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Increase your productivity
Lying on your bed at 3 AM when you realise that you had so many things planned for the day, but all you did was just binge-watched Netflix and got some sleep. It’s high time to do a rain check on yourself!
Of course, you are allowed to do that once in a while but twice a while? Trice a while? On repeat? Really?
People, especially of today’s generation, often map out so many plans for a day - will go for some jogging, do some baking, this and that, etc. But at the end of the day, you realise that not an ounce of those plans were put into action. Reasons could be anything - lack of motivation, procrastination, laziness, or all of them combined, lack of productivity.
What is Productivity?
Productivity simply is a philosophy of life, the state of mind where a person willingly engages in activities - what you chose to do consciously without being forced by circumstances. It also means the desire for continuous improvement at study, work, or home.
Lack of productivity can bring a lot of negativity to your life. It will make you lazy, slow down your brain activity, affect your work performance as well as cause procrastination. By increasing your daily productivity, you can get rid of these things. You can achieve both personal and professional development and lead a healthy life!
Why Should You Increase Your Productivity?
- For self-satisfaction
- For an active lifestyle
- For an active mind and body
- For staying motivated
- For a disciplined lifestyle
- For improved work performance
How to Increase Your Productivity
As mentioned above, productivity is the state of mind where you engage in activities willingly. No matter who you are, a student, a housewife, or an employed person - there is always some scope of increasing your productivity. People working in the office or your mom is in the kitchen, their tasks might vary in nature, but the skills needed for effectively completing them are the same. They both require an organised way of work, management skills, creative thinking, leadership quality, etc. Time management is an important quality to complete any task, be it home or office tasks. Poor time management causes lack of productivity, and lack of productivity brings demotivation and procrastination. Ultimately, it causes indiscipline and delays the work, affecting your organised lifestyle.
Carefully think about everything you do in a day or plan out what you are going to do the next day. Estimate an ideal duration you might possibly need to complete these activities. Finally, compare the estimated duration with the actual time you have spent the entire day working on your planned activities; if it matches together, congratulations! If not, then figure out the reasons behind it and work on eliminating them. This will increase your productivity and give you a head start at successfully accomplishing your daily work tasks.
With the increase in your productivity, you will find a lot of free time left in your hands. You can also use that to do something different than repeating the same-old-boring daily cycle. You can invest the time for your entertainment, hobbies, or some romance.
A few basic and effective ways of increasing your productivity -
- Planning and Mapping / To-Do list: If you go sailing in the sea without planning out your destination or mapping out your direction, then your trip is most likely to end up disastrous unless we are talking about the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. Planning and mapping or simply creating a to-do list are essential for every task, not only for increasing your productivity but also for an easy-going lifestyle. It helps in keeping your work schedule checked, balanced and workflow organised. So, before going to bed, take a pen and paper or open the notepad of your phone and start jotting down. List out all the tasks you want to do for tomorrow and check the available resources for completing them.
For example, if you want to cook lunch tomorrow, then decide the menu beforehand. Check for the available ingredients in your kitchen and see if you have to run to the grocery shop for anything. This way, you can easily avoid the last-minute hassle and save much time and effort. You won’t have to stop in the middle of the cooking or change the whole menu for the lack of enough ingredients.
- Prioritise Your To-Do List: After jotting your task lists, find out the important tasks - the tasks that have to be done. After that, point out the related readings or assignments that fall under the same basket - the related tasks that come in series or might affect the other ones.
For example, if there is some paperwork that you need to type, print, and arrange in a file, do it one after the other even if you have to change your position or leave the place for taking out prints.
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle: A healthy life means a healthy body and a sound mind. Without having a healthy body and a sound mind, you won’t be able to function properly. Your work will keep on getting interrupted, and you will always be distracted. Timely eating, exercising, and getting enough sleep are essential for a balanced and healthy life. Make sure to start the day with some exercise and a healthy breakfast. People often skip breakfast which is a big no-no! A good breakfast will keep you going for almost half of the day but don’t overeat. It will result in the complete opposite.
On the other hand, getting enough sleep is also necessary. Working and resting are the two sides of coins, and both are the key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Without enough sleep, you might feel nauseous or have a headache which will affect your work tremendously. Similarly, getting oversleep will also affect your body negatively. Thus, it’s important to keep a balance between your work and rest.
- Start with the smaller tasks: Every task varies in nature and length. Start with the minor task - the task that requires 3-5 minutes. It helps keep yourself optimistic as you will feel you have got a lot of work done in a very short time. It also requires less effort, which keeps exhaustion away.
- The most dreaded taste: If you have a task that makes you psychologically scared even to touch, well, start with that one right away. If it can be overcome and done initially , the rest of the task will seem too easy and light for you as you have got rid of the psychological burden.
- Setting up a time limit: Challenge yourself. Set up the duration for each task and try your best to complete them within the time frame. If a task approximately takes 10-12 minutes, start with a 13-15 minute challenge. Encourage yourself to complete the task within the time frame, gradually decrease the time length to 5-10 minutes.
- Focus on the task at your hand: Get rid of distractions and focus on the work in your hand. The discretion might include a colleague, phone calls, messages, or even your next task. If you feel bothered by any task, do it right away, then try to focus on other tasks. Silent your phone and ignore the gossiping colleague. Keep chanting on focus, focus, focus.
- Reward yourself: Set some reward for yourself, for your every difficult task. It could be anything - a bar of chocolate or ice-cream treat, a 10-minute nap, shopping spree, etc. The more complex the task, the bigger the reward! It will keep you motivated and engaged throughout the work.
- Reflect and check your progress: This is the most important part, checking your progress and reflecting on your actions. By checking your progress, you can find out if the plans you made for increasing your productivity are effective or not. Suppose your work is getting done correctly, how it’s affecting your life overall. You can also point out where it’s lacking and be able to work on that to adopt new measures.
A productive life is a good practice. It helps in keeping everything balanced and disciplined. It provides meaning to your daily life and provides motivation and encouragement. It locks laziness and procrastination away, which makes life so much easier and positive. You can also get some spare time to invest in yourself, for your hobbies and enjoyment. This is essential for everyone to have a balanced personal and professional life.
