In today’s demanding workplace, business owners and managers are under more pressure than ever to maximise their productivity. Here are a few tips to help you to get the most out of your working day:
Focus on the interesting stuff
Find interesting aspects of your work and focus on them. A great way to stay motivated is to find interesting and meaningful aspects of your work. Interesting work doesn’t just keep you going; it helps you to feel energised and satisfied.
Avoid multi-tasking
It’s impossible to maintain productivity if you are constantly switching back-and-forth between different tasks. Your error rate goes up, and tasks can often take longer to complete. Very often, the most active multi-taskers tend to be the worst at multi-tasking.
Email management
Email can be hugely time consuming. Sometimes it is quicker to pick up the phone and have a conversation rather than spend hours emailing back and forth. It is often more efficient to allocate email time throughout your working day. Outside of these times you can focus fully on projects and tasks, and come back to catch up on email during specific times throughout the day. Finally, you can set up outlook folders and email rules in order to manage and prioritise your email.
Focus on your energy levels
Most work environments value attention, concentration and focus. In some businesses, those who sit back and think or take a break can sometimes be perceived as being lazy. However, taking regular breaks can increase your energy levels throughout the day and ensure that you are more engaged.
Allocate thinking time
When relaxing or thinking, going for a walk or taking a break, the brain does not slow down or stop. Downtime and sleep are needed to restore levels of attention and motivation, encourage productivity and creativity and to achieve high levels of performance. As such, you should allocate some relaxation and thinking time during your working day.