Maximize Your Productivity With These 17 Awesome Tips

If you struggle with productivity or time management, then you’ll find these tips very helpful. From keeping track of time, to prioritizing, to avoiding distractions, there are many ways you can be productive. By following these tips, you’ll know great ways to produce the most in the time you’re given.

Identify what is keeping you from maximum productivity.

What causes you to be distracted or lose productivity? You should list out the most obvious ones, and then find ways to deal with them. By just identifying your distractions, you are well on your way to actually fixing them.

Eliminate your distractions.

Distractions may be fun, enjoyable, and entertaining, but that doesn’t mean they’re good. They hurt your productivity, which is a huge negative. To help with this, keep your tabs to a minimum, and snooze your electronics. Work in a quiet place that is free from noise. If someone keeps bothering you, politely ask them to stop or come by later. If you can’t find a quiet environment, put headphones on and play some music to where you can lightly hear it (once you get focused, you can turn off the music but keep your headphones on). Also, never impulsively surf the internet when you are working.

Eat healthily and have good posture.

Eat high-fiber foods, and avoid foods with large amounts of sugar. You don’t want energy crashes, and you don’t want too much energy. On that thought, you should also avoid caffeine unless you have a headache. Stay hydrated, and eat a few snacks throughout the day. Also, you should have a confident, formal posture throughout the day. This will keep you alert and awake, and it will keep you from physical pain.

Set goals and stay motivated.

If you and your group are facing lower productivity, you’ll need to deal with that. By setting goals, everyone has something to work towards. By setting incentives and rewards, everyone has a personal reason to work towards their goals. When you take some time to set goals and incentives, you’ll begin to see improvements in attitudes and productivity.

Take some breaks and relax.

I’ll get into some techniques later, but you should know that taking a break is good for you. Don’t take breaks so frequently that you will lose focus easily. However, by taking breaks when you need them, you will be able to conserve some energy for pushing through the rest of your work. It is recommended that you take about 12-15 minute breaks after every hour of work. Be sure that you take some time to relax so that you’ll be in the right frame-of-mind.

Make sure your workplace is optimal for maximum productivity. 

Keep the temperature at a comfortable level, have relatively comfortable furniture, and have plenty of light, including natural daylight. Also, don’t be too comfortable, as you don’t want to feel drowsy and fall asleep.

Set priorities. 

Make a list of the three things you absolutely must do today. Those are your priorities. No matter what comes your way, you will know that you must get your priorities done before tackling the smaller things. This will keep you from trying to multitask, and it will definitely help you stop juggling tons of tasks in a day.

Keep your workspace organized.

This includes your desk and your computer. You don’t want to get distracted while looking for a paper, do you? That will just create a chain of distractions that are hard to get out of. Organize your desk and your computer, and you will flat-out save time.

Don’t multitask or context-switch.

This is extremely important. You may feel good that you can multitask, but you’ll find that you can barely do it. Even if you can do it somewhat well, you are jeopardizing productivity, and you are definitely not prioritizing. This is called context-switching. It takes a while to get into the flow of focusing and working efficiently. Once you switch a topic or give in to a small distraction, you will have to start over to get to full focus again. Avoid distractions, and don’t multitask.

Say no. 

Sometimes, we try to please others and say yes to everything that comes our way. This loads up our calendars, distracts us from our priorities, and can waste our time. You should practice saying no now and then. If you really don’t want or need to do something, and you know it will distract you, then say no. You’ll feel better after it, and you’ll be more focused and more efficient.

Set time limits and take advantage of small amounts of time.

You should have a decent idea as to how long tasks take. Set small deadlines for your tasks, and compete with yourself to meet them. Also, you’ll find that sometimes you will have small breaks of time. If you’ve already taken a break, then you can take that time to do some smaller tasks. Just avoid distractions when doing those tasks.

Split up tasks into smaller tasks, and don’t be afraid to delegate them. 

Sometimes, tasks seem too big, and you just can’t deal with them. By splitting them up into smaller tasks, you will find your larger tasks to be more manageable. However, it may be unnecessary for you to do a task. When the time is right, it may be best to delegate your tasks, so that you can focus on the things that are most relevant to you.

Practice the Pomodoro Technique. 

Clearly define when you will work, and when you will rest. It is recommended that you actually set a timer for this. After every 15 minutes, you’ll want a few minutes of break time. You can then slowly work your way up to longer periods of time, such as 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and then 60 minutes.

Time box. 

You may have a to–do list. That means you’ve planned the “what”, but have you actually planned the “when”? Set times on your calendar for doing certain tasks. Those tasks will be limited to only that time period. You’ll find that this is helpful, but that it takes some practice to meet your time goals.

Don’t check your email in the morning, and don’t hit the snooze button on your alarm.

I cannot stress enough how important, yet hard, this is. If you hit the snooze button on the alarm, then you are starting your morning wrong. Wake up and start the day, instead of avoiding it. Having a positive attitude in the morning helps you have a positive attitude the whole day. In the morning, you generally are still getting yourself together and starting to get focused. So, you don’t want to check your work email at that time. That will distract you and get you off topic, so don’t check it until a designated time. You may think that replying to emails when they come is great to keep your inbox clean, but those replies will result in more replies, which will come back to you. It starts a never-ending process of distractions, so stop it at the source.

Tackle the hard things first.

Honestly, you may want to get motivated by tackling the easy things first, but most people find it great when they finish the hard things first. You should do whatever is most motivating to you, as that keeps you most productive.

Get some extra help.

You should talk to family and friends to help you focus, manage your time, and be more productive. If you need more help, check out these books:

• The Productivity Project
• Getting Things Done
• Free to Focus
• The Ultimate Productivity Planner
• Smarter Faster Better

Those are the tips I have for you to be more productive. If you liked this article, check out more on Plan and Organize — we have many types of articles, from school, to work, to home.

Read More:

http://wikihow.com/Develop-Productive-Habits

https://www.wikihow.com/Increase-Workplace-Productivity

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https://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Time-Management-Skills

https://www.wikihow.com/Be-Efficient

https://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Distractions

https://www.wikihow.com/Stay-Focused

https://www.wikihow.com/Reduce-Everyday-Distractions

https://www.mydomaine.com/productivity-hacks-4773014

https://www.mydomaine.com/best-morning-routines

https://www.mydomaine.com/stop-checking-email-in-morning

https://www.mydomaine.com/email-organisation-hacks

https://www.inc.com/travis-bradberry/9-bad-habits-you-must-break-to-be-more-productive_1.html.