How confident are you in your productivity skills?
Does that confidence get hopelessly squashed every time you read about a new productivity tip, tool, or technique?
Does it make you lose heart in your ability to complete daily tasks in your business?
In my role as a productivity consultant and time management coach, I regularly help people work on their mindset.
Surprisingly, this often means letting go of what they’ve been previously taught or told about the most effective ways to get things done.
How do you become more adept at trusting yourself when it comes to how you go about doing your work?
How can you use your self-confidence to help you to be more efficient every single day?
The following tips will help you reframe your mindset and your approach toward productivity in a new way.
Know thyself.
This is one of the most underrated tips in the world of productivity.
You can learn all the productivity tips, tools, tricks, and techniques in the world, but if you abhor planning with color-coded stickers and bristle at the thought of task batching, you won’t get very far in your work.
Rather than choose productivity techniques at random, start at the beginning.
What are your personal preferences when it comes to how you work?
Do you work well in a noisy or quiet office? Are you partial to physical notebooks or note-taking apps? Do you like jumping from task to task or diving deep into a project?
Respecting and honoring what you know to be true of yourself will be more useful to you in the long run than simply following a productivity approach on a whim.
Expand an area of excellence.
We all have strengths and weaknesses in our professional and personal lives.
While we tend to lean on our strengths, much can be gained by effectively shoring up our weaknesses.
Why not expand that sense of confidence and competence in one area of your professional life to another? Make a brief inventory of your top strengths in your business. Next, identify your top weaknesses.
How can you bridge the gap between the two and use your strengths to support your weaknesses in your daily routine?
Consider all the ways you communicate, process information, relate to other people, generate ideas, and respond to emergencies.
Which specific skills can be applied to creating your to-do list, creating a project management document, or running an effective meeting?
Chances are you’ll uncover some interesting skills you can use.
Revisit a recent productive experience.
All too often, we discount what’s going well in our work lives. We’ll complain about the failed pitch, the lackluster delivery, or the tasks we didn’t complete.
But what about all the things that actually went well? Why not give these items some thoughtful attention?
Showing gratitude for a recent productive experience is a great way to boost your confidence.
Did you deliver a project on time and under budget for a long-term client for the fifth time in a row? How about your swift handling of the busted pipe in the kitchen area? And what about staying on schedule at your recent team meeting?
There’s probably more here than you’re giving yourself credit, so it’s certainly worth revisiting.
Transfer habits from your hobbies.
What do you love to do in your spare time? Do you woodwork, dance, paint, run, read, or scrapbook? What activities do you enjoy working on for hours and hours at a time?
You’re already confident in this area of your life, so why not use it to your advantage?
There’s a good chance there’s some sort of system or method you use effortlessly in your hobbies that could be transferred to your work life. At a basic level, think about how you organize, manage, structure, or plan your hobbies.
Which of these approaches could be transferred to your business in one way or another? How can you extract the essence of these habits into your daily workflow?
Keep an open mind and see what you transfer to your business, courtesy of your time off.
Learn how to get things done at work
Productivity skills are important if you want to consistently get things done at work and home.
My to do list training will teach you how to prioritize to-dos, manage tasks, and get things done.
If you want me to show you how to manage your to-dos at work and home, then check out my productivity consulting services. Book a strategy session with me today!
How about you? Which of the above approaches are you going to try out in your work? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!
This article previously appeared on Inc.com.
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