Do you want to be more productive at work and home?
Are you looking to increase your productivity levels every day?
When it comes to dealing with productivity issues, it often pays to take a multi-faceted approach.
While straightforward productivity tips are helpful, sometimes you need to delve a bit deeper to get to the heart of the matter.
For example, you may need to learn new skills, correct poor habits, and be aware of how you spend your minutes.
So, how can you get started?
In this post, you’ll find offer several thoughtful tips on how to be more productive.
These tips will help you look at a productivity in a new light.
You may be pleasantly surprised at you find when you truly take these tips to heart!
Learn how to prioritize
Prioritization will always be a hot topic in the realm of productivity, but what really is prioritization?
At first glance, you may think it is just about assigning a rank or value to items on our to-do lists.
For example, you can prioritize items on a list by ranking the first item as the most important, and the third item on the list as least important.
But here’s the kicker: prioritization means you are identifying what is important at this point in time. Not yesterday, not two weeks ago. Right now. It’s all about living in the present moment.
It’s about making decisions based on information and resources available to you at this very moment. Even tasks prioritized say, yesterday, can have an entirely different prioritization level today.
How can you better prioritize your tasks and to-dos? One way is to use a tool called the Eisenhower Box, or decision matrix.
The Eisenhower box is a large box, divided into four separate quadrants, with each quadrant representing a task’s urgency and importance.
You simply assign tasks into one of the four quadrants, thereby prioritizing the tasks, and begin working on the most important task.
If you have trouble identifying which of your tasks are truly urgent and important, you really should give this helpful tool a try!
Get to the root of your productivity problems
No amount of productivity tips or lifehacks can ever help you if you consciously ignore the root cause of your productivity problems.
You have to actively look for, and solve, what is truly wasting your time, resources, and energy. When I work with clients as a productivity consultant, we spend some time uncovering what may be holding them back in their work.
Many of our productivity problems arise because we ignore our immediate environment, work habits, and tools, and fail to make necessary adjustments.
What are some examples of this? If you’re studying a library area with lots of foot traffic and noise, you’d probably want to find a quieter floor. You could also find a different time of day to study (immediate environment productivity problem).
Don’t feel alert enough to write a coherent email before lunch? That might be a good time to delete some emails from your inbox (work habit productivity problem).
What if you use a word processor to track your budget and find it clunky for your needs? You’d probably want to switch your tools and use a calculation spreadsheet instead (tool productivity problem).
The next time you find yourself stuck when it comes to getting things done, dig a little deeper to find the true cause of your problems.
Ask yourself, “What is truly wasting my time, resources, and energy?” “What action steps can I take to solve this problem?”
Have an anti-procrastination plan
Here’s a quick question for you: do you know when you are procrastinating during the day?
You probably have a fairly good idea as to how, and when, you procrastinate.
You might spend your time playing an online game, doing an unnecessary load of laundry, washing your car, or any other number of tasks…except the one task you’re supposed to be working on.
The good news is that if you are aware of your procrastination habits, you can take active steps to get back on track.
You may find it helpful to assemble three to five go-to actions to help you snap you out of your procrastination habit.
These actions should resonate with you and your personality. Think about it for a moment: what actions will light a fire under your feet to get things done?
Some general anti-procrastination ideas include logging out of electronic devices, working with an accountability buddy, or reading inspirational quotes.
You could try setting small work rewards for yourself or changing your work location.
How about assembling the tools required for your work or simply diving into your work headfirst.
Ignore unsolicited requests
It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you’re from, you’ve probably received unsolicited requests at home or work.
Unsolicited requests can come in the form of letters, announcements, advertisements, and offers in postal mail. They may also include digital requests like email messages, phone calls and messages, or text messages.
They can take the shape of requesting feedback on a survey, reviewing a book or article, or attending a meeting.
Not only are these types of requests bothersome, but they can end up taking huge amounts of your time and energy.
And you know what that means: more time spent dealing with these troublesome requests. That translates to less time working on your projects and assignments. What’s a person to do?
Quite simply, you don’t have to reply to unsolicited requests. Remember: these are unsolicited requests. You didn’t ask to be contacted.
Placing your attention on these items are simply a waste of your energy and focus.
Didn’t request information? You can ignore it, delete it, trash it, or recycle it, as you see fit.
Learn to Be More Productive at Work and Home
Thinking of ways to be more productive at the office? The good news is that productivity doesn’t have to be exhausting or stressful.
If you want clarity around how to be more productive at work and home, book a free 30-minute video strategy session with me today.
How about you? Which of these productivity tips resonated the most with you? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!
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