Work Smarter, Not Harder With These Productivity Tips
Do you ever find yourself wishing you could work more efficiently? With a few simple strategies and hacks, you can decide which problems to tackle and which tasks to delegate. As a result, you’ll learn how to think more clearly about what to do next.
Give these 6 efficiency hacks a try and let us know what you think!
1. Turn off your alerts and notifications
You can’t think clearly about what to do if you’re constantly being bombarded with alerts from emails, text messages, social media, and all of the other interruptions vying for your time and attention.
Turn them off, at least during the workday, and enjoy a clearer head as you work on achieving your biggest business goals.
2. Check email several times throughout the day
You’ve turned your email notifications off, but you can’t ignore your inbox completely. Schedule a few times throughout the day that you can dedicate to emails, and try not to deviate from those times. You may even want to schedule it into your calendar.
Then, you can process your emails in batches, replying to the most important messages first. This method allows you to tackle top priority messages first before moving on.
3. Try working offline occasionally
Working with an Internet connection can be a test of your willpower. There’s no shortage of websites that make it easy to waste time reading and scrolling (we’re looking at you, Reddit and social media). Since willpower is a finite resource, it makes sense to give yourself a break sometimes.
If you’ve never tried working offline, it’s certainly worth testing out. These 6 tips will help you stay productive, sans Internet.
4. Think about the Big Picture
All too often, we think efficiency and productivity can be achieved via simple hacks. The reality is a bit more complicated, though, and the best thing you can do to be more efficient is to think strategically about non-work related parts of your lifestyle.
That means thinking about the Big Picture. Sleep, exercise, diet, and other lifestyle factors play a huge role in how efficient you can be at work. Get these fundamentals right and efficiency will naturally follow.
5. Schedule shorter meetings
Most meetings are scheduled in standard 1-hour timeslots, though that much time is rarely necessary. If you’re in control of the timing see if you can schedule more 30-minute meetings with your team, and make sure you have a clear agenda so everyone stays focused.
To learn how to get even more from your meetings, read these two resources:
10 Hacks for More Productive Meetings
Getting the Most from Meetings: Setting up the Meeting Space
6. Find productivity tools that work for you
The Web is full of productivity apps and tools that you can use to stay focused. But, every tool won’t work for everyone. If you think a productivity app will help you get more work done it’d be a good idea to spend some time researching and testing out the different options available.
One great tool is the 30/30 app, which is essentially a well-designed timer. The app allows users to create tasks and assign time limits, including time for strategic breaks that give your brain a rest (because you can’t be 100% productive 100% of the time!).
