Boosting productivity at work
Look at the time. How much have you accomplished today? Have you been distracted by Facebook or irrelevant tasks and busy work, or have you been focused on results? If you’re like most professionals at their computer today, email has derailed your schedule, random calls have sent you in different directions, and your goal list for the day has been untouched.
Success coach, Stephen Pierce offers 12 tips on increasing productivity at work, some of which are common sense, others could put your day on track right this minute.
Get your timing right
Several of Pierce’s tips are related to timing. He urges professionals to choose the right time – if you’re a morning person, get your most critical tasks complete in that window of opportunity, but if you’re an afternoon person, line up your day accordingly. Setting a deadline rather than just giving yourself an arbitrary goal can help your productivity. “Call Robyn about contract,” is far different than “Call Robyn by 3:00pm,” as the former promotes procrastination.
To help you meet your deadlines and get your timing right, Pierce suggests a good old fashioned timer. Make it an egg timer or an online timer, but if you have an hour set aside for a task, hit pause on all other tasks and focus during that period until you hear that timer. It’s tough to stick with it, but it is a good habit for many that find themselves derailed by email or social networks.
Batching tasks
Productive professionals typically batch tasks, as Pierce suggests. Dealing with what comes your way in real time is less productive than batching all phone calls, then all emails, all social network responses, and the like.
Pierce also suggests ditching tasks. If it’s not relevant or doesn’t help you accomplish goals, close deals, and improve your bottom line, take it off of your to do list. For the “everything’s an emergency” personalities, this is a very difficult measure to take, but one that can make for a much more productive day.
All 12 tips
Below are all 12 of Pierce’s suggested tips to help you increase your productivity at work:
