Improving productivity is the first step in decreasing stress and achieving more in less time. The infographic below has 10 suggestions for productivity, try one that appeals to you and see if it helps.
We’d love to know how you get on, please do comment below. Let us know any of your own tips to improve productivity too!
As we mentioned in number 2, not every productivity technique will suit everyone. This is part of the reason why there is so much technology around how to improve productivity – it depends how you work, how you think, what is easy and what is hard for you personally, as to what will help you. Therefore we aren’t suggesting you should do all 10 (11, really, we cheated), though that could be awesome. Start with one that appeals. Then try another one. See where this exciting road leads you!
If you take one thing to improve productivity, do number one – turn off email notifications. It changed our world.
For more information on our mobile phone and screen time use (6), read this fascinating and alarming study by Rescue Time.
To read more about the Pomodoro Technique (7), see their website.
If you’ve chosen number 10, another of our posts goes into more detail guiding you through: Process Improvement.
10 Tips to Improve Productivity – The List
- Turn off email notifications. They break your concentration on the task at hand and it takes 15 minutes to get that back. Schedule in checking emails between tasks or at certain times of day instead.
- Learn what works for you. If you’re at your best mid afternoon, schedule to do your hardest tasks then. Plan your day around your personality and energy cycles. Use the productivity tips that work for you, one size does not fit all.
- Batching. Make the most of your concentration whilst you’re in the flow by doing all the same type of task together in one go, like a full month of social media posts, creating all your upcoming videos, or writing your next few newsletters.
- Get into a routine. Regularly doing certain activities takes away the decision making process on what to do next and when to fit in regular tasks.
- Turn off social media notifications. They interrupt your flow – dedicate scheduled time to engaging with social media instead.
- Stop checking your phone. We check our phones on average 30 times during the working day, and even if it takes 5 minutes to get back into what you’re doing, that’s 2.5 hours lost. Put your phone somewhere you could hear it ring, and leave it alone.
- The Pomodoro Technique. Take 25 minutes to do a task, set an alarm and do nothing else until it goes off. Get a cup of tea in your 5 minute break before the next ‘pomodoro’ begins.
- Keep a timesheet. Log how long you spend on different activities for a week, you’d be amazed where you actually use your time. You can then make informed decisions about what to optimise or outsource.
- Make the most of technology. It’s amazing what can be done now – scheduling social media and emails, team chats, automations, templates, bookkeeping software… Find a solution for your pain points.
- Process Improvement. Write down your processes, how you do your tasks, and have a good look at them. Is it the best way? Is it all necessary? Can anything be automated for you? Are there better programs?
- Celebrate your achievements! Look back at your week/month/year at all you’ve done – you’ll inspire yourself. The satisfaction that you are progressing will fuel your internal fires
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