Productivity is all about efficiency – doing more, faster and with less. However, there are times that we aren’t as productive as we should be during our workday. Our bodies are extremely exhausted and dead beat at work or at home. If you find yourself working late frequently, these 10 effective ways will improve your productivity while maintaining a good balance between work and life.
1) Don’t be an Action Taker, be a Really Fast Action Taker
Take a look at how you have utilised the 24 hours that you had the previous day. Write down the activities that you have done that really helped you to achieve your target goals for the day. Do a self reflection to see where was the time wasted doing things that do not directly contribute to your desired goals. Consider seeking help from the people who knows how to do the job.
2) Set specific short daily goals
Every morning set specific short attainable goals. List down at least three and prioritise them accordingly. It works best if you can establish them first thing in the day.
3) Emails
There is no point attending to emails first thing in the day. Sometimes, they just occupy your time or in most cases, the whole morning is spent attending to emails. Finish the priority goals for the day and answer your emails in the afternoons.
4) Set a limit on the number of goals per day
In the beginning it is a good idea to limit your daily goals to 5 or less. Having 20 or 30 goals a day is only going to exhaust you and burn you out. In other words, reduce your multi-tasking.
5) Stay fit
Staying fit is key to leading an active enriching life. As we get older, our muscles need more stimulation to remain active and not get tired and weary easily. Unused muscles tend to lose their strength really quickly. Devote at least 30 to 60 minutes a day to getting fit daily.
6) Eliminate Distractions
There are distractions daily at the workplace. Avoid these distractions by keeping your door closed at work. Of course, when superiors knock on your door,don’t ignore them.
7) Avoid heavy lunches
Large lunches or heavy rice and noodle based lunches, naturally leave you feeling exhausted, heavy and uncomfortable the whole day. Worse they leave you feeling sleepy and lethargic. Instead swop for a fresh fruit or vegetable salad with some slices of meat or smoked salmon. Otherwise a simple sandwich with tuna or chicken sandwiched between some lettuce leaves and tomatoes will leave you feeling full and satisfied.
8) Clear the clutter
Have you ever found yourself spending lots of time searching for something that you had misplaced? Does this happen to you frequently? Then, it is time to clear some clutter and regain back some of this lost time. Time spent searching for misplaced documents or things is clearly time consuming and exhausting. Its time to clear the clutter!
9) Get 8 hours of Rest
Working more and sleeping less is not going to make you more productive. Instead make it a must to get 8 hours of sleep a day. A properly rested body is essential and gets more work done in the day.
10) Avoid Excess Coffee
Many may advise you to drink a cuppa to get some energy. However, a cup of coffee and caffeine may help you at the moment but will inevitably leave you feeling even more tired for the rest of the extended day. There is nothing wrong in having coffee for breakfast but there are some who need a cup every 2 hours. Instead replace coffee with slightly chilled water to give you a quick pick me up.
