Life comes at us fast. All-day we are bombarded with emails, phone calls, and requests for our time. And, the volume of this stuff seems to grow each day. When these external demands for your attention are added to your already full desk, your day can be lost just trying to dig out and keep up.
Do a productivity audit on yourself
You only need to track your activities for a month to do a productivity audit on yourself. There are many time tracking tools available online ( DeskTime, Proofhub, Hours, just to name a few). That’s enough to get an understanding of how you’re spending your time and compare it to how you think you’re spending your time. Trust me, you’ll be surprised.
Use a timer
Here’s a very powerful secret- time yourself while you’re working. Set yourself aggressive time lines too. If you think it will take you an hour to write that article, try and do it in 45 minutes. You’ll find that this will sharpen your focus if nothing else.
Identify your prime time and eliminate distractions during those hours.
Get very clear over all the times when you’re most productive. Most people hit their stride at about 10am. When’s your prime time? Block out that time in your calendar and use it to become laser-focused.
Use your mornings as a springboard for success.
We’ve all heard this is the secret of the highest achievers. They use their mornings to get a jump on their day. By the time they’ve reached their afternoon they’ve completed their most important tasks. They even get their workout done, read or listen to inspiring material (often while working out- more about this later) before they start their day. This increases their energy levels and sets them up for success. The first few hours of the day sets their tone. What do you do to get yourself into gear when you wake up?
Reserve your creative work for the morning.
If your day involves work that’s creative or requires critical thinking, schedule this for your mornings. For most people, mornings are their “prime time”. This is when you’re likely to get the best breakthroughs and maximum output on creative pursuits. Save the admin tasks for later in the day.
Plan your day the night before using time boxing.
Planning your day the night before gives you emotional distance from the overwhelm that inevitably creeps into your busy work day. Plan your tasks on your calendar using time boxing and stick to the plan. Only make exceptions for emergencies!
Consume audio content while exercising.
There are over 200,000 books available on audiobooks today — in just about any subject imaginable. All are good to listen to while exercising or while driving or commuting to and from work or errands.
Learn the art of saying “No”.
Do you know what makes Apple so successful? They know how to say “no”. They say no to hundreds of possible design features that they could cram into their devices and distill it down to the bare essentials. They are masters of elimination. The end result? Simplicity in form and functionality. This is the approach you need to take to your to do list. Distill it down to the bare essentials and then go to town on those tasks first.
Don’t Multitask, Unitask.
Lets bust one of the biggest prevailing myths around productivity. Multitasking does not work. Many studies have demonstrated the myth of multitasking. It causes more distractions, dulls your focus and increases stress levels. Its costs far outweigh its benefits.
Process your email in batches.
Email is one of those tasks that can really hijack your day. Don’t check your email too often. That’s a recipe for disaster when it comes to productivity. Train your stakeholders to expect replies from you at 10am, 12pm and 3pm. You can do this by using an “out of office” message or a message in your email signature. Stick to these times. You’ll be amazed at how many ‘urgent’ tasks resolve themselves!
Stop procrastination dead in its tracks once for all.
One of the biggest drains on your productivity is procrastination. It affects your productivity in 2 ways. Firstly, you lose time when you are procrastinating. Secondly, and more importantly, delaying tasks often comes with a cost. For example, if you don’t exercise regularly you’re more likely to end up with heart disease or a stroke.
If you let important tasks build up you’re going to spend a lot of time putting out fires that you would never have had in the first place if you had completed the tasks ahead of time.
Becoming truly productive is a matter of generating productivity habits that you routinely do every day. It begins as a deliberate decision. You shape the routines that create your habits — the habits that will lead you to your goals.
You make the choice.
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