The growing demand for tasks and projects to attend at work can hinder your productivity. You usually have different projects in progress, deadlines to accomplish, extra work that always comes up. And you need to handle everything… but how can you do more and better work without putting in extra hours?
You need to take care of 2 crucial factors: your organization and your clarity about what you have to do. Here are 5 tips to make your workday more productive.
TIP #1: CREATE FUNNELS OF TO DO LISTS
Start by LISTING ALL the MAIN PROJECTS you have to do, for example:
writing a research paper,
writing a review paper,
processing data from analysis X,
preparing a presentation for the event Y,
etc.
For each project, make a list of ALL the SMALL TASKS. For example, if you have a research paper to write:
list all the chapters and sub-chapters of the manuscript,
what you still need to research in the literature,
the results you are going to include,
the data you need to process,
etc.
But you can still go further, and within those small tasks LIST SMALLER TASKS. For instance, in the introduction of your manuscript, what will be the content of each paragraph (topics).
With your to do lists funnel, you will be clear about everything you need to do.
TIP #2: ESTABLISH DEADLINES
Knowing WHAT you have to do is worth nothing if you don't know WHEN you have to do it.
When you're not aware on what is most urgent, or how much time you can spend on each thing, you start procrastinating, don't you? So, you have to establish deadlines for each task and project.
If you think that defining this just with yourself is not enough to stop procrastinating, sit down with your supervisor/ boss, and align your deadlines with him. Because when we tell others what we are going to do and when we are going to do it, we feel that we cannot fail with this agreement. Does this happen with you, too?
NOTE: For this 2 tips, you can use a very useful app - NOTION - that will help you to have all this highly organized. And remember, you can be more productive if you are more organized!
TIP #3: BE THE MASTER IN USING A PLANNER
Now that you know everything you have to do and the deadlines, distribute the small tasks over the days of the week. For this, you can use a PLANNER, a NOTEBOOK or the GOOGLE CALENDAR app. And it applies not only to work tasks, but also to your hobbies and personal appointments. Write the time you're going to workout, read, relax, or make a dinner for family or friends.
The most important thing is to know exactly what you have to do every day. If you have everything written, you don’t need to be afraid to forget something. You just need to open the planner, see what you have to do, and do it! That’s simple!
Also, when you cross out completed tasks, how do you feel? Productive, doesn’t it? And it gives you more motivation to keep going.
TIP #4: BUILD HABITS TO HELP YOU START WORKING AND STOP WORKING
If you don’t have a plan for what to work on first, you’ll procrastinate and waste time in the mornings. One way to overcome this is to build a routine that help you start working.
For example, when you arrive your workplace:
You can go get a coffee, sit at your desk, and check your to-do list. Once you finish your coffee, it is your cut-off point: “It’s time to start working”;
Or you can sit at your desk, turn on your computer, and check your email.
Create your own work start routine, and stop to procrastinate in the mornings.
The same applies to the routine of stopping work. It's easy to just keep going for another hour, or to get your computer out after dinner and work until well after bedtime. The problem is that little by little, our tiredness increases, our mental health decreases, as well as our performance We need to stop working after some time, we need to move our body by doing physical exercise, and we need to have (quality) time for ourselves and our family.
So, what can you do?
Set a firm cut-off time, such as, 6 p.m. When it is 5:30 p.m., start completing your last task of the day, and update/ redo your to do list of the next day. This way, in the next day, when you arrive, you are already clear what you have to do.
Plan something cool for after work. If you have an appointment with someone (e.g. going to the gym with a friend), you won’t to fail and force yourself to leave work on time. Also, you are taking care of your physical and mental health.
TIP #5: SHIELD YOU FROM ALL DISTRACTIONS
All interferences or distractions hinder your performance and reduce your productivity. So, shield yourself from all distractions when you're working. So, what can you do?
Leave your phone away from you - for example, in the kitchen (if you are working at home) or in your PC backpack if you are at your workplace;
Turn off the app notifications, because social media are addictive and take away our focus;
While searching and saving what you need, close the browser windows to prevent your brain from getting tired with so many open windows.
These are just a few examples of ways to avoid distractions. But you can do the following exercise - ask yourself “what distracts me and takes my focus off? What makes me waste useless time?” Then, make a list of these interferences, and establish strategies to protect yourself from them.
“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do”, Steve Jobs.
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