This blogging week would not be complete without some tips concerning productivity! Recently, we are posting a lot of stuff that helps one master his or her time management and organizational skills. Some of those you will find in our Related Posts section. We really encourage you to take a look, as they can actually turn you into a time-management beast! 😀
During the whole summer you can expect us to be continuing with the posts about boosting one’s time management, but this week we are focusing on the other very important character trait that plays a big role in a life of a successful person – productivity!
Below are the four simple, but quite useful tips that, if put to a good use, will significantly enhance your productivity. Give them a try!
1. Your Private Working Space
This is not a coincidence that a huge number of freelancers tend to rent an office room instead of working from their houses. Others, if they have this opportunity, pick a room in their house that they turn into a cabinet that they use only for working purposes.
It’s not a myth that our surroundings have an effect on our productivity and workflow. Try and find a place that you will associate only with work. This way, it will be much easier for you to complete your tasks once you get there. Also, keep the place neat and clean – more tips on this you can find in our previous articles that we link to at the end of this post.
2. Know What to do With Your Time.
Try to be as specific about the tasks you are about to perform, as possible. Divide your schedule into ‘blocks’ and always try to focus on the particular activity. For example, if you are supposed to write an article and you assigned 3 hours of your working time to this task, divide it into 3 stages. Before you start to write prepare for 30 minutes, make sure you have all the necessary material, links, tools, then write for about 2 hours and use the remaining 30 minutes to double-check and proofread your article. You can even explore some professional thesis writing service to make sure your content is well-written. Move on with this method to those tasks that you can never start, like writing a book or getting fit – instead of telling yourself “tomorrow I will go for a run”, write in your schedule “Wednesday 8.00-9.00 Time for a run”. It’s simple but surprisingly helpful.
Remember that TimeCamp is a great app that can help you keep better control of your time. Try it out for free here.
3. Get Rid of Distractions
Easier said than done. Nowadays we are being bombed with all sorts of things that won’t let us focus on the task – mobile devices, social media, click baits and dozens of other distractions that have only one purpose, turn our attention away from the duties that must be completed. More and more people have problems with procrastination and the so-called cyberslacking (when employees wander around the web instead of working) costs companies billions each year.
If you find it hard to focus with all the distractions around, you have to take certain measures. Put your mobile phone away and use it only when necessary, turn down all the social media notifications, even disconnect it from the web – give yourself about 30 minutes each day to check mobile (of course, pick up every phone call normally) and do it until you learn to use it in a productive, not distracting way. Also, block the websites that you should not be using while you work, but you still do. Give the password to your wife maybe 😉
4. Set Regular Working Hours
For those, who work at the office and don’t have flexible working hours, this advice won’t be too much of use. It may be easier for them, as they always know that they’ll be at work from f.e. 5 to 9, and they can plan rest of their day accordingly.
However, if you work from home, it is easier to get yourself pulled away from the tedious tasks for any reason. Like, when you decide that your apartment needs cleaning, or that you have to do the groceries, or play with your dog, whatever. The fact is that you should always prioritize work. After all, the sooner you finish it, the more time you will have to spend on those activities that bring you joy!
Summing Up
The four tips described above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to boosting productivity. But it’s best to start slowly, and later move on to the more demanding techniques. Rome wasn’t built in a day! But you can call these four tricks the foundations 😉 Try them out and tell us what you think!