It’s tiring keeping up with daily tasks.
You might easily lose track of time and feel short of energy to complete all those chores.
If you feel like you are not getting enough time, maybe it’s time to work on your productivity.
Here are 20 tips to increase your productivity and leave you chunks of time to spare.
1. Track your time.
Time can become your enemy real soon if left unchecked. You need to track where you spend your time if you’re to achieve maximum productivity.
Auditing of your time can be done both manually and automatically. However, I prefer the latter as it is more convenient.
There are online time management software like Toggl and RescueTime which automatically tracks when and where you spend most of your time.
Tracking your time can help you better understand your peak performance time and make adjustments to your work schedule accordingly.
2. Prioritize Your Tasks.
Getting things done is not real productivity, what really matters is getting important things done.
Writing a to-do list is essential for being productive but prioritizing them according to their order of importance is what fuels your productivity.
If you’re spending time on not-so-important activities, you’ll lose energy while getting to your important activities. So it is always best to prioritize your to-do list.
3. Quit multi-tasking.
People often confuse multi-tasking with productivity. However, multi-tasking hasn’t got anything to do with being productive. It’s in fact the opposite of productivity.
While you multi-task, chances are that you’ll never be able to complete any single task up to the level you could have if worked singularly.
If possible, choose a task, complete it and then proceed to the next task. That way you can use your time efficiently.
4. Create a not-to-do list.
It is equally important to create a not-to-do list as it is for a to-do list. This list should contain all those bad habits that’s taking a toll on your productivity.
Evernote is an excellent application where you can create your activity lists and browse them for future reference.
Your not-do-list may include activities like, ” Do not sleep after 6 a.m.”, “Do not drink coffee after 5 p.m.”, etc.
5. Outsource your work.
A great way to leverage your time is to outsource some of the work to qualified professionals.
Outsourcing some work can help you stay focused on more attention-demanding tasks.
Many entrepreneurs stay on top of their game by exploiting the power of leverage.
6. Eliminate distractions.
Distractions can kill your mood and make you lazy to work on your tasks.
A calm workspace is a must-have for you to maintain your chill and focus on your activities.
Here’s an interesting video I found that will help you create a productive workspace.
7. Plan to rest.
Taking rest is important for maintaining your health.
Leave a day for taking rest from your week schedule so you may get time to recharge your batteries and work with your full potential.
Here are some reasons why rest days are important.
8. Write it down.
“All Great Things Begins From A Small Idea.”
Anonymous
We all have had great ideas that could potentially change the world. But only some people remember those rare ideas.
If you don’t pen down your ideas, you’re more likely to forget them.
As soon as you get an idea, type them into your note-taking app. You may forget them but these apps won’t.
Find the list of the best note-taking apps here.
9. Recite and Remember.
Remembering things becomes difficult if you revise them occassionally.
Make use of applications that sends you intelligent reminders based on spaced repetition.
I personally use Review for this purpose.
10. Break it down.
Huge tasks are hard to start and easy to procrastinate on.
Break down those seemingly large tasks into smaller bits so that it’s easy to start working on them and track your progress.
For example, learning Python may seem a huge task but if you break it into different chapters you may be able to finish it within a month.
11. Be curious.
Experience is the best teacher. But you don’t have to completely rely on your experience to gain the knowledge you require.
It is better to gain knowledge from other’s experience as that will save a lot of your time and energy.
When you meet a person who is highly productive, ask for tips on how they built their time management systems.
12. Change your surroundings.
Sometimes it is best to change your surroundings to rejuvenate your mind.
A fresh environment can have a huge impact on your productivity levels.
Manage your lighting, play some refreshing music and remove the distractions from your workspace.
13. Take Breaks.
Taking regular breaks may seem like lost productivity, but it enhances your productivity.
When you’re tired of working, get up, walk around and sip a cup of coffee.
This will help you clear your mind and save you from burnout.
14. Get accountable.
Tell someone what your goals are for the day. This will make you more accountable and keep you motivated.
Ask them to check in on you regularly and see if you’re keeping your word.
An interference from outside the system can help you run the system smoothly.
15. Reward Yourself.
Our brain is like a child. It enjoys appreciations and gifts.
Use this to your advantage. Trick yourself to being more productive by promising yourselves small gifts like a few minutes of social media use, perhaps.
The rewards can stimulate motivation when you feel like giving up.
16. Keep track of your achievements.
Record your progress and track your achievements.
This will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Your progress, so far, can also help you set achievable goals and identify what steps to take next.
Apart from this, they’re also a great souce of motivation.
17. Hards things first.
Solve the toughest all problems first. This will make you relieve of the stress that you’d have otherwise.
Don’t just take my word for it. This method is also advocated by researchers all over the globe.
Brian Tracy wrote about it in his book, Eat That Frog of which you’ll learn about more in our list of the best motivational books for students.
18. Early to rise.
Christoph Randler, a Harvard biologist, discovered that early risers tend to be more proactive.
While different people may find different time as their maximum productive time, early morning is more peaceful and can be effectively used to get things done peacefully.
So if you’re yet to consider waking up early to do your chores, it might be time that you reconsider.
You can also find more infographics at Visualistan
19. Get a sound sleep.
Sleep deprivation may lower human functioning which translates to you may work more slower and less effectively if you don’t get a good sleep.
Getting a 6-8 hours sleep is essential if you want to be more productive.
Cut down those extra time that you spend on social media and use it to ger a sound sleep.
20. Exercise.
Exercise improves your energy levels and makes you more active and happier.
This can lead to lesser stress and more activity which is great for getting things done.
Researchers recommends exercise as an excellent way to boost your memory, motivation, concentration and focus.
Endnote
These 20 tips can work wonders in increasing your productivity.
I use all of these tips myself and find it extremely handy. It took sometime writing this post, so if you liked it please let me know through the comments.
Comment and share any other tip that worked for you so that others may also benefit from it.
Thanks for reading!
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