What To Do To Increase And Improve Productivity?

All of us want to improve at work and increase our output. It is not just because we want to get that promotion, but more so with how good it would make us feel. However, what we don’t realize is there are things we do we consider as helpful, but in reality, it’s not. Most of the time, those were the things affecting our productivity.

Strategies to improve productivity

Being productive does not happen overnight. You can’t change your habits right away. But, if you are determined to maximize your productivity at work, these are effective strategies you can use.

1. Prioritize important task

Brian Tracy, a self-development author, made the “eat-the-frog” technique based on Mark Twain’s quote, “eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” According to Tracy, the frog is the most critical task we have to do, working on it early on allows us to reach high levels of performance and productivity. 

We tend to procrastinate when it comes to doing the most challenging task. That habit, though, is preventing us to be productive. Start with doing your major task first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day. 

2. Take breaks

I had a colleague before who prefers to work rather than take breaks. Instead of relaxing and looking at the world outside, he would prefer to confine himself inside the four corners of the office. And it’s not ideal at all. Research shows that taking short breaks during long tasks will help you maintain a constant level of performance. On the other hand, working at a task without breaks leads to a steady decline in performance. 

3. Stop Multitasking

There are so many reasons why multitasking is not advisable. Researches even said that multitasking reduces productivity by as much as 40%.  You might think that you have done a lot because you do two things at once, but the truth is our brain is not bound to multitask. It will just result in lost time and less productivity. 

4. Limit distractions

We have to admit that there are just too many distractions around us. Social media, phone calls, co-workers, to name a few. Learn to limit the usage of social media; constantly browsing through them is such a waste of time. While answering phone calls is okay, know when it is too much and do not engage in long conversations too. Also, during working hours, talk to workmates when necessary, you can talk about personal life during break time.