The productivity guide for the every day worker. What to do, and what not to do in order to maximise efficiency in your work and life!
Helpful hints for those trying to remain productive while working from home.
Despite spending hours and hours in the office or on the computer - are you really being productive and using your time well? It's safe to say most all of us can all plead guilty of texting friends while writing essays or using the classic excuse of “I’ll do it tomorrow” every day until the deadline.
At Savvy, we made a list of "Do’s and Don’ts" to maximise efficiency in your work and life!
Things to do to be more productive:
- Make a To Do list
- Conclude each day with a to-do list of goals for the next day. Note where you left off and where to pick up your day tomorrow. It can be helpful to prioritise tasks of urgency or delegate to time frames of completing in the morning, afternoon or night time.
- Learn where you work best
- Do you need a private space where it's quiet? Do you need a bustling, energetic café? Do you need the pressure from the eyes of other co-workers? Does music focus or distract you?
- Find where you feel the most productive with minimal distractions.
- Create phone boundaries
- Smart phones do offer so many useful work applications with calendars, emails on the go, setting reminders, etc. but we all know have so many tempting distractions of constant notifications from Instagram, Snapchats and texts. Set specific times to allow yourself to check your phone and email and outside that, turn it on airplane mode and no touching!
- DO incorporate regular mental rests
- Your brain is a muscle too and needs breaks from hard work to decompress! You’re not a machine and your work is still going to be there even if you have a five minute break. Breaks are important to give yourself a chance to regroup and help you to be productive for longer.
- Try incorporating short walks outside or even a short 5-minute meditation! You will be surprised how ready you are to be productive again after a short break!
- Learn to say no
- When there is too much on your plate, you can become physically and mentally fatigued. To improve concentration and quality of work try to take one task at a time to put your full focus into for maximum efficiency. Multitasking is the enemy of being productive.
- Try to work near natural light
- Studies show that natural sunlight can improve mood, sleep and therefore overall productivity and wellbeing.
- Incorporate a “power hour” or “Pomodoro technique”
- This is your moment! This is the time that you strap yourself into your chair and do what needs to get done. You do not let distractions, your phone, calls, negative self-talk, unnecessary breaks, refilling coffee, checking the internet, unproductive time on social media, or anything not directly related to the task.
- You simply set an alarm for 25 minutes (or 50 if you’re feeling productive) and then when the alarm goes off, take a break for 20% of the time you worked for (5 minutes or 10minutes respectively).
- This sounds easy until you try to do it. You will be amazed at how many things pop into your mind during your power hour.
Try out some of the above techniques, or if you want to be productive all day long - try and do everything on the list!
And things to avoid to be more productive:
- DON’T skip important sleep time or eat unhealthy snacks
- Even though you think you’re getting more work time in, if you’re not healthy, you’re not performing at your peak. Make sure you are fuelling your brain with the healthy nutrients it needs to function optimally and getting sufficient rest to recharge.
- Unhealthy snacks can actually harm your ability to focus and be productive. Try to reach for products that will boost productivity.
- Savvy products are packed with premium ingredients that help improve mental performance, energy and focus while assisting in combating the hurdles of fatigue, anxiety and stress.
- DON’T be a perfectionist
- Waiting to start a task until you think everything is perfect can prolong some tasks much longer than necessary. Sometimes you just have to get your foot in the door and get something flowing!
- DON’T be hasty
- Try not to send work in a late-night crunch. It’s a good idea to reread and reassesses work again with fresh eyes the next day.
- DON’T let the papers stack up
- Don’t let your work space get too cluttered and messy. Confusion and disorder on the desk can cause confusion and disorder in the mind. Keep a clear desk for clear thoughts!
- DON’T try to multitask
- Multitasking is a “skill” many people pride themselves on however the truth of the matter is, the human brain is not capable of focusing on more than one thing at a time. Multitasking is not an ability of doing multiple things simultaneously, it requires a rapid flipping back and forth between separate tasks that actually slows us down. It often reduces creativity and increases mistakes.
And for an extra boost in your daily productivity, try upgrading your morning coffee with Savvy Mental Performance Coffee.
