Just Imagine:
You are working in a senior position in a company. Your meeting is pre-scheduled.
You’ve done your part. You’re ready with important notes and pointers but your colleagues are late to show up in a meeting.
You’re sitting bored and dull. You need some productive things to do at work.
Now what?
It’s quite hard for professionals to sit unproductively and let boredom take a toll on their overall job performance.
To save your precious time from getting wasted, we’ve gathered few tips to help you keep productive and help time fly by!
A study shows that people who engage their spare time can become 8%- 10% more productive.
You can add these tips to your to-do list to achieve those little things that you always wished to.
So let’s get started.
- Review your schedule to plan ahead
It’s always better to be prepared. Reviewing your schedule to plan tasks ahead of time always ensures success. It will not only benefit you with free slot identification but allow you to prepare your to-do list. Reviewing the schedule in your free time may even help you to think about your travel plans, holidays, or your upcoming events and conferences. With proper pre-planning, you can jot down priority tasks by keeping aside some me-time which is equally essential to rejuvenate yourself for a better tomorrow.
2. Listen to podcasts from top leaders
Podcasts not only refresh you but also boosts morale along and amp up your game. The best part is that one can listen while walking, driving, or waiting at Starbucks for coffee.
There are so many podcasts out there. Learning handy tips and tricks from your industry icon can help you improve your leadership skills. Just tap on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and search your industry. Listen to the top results and feel super motivated!
3. Clean your Inbox
None of us like the fully loaded mailbox but somehow it continues to stack up. It can be simply a few spam that we want to get rid of as soon we find few minutes or a few subscribed newsletters. Sometimes we mark few emails unread as a way to keep them in a follow-up folder. Either way, the mailbox gets piled up too soon.
According to McKinsey Global Institute, an average employee spends 13 hours a week reading and responding to emails.
De-cluttering your mailbox is one of the most productive things to do at work so that your mailbox is tidy and organized. Setting reminders with sticky notes on the desk or an alarm on a smartphone can do wonders to organize emails at a timely interval.
4. Read a book
There’s a huge difference between scrolling through social media or e-newspaper to read some fashion and political gossips and reading books that would help you in your business, leadership, or creativity.
It can be anything: fiction, non-fiction, or a novel. If you prefer to read a book, just walk to your nearest bookstore, grab a book and a cappuccino and enjoy a great afternoon.
5. Catchup with your old friends and colleagues
Just ask yourself: Are you still in touch with your old school buddy or that office colleague with whom you’d spend hours talking?
Just because you don’t visit those places anymore, it doesn’t mean you’d disconnect with them. The free time is the best way to keep in touch with those people with whom you’ve got some history.
Plan a visit with them in the city. If the distance is too great, meet them up on Skype or Zoom. You will feel great and delighted.
Conclusion
There is a life waiting for you beyond smartphone and office too. All you need to do is just organize your time and be productive. Successful people will always find ways to improve teamwork, relationships, and collaborations along with improving their abilities. It’s all about time management.
The above shared are a few of the ways to be productive at work. Some may work better than others as per your situation. It’s all about experimenting with what suits you best as per your personality type. Which one would you like to try first? Do let us know below in the comments section.