So, you want to become more productive and stop wasting time? You’ve come to the right place.
Your tasks aren’t going to get themselves done, no matter how long you stare at that list of work on your to-do list.
Today is the day you’re going to learn the most important things that productive people do when trying to accomplish something.
Whilst many people are probably wasting their valuable time looking at social media right now, you’re going to learn how to get your important tasks DONE.
To start off with, the one thing you need to remember is that your productivity is determined by a range of factors.
No matter how much time you spend watching Netflix, you can still be more productive with even less time spent on work.
Here’s how;
Focus on one task
When you have a mountain of tasks asking for your attention, just the thought of doing them can make you exhausted.
No really.
When this happens, many of us are tempted to do a bit of everything.
This isn’t the correct approach.
Instead, you should zero in on just one task and work on it to completion.
Not only will doing so give you clarity but the achievement of finishing that one task will spur you to move on to another.
In so doing, you’ll find that you’ll be more productive than if you’d have attempted to do multiple tasks at the same time.
Implement Time Management
You’d be surprised how much time we spend each day on unimportant tasks.
Time management is the deliberate, conscious control of the time one spends on each day’s activities.
Time management is an important tool for increasing productivity.
To implement time management, you need to first analyze what a typical day for you looks like. In so doing you’ll be able to reassess and re-allocate time from the less important tasks to the more important ones accordingly.
It goes without saying that to see the benefits of time management, you ought to keep a time management journal.
Discover Deep Work
When was the last time you were completely lost in a demanding task?
Many of us can’t remember a day that past by with few to no distractions.
The concept of Deep Work involves allowing yourself to get lost in a task.
As argued by Cal Newport, doing so will train your brain to process difficult concepts in less time, thus allowing you to be more productive by being time-efficient.
Use The Pomodoro technique
Developed by Francesco Cirillo, the Pomodoro technique is a time management method that has its users break down tasks into twenty-five minute intervals.
You basically concentrate on a task for twenty-five minutes, take a short break then resume for another twenty-five minutes, and so on and so forth.
The technique has been lauded by critics as being a very effective tool in increasing productivity and task completion.
First Thing Is The Most Important
This is perhaps the simplest yet most important tip.
Let the most important task be the first thing you do each morning.
How does this improve productivity?
Well, productivity is not so much quantitative than it is qualitative.
Making sure that you do the most important thing first every day means that even on days you don’t do much, you’ll always complete the important tasks.
First thing is indeed, the most important.
Plan Your Next Week
Not planning is planning to fail.
At best a plan binds you to certain goals.
At worst, its an ideal, an aspiration- that even though you don’t achieve the golden standard, you won’t fall far.
Planning your week mentally prepares you to a productive week.
More chances than not, you will actually be more productive than if you hadn’t planned at all.
Track Every Minute
Tracking the time spent on daily activities ensures that you don’t waste time on useless tasks.
It also ensures that you’re as efficient as possible with the time you have each day.
Its a sure-fire way of being more productive.
Final Thoughts on Productivity
Following these 7 methods will ensure you have a productive life and do your best work.
They are the best way to make sure each day is a productive day.
It’s ok to spend a long time doing non-productive things as long as your productive hours are spent on real work.
In reality, even the best performing CEO’s & executives only have 4-5 hours of productive work per day.
One last productivity tip;
Make sure you’re working on the right things for the right reasons!