There is an old saying that ‘it is not your personality which determines who you are, but it is your work.’ This statement mentions that your work will determine how people will think about you. With that thing in mind, most of the people thrive to enhance their productivity so that they could be known for their work.
However, most of the people wonder that how they can be more productive in their workplace. Some say that it is the focusing power while others claim that it is the physical strength.
Opinions of different people create confusion among people which never allows them to become more productive. If you face the same situation, then here we present you with some of the best practices that will help you to enhance your productivity.
#1 Create a To-Do List
The reason why most of the people are unable to improve their productivity is that they do not manage their work. All they do is blindly continue to the tasks that they need to do without creating a particular plan.
If you want to boost your working ability, then the first thing you need to do is manage your tasks. The best way to do this is by creating a to-do list where you need to write down all the tasks that you are supposed to complete. Mere creating the list is sufficient to achieve your goal. You need to stay focused on that particular list or else you will continue to make the same mistakes that you did earlier.
#2 Track Time Spent on Tasks
Most of the people believe that they are adequately doing their work and in the minimum time possible due to which they do not take any record of the time they take to complete it. You need to make sure that you calculate the time you take to complete your tasks. Not only just the productive tasks but leisure tasks like breaks and social media activity during your working hours. This will help you in finding the places where you could decrease the time you take to complete the tasks and look for any scope of improvement. You can either do this manually, or you can make use of the different tools available on the internet.
#3 Deadlines
Undoubtedly, every task comes with a deadline to meet. Failing to meet that deadline will not only put all those efforts to waste, but could also cause loss. You need to make sure that you complete the work within the right time span to make use of it. However, these deadlines will only help you in achieving your work in your regular way. If you want to enhance your productivity, then you need to impose your own deadlines on yourself.
Though it may seem stressful in the beginning, this stress will help you in completing the work much before your actual deadline. In addition to that, it could also help you in enhancing your focus on the work, and you will not be distracted too easily. You need to make sure that you set the achievable deadlines or else it may take more time to complete the task.
#4 Take Necessary Breaks
In order to increase productivity, most of the people work continuously for hours. Rather than improving the productivity, continuous working could degrade the amount of work you do. The reason behind this is that our mind is exhausted after working a few hours and need a small break so that it could be refreshed and bring out better ideas. All you have to do is take a few minutes break every hour so that you can refresh your mind. Keep in mind that your breaks should be scheduled and should be a part of your to-do list.
#5 Identify the Distractions
There are some factors that prove to be distractions for some of the people. It could be any colleague, your mobile phone, or even some of your habits. To improve your productivity, you need to find out the things that may distract you from doing your regular work. Once you have identified, you need to find out the ways to eliminate these distractions so that you can put your complete focus on your work. If you are unable to remove your interruptions, then you should try to minimize them.
#6 Prepare for the Next Day
The reason why some of the people are not productive enough in their work is that they have no idea what they are going to do tomorrow. When you know what you are going to do next, you do not waste time in planning for the future and directly begin working. With that thing in mind, you need to start preparing for the next day. Doing so will help you in saving your time and make your work a lot smoother and easier to complete.
#7 Give Up Multitasking
Most of the people think that doing more than one tasks simultaneously will help them in being more productive. However, it is a sheer misconception as it could decrease the efficiency. As you will be working on multiple things at the same time, it could increase the probability of errors in your work. Mere completing the work is not called as increased productivity; you need to provide the correct work so that it could be used. Always keep in mind that you should put your focus on one thing at a time which decreases the chances of mistakes in your work.
#8 Ask For Help
Sometimes people are stuck in some situation where they are unable to find the solution to their problem. Rather than asking for help, most of the people try to solve problems on their own. It not only consume more time but also increases the probability of errors in the work. In addition to that, the physical tasks that could be done easily with the help of numerous people are done by a single person that increases the pressure as well as the time took to complete it.
In that case, the best thing to do is ask for help from your colleagues or seniors. Some of the people may feel shy in doing so, but it is the best way of solving the problem and increase the productivity.
#9 Avoid Unnecessary Meetings
One of the most time-consuming things is meetings. Meetings not only mean business or work meetings, but get-together with your friends, family, or any other person. It could act as a distraction for your work and may also consume your time that you could use for work. Before you sign up for a meeting, ask yourself that whether this meeting is important than your work or not. This question will allow you to determine that you should go to the meeting or not.
If the meeting is necessary, then you should take measures needed to cut short its time. The best way to do this is by going to the standing meeting. As the name describes, in this type of meeting, all the participants are standing. The reason behind this is that people communicate effectively when they are standing which will reduce the meeting time.
#10 Reward Yourself
Almost everyone needs a motivation to continue working. With that thing in mind, you could use different rewards to motivate yourself. Use different types of rewards every time you complete a task before your set deadline. These rewards could be anything you like including your favorite food or a long break.
Endnote
If the right methods are known, then improving the productivity is not a difficult task. Though it may require a lot of efforts, but dedicated personalities could achieve their goals with ease. These were some of the best practices that you can use to enhance your productivity.
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