Written by Micheal Brennan @ Teamwork
Are you getting the most out of your workdays? Research suggests that the answer is probably “no”. According to this study, the average office worker in the UK is only productive for around 2 hours and 53 minutes each day.
Productivity isn’t just an issue for Brits either. All around the world, people are constantly fighting against procrastination, distraction, and poor organization for a more efficient day. The good news? You can change. Here’s how you can get more work done in six hours than you’d normally complete in eight:
1. Find Your Time Wasters
Where do you waste the most time? Maybe you have an issue with saying “no” to social media when you’re in the office. If you can’t ignore Instagram for five minutes, it’s hard to stay focused on a task. Perhaps you spend too much time asking for help, and not enough time learning new skills to help you in the office.
Learning which tasks suck up the majority of your time will help you to cut down on dangerous habits. There are apps you can use to prevent you from visiting Facebook and YouTube during your work hours. Or you can learn how to handle common tech issues in your spare time so you’re less reliant on the IT team.
2. Fuel Your Brain and Body
Think of your brain like a car. It can’t accomplish much without a fully-charged battery and a tank of gas. In the same way, you can’t expect yourself to do much if you’re operating on around 2 hours of sleep and a cup of coffee.
Find out how much sleep you need to be productive. Most people will thrive on around 7-9 hours. Start a solid nightly routine to make sure that you get that sleep every night. Once you wake up, treat yourself to a nutritious breakfast. Yes – it is the most important meal of the day.
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3. Stop Overwhelming Yourself
Imagine you go into work, and your boss tells you that you need to organize all of the company’s invoices from the past year. You’re going to feel pretty daunted. But what if you can split that task down into smaller chunks. For instance, you start with invoices from January and work gradually to December.
Adopting an agile approach can help you get more done, by breaking tasks down and encouraging collaboration with other team members. When you feel like you have a mountain to climb, break it down into smaller hills. You’ll be much less likely to avoid doing the work out of sheer anxiety. Plus, every time you check off one of those little tasks, you get a shot of dopamine to keep you motivated.
4. Discover Your Rhythm
Have you ever heard the phrase “manage your energy, not your time?” It’s a strategy that a lot of industry leaders use to master their productivity. The idea is that we all have different times in the day when we feel the most productive. Some of us get more done in the afternoon, others feel they're most productive at the start of the day.
Finding out your “chronotype,” and when you work at your best, means that you can adjust your schedule to suit your rhythm. For instance, if you’re an early bird, you can tackle your toughest tasks in the morning, and do the easier jobs in the afternoon.
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5. Always Give Yourself a Deadline
Finally, telling yourself you have plenty of time to get a task done is reassuring, but it’s not great for productivity. Studies prove that having limited time to accomplish something will usually increase the speed of your work.
When you tell yourself you have plenty of time, your brain is more likely to let you procrastinate, because there’s no urgency to push you. However, if you give yourself a tight deadline to work towards, you do everything you can to make sure you meet it. Even if you do have a lot of time to complete a task, decide when you should reasonably get the work done, and set a deadline.
Be Your Most Productive Self
The way you manage your time, schedule, and energy has a huge impact on your ability to accomplish crucial tasks. Learning how to work with your body, not against it, and what you can do to better organize your day will help you to become the best version of yourself.
Use the tips above, and you’ll be getting more done in no time.
