14 Simple Ways to Boost your Office Productivity
Learning to maximize productivity can help one improve their performance and achieve better career progression. It can also affect earning ability, preparing one for faster professional growth. Anyone may boost their productivity by using tactics but discovering what works best for them will require patience, effort, and continuous learning. Here we will provide an idea of what is personal productivity and discuss how one can improve their productivity.
Different organizations often conduct research and studies on employee productivity and perform employee productivity analysis to determine the productivity level of the employee and find ways to improve it.
What Exactly Is Productivity?
Productivity is a measure of efficiency, most commonly a person’s efficiency. Productivity is defined as the ability to accomplish activities in less time and effort, which can help enterprises become more profitable and prosperous.
How To Improve Productivity in the Workplace?
Here are some tips for helping you to increase your productivity:
Concentrate on high-priority activities
Use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you arrange work and determine which activities are of the greatest importance and should be delegated or eliminated. Here’s an example of how it works:
- Do: Perform the assignment right now.
- Decide: Schedule a time to complete it.
- Delegate: Who is able to do it for you?
- Eliminate: Get rid of it.
Allocate 20% of your work time in a day for critical tasks
Allocate 20% of your day to focus on the projects and activities that are top priorities. So that if you are unable to focus on those high-priority items for the remaining time of the day, you can ensure you still spent 90 minutes on them each day.
Organize your Workplace
A tidy and organized desk or workstation can help one to focus better on their tasks and be more productive. In fact, data suggests that keeping your desk clean and orderly may help you focus on a job for more than 1.5 times longer than normally you can do.
Reduce distractions
When you’re attempting to focus on high-priority work, turn off your phone and email notifications. Researchers discovered that even if you don’t glance at your phone, the sound of ringing or even buzzing might lead your mind to wander. Close the inbox so that emails do not distract you during a complicated and high-priority task and affect your focus.
Plan your Meetings
While most meetings do not have an agenda, it is a good idea to jot down what you want to cover or address at the meeting before it begins. Try to keep it to three items or fewer and send out notes after the meeting so that everyone who participated understands what they are responsible for handling. Employee productivity analysis and monitoring tools with features for scheduling and managing meetings and calendar integration can come in handy in managing the meetings.
Get enough rest and sleep
Quality sleep allows you to focus more efficiently and achieve more during the day. According to different studies, those who did not get enough sleep were more likely to need sick days throughout the year, reducing their total productivity.
Increase your exposure to sunlight
According to some studies and research, workers who remained near a window has able to finish their activities faster. They performed better at the functions that require cognitive abilities and memory retention and recall. So, consider taking a break during the day to get some sunshine during your work.
Exercise daily
Not only exercise can enhance your sleep quality, but studies have shown that regular exercise enables people to finish problem-solving activities faster.
Establish a morning routine
Have a morning routine and stick to it every day each morning. It might be meditation, Yoga, reading, some sort of physical activity, or anything else. A morning ritual can help you get into the correct mindset for starting a productive day.
Make preparation on the night before
You can write down three to five items that you wish to list for accomplishing them the next day. Finish these tasks preferably at the end of each day. You can also be specific, such as outlining an article you plan to write or putting down the essential topics you want to address in a presentation.
Take Periodical breaks
Every 90 minutes to two hours take a rest. According to research, it is the maximum period your brain can devote its whole attention to a single task. Get up from your desk, move around, drink some water, or go outdoors for some fresh air during your break and get back to your work. Do not extend your break unless it is necessary.
Concentrate on a single task
According to experts, it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to a work after being distracted or interrupted during work. Therefore, it is critical to focus on one activity at a time and resist the temptation of multitasking, as every time you must refocus, it wastes more time than concentrating on a single piece of work. So, you can accomplish more by choosing a single-task approach.
Make a list of your thoughts
Keep pen and paper handy to jot down ideas as they occur to you. This will allow you to record the idea, thought, or activities that you must remember without shifting your attention away from what you’re currently working on.
Systemize Your Work
To boost efficiency, systemize your tasks and activities as possible. This will reduce the time on making important decisions and judgments, which in turn will significantly increase your overall performance and productivity. Employee productivity analysis and management tools can considerably help one in organizing tasks, managing breaks, and prioritizing work in workplaces.
Wrap Up
An employee management software can help to monitor employee activities and conduct employee productivity analysis to better strategize and plan the task and these will successfully boost employee productivity as well as the organizational productivity, increasing profitability, and growth.