Your level of productivity can make or break your career. If you are not producing, you are not going to be effective at your job, and you are not going to have the rewarding career you always dreamt of having. Did you know that businesses lose millions of dollars each year due to distractions in the office that lead to low productivity? You are likely guilty of moments where you are not being as productive as you should. We all are. To combat this issue, here are some tips that will help you to become more productive.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but too many people just go through their day haphazardly, without any set plan. Yes, you need to be flexible for little things that do crop up in the run of a day, but you should also plan a schedule each night for the following day. Once you have your day in writing, including daily goals, it is easier to minimize distractions and be more productive.
If your office area or desk is cluttered, it is time to clean house. Having a lot of clutter around you can actually clutter up your mind as well. So, take a few minutes to clean and organize your work area. You will be surprised at how much this will increase your productivity. Not only will you be able to think more clearly without all of that clutter around you, it will also be a lot easier to find things when you need them.
Contrary to popular belief, you are not getting more done when you multitask. In fact, you are likely getting less done, because you are not giving your full attention to any one thing. Do one thing at a time, and do it right, before you move on to the next. This is also more rewarding, because you can tick off things as you do them and see how much you have accomplished.
It is true that morning people get a lot more done. In fact, the most successful CEO’s start their days by 6 am, or even earlier. When you can get up early, you can get a lot done before everyone else is up and around. You don’t have to do anything drastic. Start getting up 15 minutes earlier each day for a week. The following week, get up a half hour earlier. Keep doing this and increase the time until you are used to getting up early and getting a lot done.
There are loads of programs that can help to make you more productive, such as Dropbox, which is absolutely free to use, Any Meeting for storing files, Basecamp for hosting webinars, Trello for project management, etc. You can place sell my iPhone advertisements to make money to upgrade to new devices that will make it even easier to use the technology that will make you more productive.
There is no such thing as a stupid idea, even if it may seem stupid when you first think of it. Write down all of your creative ideas. You will never have a good idea unless you have a lot of ideas. It’s just like photos. You may take 100 photos of a subject, and only end up with 10-15 great shots. But, if you hadn’t taken the photos in the first place, you wouldn’t have any great shots. It is the same with your ideas. Jot them down, and sooner or later one is going to be great.
Jane Hurst, writer from San Francisco. Find her on Twitter!