It doesn’t matter what is our field of work, we all want to improve productivity. If you could add just a few hours to the day it would be enough. Somehow you always seem to fall behind with at least a little bit of work.
There have been many articles, books, seminars on the subject and just for keeping up with those you need to be more efficient.
I came up with the 6 musts to improve productivity and simplify the search for the Holy Grail of efficiency.
1. One must prioritize
Are your tasks actually important to your overall activity? You will never be effective if you don’t know what you want to do. The tabs you have on your goals will help you in prioritizing your everyday tasks. Always ask yourself if each activity takes you closer to the goals you have.
If one action does not get you one step closer to your goals, then it’s not a priority. Stop focusing on all the tasks you have to do and decide what actions are actually relevant to your goals.
If you keep working on tasks based on the order in which they land on your desk, then you will always be busy but never efficient.
Get your priorities crystal clear!
2. One must schedule
Whatever you do to improve productivity, time management is essential. Plan your activities ahead of time and respect your program. And planning your activity is like a business meeting with yourself. Treat it like it’s a meeting with the most valued clients of your company.
If one of your priorities this week is to write an article each day then don’t just leave that on a to-do list. Get working on it and don’t postpone. Don’t forget that a goal without a plan is just a wish. The same goes for your to-do list and schedule.
If you schedule something, commit to it.
For example, I use Trello to create cards on my activity and checklists with each specific task. It helps me to divide my work into manageable sizes. And everything I have to do is organized and I don’t forget my deadline as well.
3. One must celebrate progress to improve productivity
It’s important to appreciate your progress every single day.
It is a great feeling in reviewing your activity and celebrating your success when reaching goals. Take a few minutes at the end of the day to see where you’re at and congratulate yourself for the good job you’ve done in finishing all the important elements of that specific day.
It’s exactly what you need to keep you going the next day.
4. One must learn continuously
Just how Eric Thomas keeps reminding me every Monday, be phenomenal or be forgotten. Just because you managed to improve productivity, doesn’t mean you should be content with just being good. Become phenomenal by learning more each day.
I’m not suggesting you should try a new productivity system each week. I suggest you find tools and tips that you can try inside your own program to perfect your routine. If they work and get integrated well then keep them.
5. One must give up multi-tasking
Although some consider it a virtue, I actually think multitasking is a bad habit.
It is not a practice to improve productivity because we jump from one activity to another, without giving it 100% in completing any of them. In the end, what your work will show is the divided effort and the lack of focus on any one particular task.
Focus on one thing at a time. If you have planned out an activity, don’t leave it until you’ve given it your best.
6. One must be in control of one’s time
Email and social media sites are great tools that help our work in inbound marketing but don’t help to improve productivity. How many times a day do you check your email? or Facebook? Be honest.
Checking your email too often only makes your workflow be influenced by everyone else. Facebook can be distracting as well. You are just checking for a second to see how your profile is doing and then you see this cool post and you give a like to this other page and from here on my point is moot.
I recommend to schedule your emails and social media time and keep to that schedule. 3 times a day should suffice. The world is not going to end if you see a comment or an email 3 or 4 hours later. Be in control of your time, and don’t let others control your schedule according to their own priorities.
This Is Not the End
We all need to improve our levels of productivity and we all got a long way to go. It’s a journey, and you need to take small steps every day in order to become more efficient, get more done and boost your productivity.
My only question is: Where are you going to start your adventure to find the Holy Grail of efficiency?
