A long day at work can be dissatisfying if you feel like you have not accomplished what you needed to, nor achieved any of the goals that you wanted to. Improving on some of your workplace habits can actually lead to increased productivity which will please both you and your superiors. Tower Group collected a few helpful tips for working productively so that you can feel motivated and satisfied throughout your work day…
Set and Celebrate Micro-Goals
You may feel as though you have mountains to climb during your work day, but you cannot reach the summit without first taking a few tentative footsteps. Break your larger goals up into a series of smaller, attainable goals and work from the ground up.
Instead of setting a goal such as “I need to get ready, get to work, and do groceries after work”, break it down to “Have a shower, get dressed, make breakfast and head to work”. When you have completed these micro-goals, celebrate your achievement! This celebration will go a long way towards motivating you to continue working through your goals and feeling accomplished by the end of the day.
Follow the Two Minute Rule
David Allen introduced us to the idea of the Two Minute Rule for increasing your productivity quickly and easily. The Rule states: “If an incoming task can be done in under two minutes, do it immediately”. His research showed that a two-minute task that is put on your to-do list to be resumed later actually takes up more of your time than it would to simply complete it immediately. Any manner of light internet research will show you how popular and effective this method is!
Encourage Proactivity, Not Just Reactivity
If you spend your entire day allowing incoming phone calls and endless emails control how you spend your time at work then you will become extremely proficient at solving other people’s problems, and not your own.
You should set aside set time periods throughout the day to respond to emails and sort out issues, but do not let them stipulate how your day is spent. Whatever is not responded to in your 8am response session can be handled in your next session. If anything is deathly urgent, you can be sure that the person will hunt you down.
Mute Your Notifications
The notification tones on your phone are literally designed to grab your attention and keep you thinking about the message you have not yet read. To be more productive at work, turn off all notifications on your phone and set aside a couple minutes throughout the day to check your notifications for emergencies or urgent requests. This stops you having to exercise iron will to ignore the notification tone, and helps you maintain focus.
Do Not Multitask
However many old adages have assured you that multitasking is the way forward, have been lying to you. Many studies have shown that productivity is diminished when we engage in more than one activity. It further reduces creativity and can increase the number of errors you make in each task. Rather approach one activity at a time and give it your best effort!
Tower Group always want to help our candidates and clients get more out of their days. Check out our blog page for more interesting and helpful articles that can help you make the most of your time at work. Contact us if you have any queries about our staffing solutions and professional services.
