Productivity is something we all desire, mostly when it comes to our work lives. But truly being productive and staying productive doesn’t come as easy to all of us. As someone who used to be a fairly unproductive person, I found a few ways to up my productivity by taking little steps to change my routine, change how I planned my day and change how I managed tasks. Here I will share a few of my tips that helped me heighten my performance when it came to my work load.
Get enough sleep
Even missing out on one hour of sleep per night is the equivalent of having a blood alcohol level of .10 in terms of sharpness or alertness, according to a study done by the Us military. Sleep is an important tool when it comes to productivity, so skipping out on some to get more done is actual not doing you any favours. Even taking a short nap in the afternoon, for twenty to thirty minutes can help you recharge and make up for lost sleep. In many Latin cultures the siesta, an afternoon break, is practiced for this reason.
Plan your day
This may seem like an obvious one but planning your day out the night before, or even a week before for the entire week will help you stay goal oriented and more prone to completing all your tasks. Staying organised when it comes to time management is key to better productivity. I find my daily planner to be my right hand man when it comes to being productive.
Get into a routine
Similar to planning, getting into a routine will help you be able to better manage and meet your goals. Waking up at the same time every day prepares both your body and mind for the day ahead, and you will find you won’t struggle to get up as much if your body is used to waking at a certain time. Most of all though routine helps you with the planning of your day and helps you spend your time wisely.
Prioritise
Arranging tasks in order of importance is imperative to productivity, When planning your set a goal of getting through the biggest, and sometimes most stressful task at hand first. Take the hardest, biggest, most difficult task and do it first. This helps other less difficult takes seem like a breeze and makes getting through them all much more obtainable of a goal. Perhaps your tasks don’t include any difficult ones, but you will definitely have some tasks that are more important than others. Those are the ones to tackle first in order to stay on top of productivity.
Keep a healthy mind and body
Physical and mental health is of utmost importance when it comes to staying productive. The fact is that unhealthy habits, like staying up late, eating fattening foods that give us little benefits and drinking heavily all are counter productive to us meeting our goals. Getting into a healthier lifestyle is ideal for many reasons, not just ones related to productivity. Adapting healthier eating and sleeping habits is certainly encouraged for multiple reasons, a top one being that it helps us stay more productive. Just as our physical health plays a part in us succeeding in life, our mental health matters greatly too. Make sure to not get too overwhelmed, cut yourself some slack when appropriate and take some “me time” to help you refresh and recharge. Following a few steps to a healthier mind and body will only help in terms of productivity in the long run.
How do you stay productive throughout the week? Do you already practice some of these tips, or are there ones you rely on that I left out. Drop a line and let me know!