How can you be more productive? What can you do to help boost both your own and your employees productivity? You will be pleased to know that there are several simple steps that you can actually implement. The 10 top tips listed below are simple things you can do whilst at work with minimal effort – these tips will help in being more productive and you can also shares these tips with your team – enjoy!
1. Address issues immediately
When working, people often put things to one side or push something out of the back of their mind to address at a later date. Whilst this can help you prioritize, it can also cause huge problems. Problems that are left unsolved can often escalate in the world of business. To boost your productivity you should always try and address issues straight away – 15 minutes spent sorting a problem could save you hours in the future.
2. Stop long and fruitless meetings
Meetings are one of the
to productivity in an office environment. Even the shortest of meetings can soon digress into mindless chatter and take up hours of your valuable time. Furthermore, there is always that one person in a meeting who simply wants to talk about themselves! Avoid meetings at all costs unless they are absolutely necessary. Could a meeting be avoided? Could the meeting contents simply be summarized in an email?
3. Plan, plan and plan again
If you do not have a clear plan of what tasks you have, and what you wish to achieve then your time will simply waste away. Planning is an essential part of business. Planning helps you organize your working hours and maximize the time you have. Consider using an email, essay writer or calendar application such as Outlook – you can add appointments and tasks to this and set reminders. Alternatively, programs such as One Note are fantastic for planning – use any tool or process you can to plan your day!
4. Multitasking is your enemy
Some people believe that multitasking is a blessing – in some instances yes it is, but in business it is counterproductive. If you multitask regularly you will inevitably get nothing done. Instead of working on one single task through to the end, you might work on 5 different tasks, and only make a little progression with each one. Streamline your work – do one task at a time and only multitask if it is absolutely necessary!
5. Create reminders and notes
This falls partially into the planning category but takes it one step further. This is one of the best productivity tips and it is extremely easy. Make notes! Notes can be used in practically every aspect of business and can give you super productivity. For example, if you have half-completed documents, you could place a note on them stating what needs finishing etc. Use Post-It notes, use comments in Word documents, use email reminders – let notes help you be more productive!
6. Prioritize your workload
If you cannot prioritize your workload you will waste time completing tasks that are not urgent, whilst urgent tasks remain incomplete. Prioritization is one of the
to improve your productivity. Look at the tasks you have and complete them in priority order – if something must be done to meet a deadline, ensure that is given priority. Alternatively, if a task simply has to be completed eventually, the deadline task should take precedence – simple!
7. Remove any potential time-wasters
During our working life we are presented with many “time-wasters”. In today’s modern world, most of these can be found on a smartphone or web browser. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are major time-wasters – simply uninstall them from your smartphone and refrain from using them during work hours!
8. Share your work plan with others
Some people make the mistake of trying to conquer the business world on their own. Everyone needs help – you must learn this. Share your workload and work plans with other people – they can assist and they can ease your workload and take unnecessary stress away from you. Furthermore, if you share your workload, your whole team can have a cohesive plan that will benefit the productivity of everyone.
9. Know your limits
Something that people often struggle with in the world of business is taking on too much. People believe they are indestructible and that they can take on a humungous amount of work. This is simply not the case! Everyone has their breaking point and a limit! Know your limits and only take on what you can cope with. If you try and surpass your limit you may become ill or simply cave under the pressure and your productivity will plummet.
10. Take a break!
Everyone needs a break! No one is capable of working 365 days a year non-stop! To help with your productivity and to ensure that you don’t burn yourself out, you should take regular holidays! Even high ranking management and directors need time off to relax and get away from the office. Ensure that you use your allotted holiday entitlement – this will help you be more productive as you will feel refreshed and invigorated on your return to work.
As you can see, it isn’t actually that hard to improve your productivity. These simple productivity tips can truly work wonders and take your career to the next level. Don’t forget to share these tips with your colleagues and family so they too can be more productive.