Productivity Tips

From the poem ‘To a Mouse’ written by Robert Burns in 1785, to John Steinbeck’s 1937 novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, this now colloquial phrase sometimes resonates with us more strongly than others. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we just can’t get everything done. And sometimes, despite our best intentions, productivity just kicks us in the arse. Hopefully these quick productivity tips will help.

We’ve all been there, we’ve all had the best intentions and ideas of how we’re going to tackle this week’s mammoth to do list, hit our deadlines or finish that project. And I’m sure I’m not alone in saying sometimes the gargantuan to do list fills me with dread and an air of impossibility about getting it all done.

So, for all of us trying our hardest, or just plain pulling our hair out, I have compiled a short list of productivity tips that, well mainly, I find useful. This list is by no means exhaustive, in fact if you type ‘productivity books’ into Amazon it will return a mere 40,000 results, however these are some of the more notable tips, in my humble opinion anyway…

1. Rise and shine the right way

It’s a scientific fact that exercise, even walking, increases your alertness. Therefore, as well as keeping you fit and healthy, hitting the gym early, going for a swim or walking the dog switches you on. When that alarm clock goes off don’t groan, hit snooze and roll back over until you make yourself late for work, never mind a spot of exercise.

Embrace the morning, what you do in that first hour of waking will set you up for the rest of your day. Maybe exercise isn’t quite your thing, or you don’t have a dog – try meditation instead, and/or deep breathing. Deep breathing itself improves blood flow around your body, wakes you up and increases energy levels. Have a go…

2. Power Breaks

You’ve heard of power naps? Well I’m going to call this one power breaks! Because that’s what they are; ever sat at your computer for hours on end and your brain begins to feel like its melted to the point where it may fall out of your ear? This is not good for you. Get up, move about, make a cuppa, grab a snack, some fruit, go for little walk – you get the gist. Take regular breaks to recharge yourself so you can get back to the work and hit it hard – you’ll be more efficient for it.

3. Eat the Frog

I’ve always done this, even without the phrase – it derives from a Mark Twain quote that basically says if it’s your job to eat a frog, do it in the morning to get it out of the way. The sentiment is spot on! If you have a task that you’re absolutely dreading to do, do it first. Get the worst thing done and out of the way. The feeling of impending doom will only grow the longer it sits on your To Do List, but once it’s done you’ll feel a sense of relief and be able to smash anything and everything left on that list. So, eat that frog!

4. Work SMART

S Set daily goals; sometimes you can’t do it all, but setting achievable goals for that day will get you through, give you a boost, get the most important things done first and give you a feeling of achievement to go into the next day with.

M Multi-tasking – stop it! If you’re focus is split across 5 activities or tasks it will take you longer  to complete them all, and it’s how errors occur. One thing at a time folks!

A  Agendas; living in meetings and you’re not really sure what they’re about? Popping to see a client and end up having a lovely, but lengthy, conversation about your dog or where they went on holiday? Well as nice as that is, and sometimes it’s needed, but most the time we’ve got stuff to do and need to get on with it. Create agendas for your meetings, focus the discussion points and make sure you cover everything you need in one meeting.

R Regular breaks – I know I’ve said it, but really folks it is important!

T Time – work sensibly with it! Finish a task 10 minutes before a meeting? Get a couple of small tasks done, quick wins. Have a huge project to start, and a million other things to do?  Allocate a couple of hours to planning it and getting it started, then move on to the other things knowing what the next steps to that project are – be strict with yourself. Plan travel time into your diary so it’s blocked out and you don’t come unstuck at the last minute because, with all the will in the world, you cannot do a 40 minute trip in the 5 minutes you have between those two meetings.

There you go, SMART. Ok, so I may have really wanted this one to spell a word, but they’re all small adjustments to the way you work that can really help you work better.

5. Think Nice

If you’re stressing because you’ve got so much to do, inwardly berating yourself for not being Superman or Wonder Woman in the workplace and thinking you’re having the worst day ever then yes, it will be a bad day. Your attitude, and how you think to yourself and about things, can really make or break you and your day. If you think negatively, everything will feel negative. If you think positive, you will feel positive.

Take getting stuck in traffic for example; if you’re yelling at the other cars, hitting the steering wheel and cursing every vehicle on the road, by the time you get where you’re going you will feel pretty angry, frustrated and crappy. On the other hand, if you’re sitting with your favourite band on, singing away and having your own little concert in the driver’s seat, by the time you get where you’re going your going to be upbeat and happy, even if you are a couple of minutes late.

Perspective folks; use these productivity tips to be kind to yourself and think good thoughts.