the periods of tasks you work on. Similarly, it serves as a way to dedicate yourself to working on only a specific task for each block of time, so you will be more likely to complete it in the time frame you scheduled for it.
We hope some of these tips help your productivity. Don’t forget, a good old-fashioned list can also go a long way in helping keep yourself accountable.
