10 PROVEN STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY AT WORK

Do you know what Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates have in common? The same 24 hours you have that you either waste or well use it. What makes the difference is what you choose to do with your time.

Imagine you’re at work and have a lot of tasks to do, but you’re not able to finish them before the deadline. Then you get a mail from your boss asking why you’re not done with the task and at the end of the mail he says “I’m tired of you making excuses you’re not being very productive”. You sigh and start wondering how you can be highly productive at work.

Save yourself from the stress of worrying cause these strategies are what you need.

1. SET SMART GOALS.

The SMART acronyms stand for

S-Specific, M-Measurable, A-Attainable, R-Realistic, T-Time-bound what this means is that when setting your goals you have to define them specifically, and set a way to measure the progress on them, make sure it’s realistic and attainable then lastly set a time a deadline for it.

2. FOCUS ON RESULT-ORIENTED ACTIVITIES.

Many of the activities we focus on throughout the day are not important and don’t have a visible impact on our lives. There’s this principle called the ‘PARETO PRINCIPLE’. The Pareto principle is a theory that states that 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts/actions. What you need to do is find the 20% of activities that bring the 80% results and place your focus on it.

3. SHIELD YOURSELF FROM NEGATIVITY

Our workplace is filled with many people of different natures and different perspectives, which is why workplaces can breed grounds for gossip, negativity and some sort of interpersonal difference. If you find yourself in a workplace that’s filled with negativity, shield yourself from it.

How to shield yourself from negativity.

•Do not take what people say to you to heart.

•Do not indulge in gossip.

Make your work your highest priority, give it your 100% attention and you’ll be productive in your work.

4. AVOID DISTRACTIONS

Distractions could be a hindrance to being productive. To focus on one task at a time, you need to avoid distractions like a plaque. Turn off that notification, and stop going through your social media every 10 mins. You could turn on the ‘Do not disturb mode’ while you’re working. You’d be surprised how much work you can get done when you’re fully focused.

5. LEARN TO PRIORITIZE

You must have heard this so many times. You need to have a priority list. If you’re a person who does a lot of things at the same time or tries to complete your tasks and it’s always a race against time, what you need to do is to make a to-do list and prioritize your task according to their importance and stick to them. Do not digress. When you’re done with a task, take it off your to-do list as this will encourage you to work faster.

6. ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR EFFORT

If you work in an organisation, it’s normal if you want to be acknowledged by your colleagues, boss or people around you. If you want to be highly productive, learn how to acknowledge yourself each time you do something fantastic at work. Do not keep looking for appreciation from other people because if you don’t get it, you’ll end up feeling demotivated. To avoid this, appreciate yourself and your work, and celebrate your small wins.

7. STOP MULTITASKING

Sometimes people feel being able to multitask is a skill that is needed to be successful, but it isn’t. Multitasking is a productivity killer.

Multitasking is your brain trying to do different things, which results in a decrease of 40% of your productivity. Stop multitasking, and focus on one task at a time.

8. EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY

Make use of every app needed to help you improve your productivity. Create schedules and reminders and track the time spent on each task.

9. DEVELOP THE HABIT OF SAYING “ NO”

You could be someone who finds it hard to say ‘no’ to your colleagues whenever they ask for your help, even when you’re busy. This is understandable if you helping them doesn’t affect your work. But if it affects your work, learn how to say ‘no’ because they interfere with your working habits and this kills productivity. This doesn’t mean you should help no one, but make sure you do it after you’re done with your work.

When someone comes asking for a favour, you don’t have time to just turn them down politely or schedule for a time when you’re less busy.

10. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

You may think productivity is all about having a to-do list and sticking to it to be efficient in your work, but there’s more to it than that. You must invest in your health to be productive. Only a healthy person can be productive. Be mindful of what you eat, exercise, practice personal hygiene and get enough sleep so you’ll feel energised and motivated to work towards your goals.

Being productive at work means staying healthy, taking breaks when needed, surrounding yourself with people of value and also having a positive attitude towards your work.

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