Do not work hard, work smart! A successful person is not the one who works 24 hours, a successful person is the one who optimizes 24 hours. Success is not about working a lot, it is about working smartly, and taking time out for other activities as well. Learn productivity hacks to get more done in less time.
Productivity Hacks To Incorporate In Your Life
Switch Off Alerts To Increase Productivity
It’s hard to concentrate if your phone is buzzing all the time. Depending on your virtual engagements, you probably get notifications for everything from Facebook likes to Instagram likes. It’s important you turn these notifications off! You’ll see efficiency rise once you do this. Alerts every few minutes might not look like a big deal, but they not only distract you, but make you unconsciously wait for more. This is disastrous for your concentration levels.
News decreases productivity
News can be a take a lot of your time. The concept that you need to keep up to date on the news is outdated. Most of the news today is depressing, and unreliable. It is sensationalized and dramatized. In fact, most news today isn’t even news. Just think about the hype that the recent bbc interview created. Think about it, are these things worth your time? If something newsworthy happens, you’ll find out any.
Exercise in the Morning
Research has shown that exercising in the morning can improve your productivity. Exercising promotes good health and energizes you. It can also improve your mood. Morning exercise will give you a good start. On the other hand, even exercise maybe a bit distracting as you will keep thinking about hitting the gym in the evening.
Have 30-Minute Meetings
Most of the meetings never need more than 30 minutes to get to the point and accomplish the task in hand. Most only need 15 minutes. Having long meetings is very outdated, and so not worth it. Spending more time talking about issues will not solve them any quicker.
Drinking Water is Essential for Productivity
We don’t drink as much water as we should. Our bodies live on water. Drinking more gives you more energy, keeps you hydrated, and keeps you healthy. Most of us are dehydrated. Dehydration affects all parts of our body, including our thinking ability.
Give Yourself a Break
Give yourself periodic breaks with things like a light snack, some tea, or a walk. Our minds haven’t been designed to work all day. Work for 25 minutes, then take a five minute break. Working constantly slows you down. It will take longer for you to achieve simple things if you work like a robot. You are a human, treat yourself like one!
Don’t Be Afraid to Say No
When you’re too inclined to please, you may say yes to the wrong things too. Do not say yes to things you do not want to do. Do not think about how the other person will feel.When you take too much work, your work suffers. You might end up missing deadlines, and end up disappointing others. Do not agree to more than you can do. You aren’t in this world to please everybody.
Make Most of Lost Hours
You probably spend hours driving to and from work. Think about scheduling calls in the morning that you can take during morning commute. Subscribe to podcasts and listen to them on the go. If you are waiting to board a flight, read industry news and articles.
Silence Your Perfectionist
Being a perfectionist can be dangerous. Only do the best you can do in a reasonable time frame and then stop. Most tasks do not need perfection anyway. If you do a trivial task perfectly, it is no big deal. You will only waste your time.
To-Dos and Scheduling
Have a to-do item that wouldn’t disappear? It stays at the bottom of the list, raising your anxiety levels! As time passes, you feel less inclined to give it any attention. Do away with the to-do list and start scheduling. Scheduling makes you realistic regarding what you can do. It makes you consider your available time and what slots you can allot to complete tasks in a day. To-dos are dreams. Scheduling is a practical plan
Declutter Desk
Clutter is induces stress. A messy desk can make you feel anxious. Clear your desk. Throw away papers you do not need. Do away with stationary that is not needed. Messy desk can have a very bad affect on your productivity.
Productivity Tools
There are many of tools available to help you. For tracking time management, try Toggl or Yast. Use Hootsuite if you are a social manager. It offers a central dashboard for managing all social media accounts. Also try Buffer, which makes it easy to share found articles on various social sites. For saving articles to read later, try Feedly, Pocket, or Evernote. Try LastPass, which to store passwords.
Get rid of tasks you do not like first
Do your least favorite tasks first, and then you will find the rest of the day more pleasant and productive. If you keep putting away a dreadful task till the end, it will only suck the pleasure out of things you like doing too.
Eat Breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It gives you the fuel you need to be present and productive. Skipping breakfast can mess with your concentration and reduce your productivity.
The Two-Minute Rule
If a task takes around two minutes to complete, you should finish it off immediately. Do not let them collect and snowball.
Get rid of small tasks
When many little tasks are eating your brain, you feel overwhelmed. Remember to not sweat the little things. When a lot of small things pile up, they stare at you like a mountain. Do not worry. Take each little thing once at a time. Designate a few moments each day for each of them.
Seek help from friends
If we make goals, we often forget. But if we talk about them to friends, chances are we stick to them. Make vows in front of your friends regarding things you want to achieve. Ask them to keep reminding you about them and to hold you accountable if you fail to do them.
Get Sleep
While you may think that staying up a bit later every day does not matter, it does affect your body. If you stay up past your bed time, you will feel tired the next day and ultimately your work will suffer. This is foolishness. Losing one night’s sleep is cognitively same as being over the alcohol limit . Getting sleep of seven to eight hours is mandatory, not optional.
Get rid of bad habits
Make bad habits difficult for yourself. Hide the tv remote. Ask your family to lock up your xbox so you do not play it all the time. Whenever you eat excess sugar, remind yourself that its responsible for making you fat. Associate bad outcomes with bad habits. This will make you think twice before doing them so casually.
Set realistic goals
Unrealistic goals which cannot be met will only lead you towards failure and demotivate you in the long run. While it is a good idea to aim high, it does not make sense to set unrealistic, unattainable goals. Set smaller goals, and then set bigger ones as you progress. Always remember, think big, start small!
Be positive
Stay positive as negativity can seep your motivation and lure you into depression. If something unfortunate happens, count all the good things in your life. If that does not work, try to shift your focus. Go out. Take a walk. Take some time off. Seek counseling. Do not let negativity take the better of you. Read up about people who were in bad situations, and how they courageously fought it off, and rose to prominence. Remmeber the greater the struggle, the bigger the reward. Keep your eyes on the prize.
Do not be overly competitive
While it is a good idea to be competitive, it is not recommended to be overly creative. Be mindful of your work status, your capabilities, your strengths, and your weakness. If you compare yourself with someone who has a big advantage of you (in terms of man power, for example), you will only be disappointing yourself. Be realistic. Do not tire yourself just to be at the same level as everyone else.
Know what you are doing
Ever started an assignment mindlessly just to get it over with? This type of approach may seem quick to begin with, but it will only take more time in the end. Plan properly. Know what needs to be done. Be aware of the steps needed to accomplish the task. Make an outline before beginning the task. Some minutes spent in the beginning will save many in the end!
Also Read: Online learning platforms
What is the biggest distraction you face while working? How do you over come it? Let us know in the comments below!
