10 Tools & Tips For Escalating Your Productivity

A lot of us put in a lot of time and work in our daily activities, and push ourselves to the limit without getting the desired outcomes.

This can be really frustrating and can take a toll on your health.

Here are a number of tips that will help you get the most out of your time and efforts without infringing on your well-being.

1. Refuse unwanted meetings– time is one of the most resources we have at our disposal. Not all meetings are necessary. A lot of meetings that take up our time are of very little consequence and should be avoided. It is important for you to know which meetings are important and which ones are not. For example, a meeting with your boss certainly shouldn’t be on the to avoid list, but a two hour meeting to discuss the temperature of the office AC shouldn’t be worth your time.

2. Be a perfect contrarian– swimming against the tide is never easy, but following conventional wisdom is often the undoing of many men. Going where everyone is going could keep you away from great opportunities elsewhere since someone is more likely to get there before you. However it is important to use your judgment well instead of rebelling just for the sake of it.

3. Utilize your commute time-Commuting to and from work is one of the most notorious time wasters for workers all over the globe. Commute time however can be used to realize some valuable output. For example if you are behind the wheel and you are stuck in traffic, instead of spending the entire time glaring at the driver in front of you and blaring your horn angrily you can make some important business calls(just remember to use headsets or speaker phone), or listen to CDs for your foreign language classes. For train, bus or carpooling commuters you can plan the day or even write a business proposal.

4. Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity– one of the attributes shared by successful people is that they are risk takers. If you sit around waiting for the perfect opportunity to do something, you may never do it because there is no such thing as a perfect opportunity.

5. Avoid distractions– distractions such as computer games and social sites at the workplace result in a lot of lost productivity. If you are in the middle of an important task, it would be wise to turn off your smartphone, redirect your desk phone calls to voice mail and delete addictive games from your PC to avoid having your attention diverted. If possible lock the doors to your work station and use a don’t disturb’ sign to avoid people coming in for idle chat or requests that can wait.

6. Set goals and prioritize them well– it is important to have ambitious but realizable short-term and long-term goals.This gives you a sense of direction and motivation as opposed to putting in the efforts towards an outcome that isn’t clear. Arrange these goals according to priority, and start with the most important ones and assign them your prime time.

7. Take breaks-Taking breaks in between work rekindles your energy levels and taking you back to your best. productivity isn't determined by the amount of time you take on a task but by how much you get done so if that break is what transports you back to your A-game, take it..

8. Get things right in the first attempt– a lot of time gets wasted correcting errors. Endeavor to learn from your mistakes especially on tasks that you have to do repeatedly. For tasks that especially take a lot of time, it is best to ensure that you come into them having mustered all the necessary skills.

9. Save your prime time for harder tasks– this is the time when the brain is sharpest such as in the morning and after rests. Assign low value tasks to the remaining time such as afternoons when you are fatigued. This ensures that you get the best out of every hour of work.

10. Seek help or delegate – You don’t have to do everything yourself. If you are faced with a task that is too hard for you to handle ask someone with the necessary skills to do it for you instead of producing substandard outcome. When your workload id too much for you to handle, you can assign it to your employees taking special care to ensure each one gets what they are skilled for.

Photo Credit: Dennis Hamilton