Let’s discuss improving productivity

Many people struggle with productivity and efficiency. This is something that people find challenging remaining consistent at. We often hear people talking about procrastination and feeling lazy. We could all do with help and tips on how to remain productive and efficient. Here are our top tips on doing this.

1. Prioritisation – its so important to weigh up tasks and label them according to whats most important to what is least important. The next step is to start with the high priority tasks and work your way down your list to the least priority task. High priority tasks should always been done first and when you are feeling your most energetic, productive and enthusiastic in order for you to do them well. Low priority should be handled with the same attention to detail and with focus, however can usually be done in a less pressured environment and when you are more relaxed.
2. Time efficiency- its crucial that you estimate how long each task will take you to complete and block out time in your diary/calendar for each task you have to complete. Time blocking is a great way to remain productive and work within the specified time you have allocated to a task. Working with a time frame in mind allows you to remain organised and efficient.
3. Eliminate all distractions – its common to get distracted when you are working and this can be by anything like phone calls, texts, social media notifications, family or people around us. The best way to work is to try and eliminate as many distractions that are in your control. The first one would be putting your phone on silent, second is to remove notifications from social media pages and third is to work in a quiet environment. When you know how long you have to do a task, it makes it easier for you to eliminate distractions and also let the people around you know that you will not be available during that time frame unless an emergency pops up.
4. Keeping record – its vital that you keep track of the work you have done and what time frame you have completed it in as this will help you plan for future tasks which are similar. Keeping record will allow you to stay organised and better manage your daily, weekly or monthly tasks.
5. Know what times in the day work best for different tasks- some people work best in the mornings while others wok best in the afternoon or in the evening. Its important to know what kind of person you are and then use this time to the best of your ability. If mornings are when you are most productive, it is important that you get all of the high priority tasks out of the way in this period and the most challenging tasks. We do have to mention that in an office job, you will be expected to work 9-5 (or similar hours), so you cannot use this as an excuse for not doing work.

We hope that this is helpful and allows you to become more productive and efficient. Its key to know yourself and understand what conditions you work best in, what time you work best, then manage your tasks and time accordingly. You will not become an expert at this overnight, but the quicker you start implementing these tips, the easier things will become for you.

All the best!