In today’s fast-paced world, it can feel more challenging than ever to stay productive. Do you have a never-ending task list that feels impossible to wade through? Unequivocally so! You’re not alone. Many others have this same issue. Fortunately, boosting your productivity is not as hard as you might think.
Whether it’s a project or tasks at work, trying to stay on track with personal goals, or working to maximize your productivity to get more done, we are constantly faced with challenges. The good news is that with some preparation and strategies, you can not only increase productivity but also improve your quality of life as a whole.
In this blog, we will outline 7 simple hacks to help you skyrocket your increase in productivity as soon as you implement them. These are simple tips that you can do during your day to improve your productivity and time management skills.
Key Highlights:
- What is Productivity?
- Hacks for an Increase in Productivity
- Importance of Time Management for Productivity
- Stay Productive When Working Remotely
What is Productivity?
We’re going to cover productivity hacks in this course, but before we jump into those tips and tricks, let’s clarify what we mean by ‘buying’ productivity. In short, productivity is not working more. It is working better, being intentional about what to work on, and managing your time so you can accomplish as much as possible without compromising quality.
Productivity is not just about getting more items (tasks) done; it is about getting your work done sooner or with better efficacy. Once you understand productivity, it will be easier to implement techniques that will increase productivity.
Why Increasing Productivity Matters
- Time Saved
- You can become more productive by being more proactive and developing a plan together, that is, managing your time wisely will enable you to reduce distractions and not exert energy on whatever you deem as important, ie, things with minimal value. You will spend less time on tasks that build time for you to experience your personal life and recharge with less guilt as a result, directly improving productivity.
- Less Overwhelm
- When you work, you think clearly. You can manage tasks, and you won’t carry that mental weight of all that work that remains unfinished everywhere you are, that heaviness of having undiscovered things weigh on you. Less heaviness means more energy and the ability to accomplish a hell of a lot more return. In the end, mental clarity will increase productivity over time.
- Increased Focus
- Productivity isn’t about doing the most things; it’s about doing the right things. You will need to adopt a different perspective on your goals that will allow less distraction and allow you to accomplish more properly. In addition, you will have removed the distractions and you will have all your focus directed towards your energy, whether it is finishing a work project or. This helps in an increase in productivity.
- Personal Growth, Creative Freedom, and Long-Term Success
- In the long run, a productivity improvement will not only give you time to improve your learning and discovery and grow as a person but will also create room for your creativity to flourish and allow you to pursue long-term success with less stress.
7 Easy Hacks for an Increase in Productivity
Now, let’s get to the good stuff — 7 easy productivity hacks that you can start using right away for an increase in productivity.
Hack #1: Prioritize Your Tasks with the Eisenhower Matrix
The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple yet powerful tool to help you organize your tasks based on urgency and importance. The matrix categorizes your tasks into four quadrants.
- Important and Urgent: These tasks require an immediate response and relate directly to achieving your target goal. Do these tasks the minute they arise.
- Important, Not Urgent: These are the tasks that will lead to success in accomplishing long-term goals. While you need to deal with these tasks soon, they are not urgent, so schedule them for later.
- Urgent, Not Important: Urgent activities can be disruptive, but need to be done soon. The best option here is possibly to delegate them, which helps in an increase in productivity.
- Neither Urgent nor Important: If tasks are not relevant to your overall goals, cut or limit them to save your time.
This model allows you to focus on what REALLY matters and ultimately saves you time by working smart instead of working hard. The Eisenhower Matrix ensures you are spending time on what’s important and not being distracted or stressed by irrelevant tasks, which helps increase in productivity.
Hack 2: Use Time Blocking to Stay Focused
Time blocking is the process of separating your day into blocks of time specifically designated for a single task or activity. Time blocking is a great way to keep you focused. Time blocking helps you avoid the concern of task switching and how it reduces time efficiency and increases mental fatigue.
By designating tasks with designated times (or time slots), you create mental boundaries around those tasks that are easy to focus on and away from because there are little to no outside distractions breaking your concentration. You generate greater productivity and enhance your progress time each day with this strategy. It is a very effective technique to help you complete tasks daily instead of procrastinating on tasks you think you can complete at a later time.
Hack 3: Eliminate Distractions with Technology
Distractions are an ever-present challenge in the digital world we live in. Social media notifications, electronic mail, alerts, and reminders snap at you from every digital corner of your life. You can reduce some of those distractions and take back your focus with tools that help you eliminate distractions from your work. Use applications like Forest or Freedom and block all the websites and applications that distract your focus during work hours.
Understanding the distractions allows you to create a distraction-free environment that needs your full attention to achieve any goals or maintain concentration on your work. While apps can help stay in your work lane, it ultimately falls on the user to manage and model their performance and accountability to maintain or increase their focus toward work and rightly determine the value of distractions.
Focus Apps like Forest or Freedom allow you to block distracting websites and apps, contributing to a consistent increase in productivity.
Hack 4: Take Smart Breaks for Better Focus
It might feel contradictory when you’re trying to be productive, but taking breaks is one of the best things you can do to remain productive and energized during the day. Research shows that taking breaks will help you stay focused and energized. One of the ways to facilitate this is by using the Pomodoro Technique: work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. You work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break in continual cycles.
The Pomodoro Technique consists of a series of short work periods (25 minutes) and small break times (5 minutes). The idea behind this technique is that the short break will help your brain reset so you can refocus your thoughts again and help prevent burnout or mental fatigue. You’ll have improved mental clarity and energy by taking these small breaks throughout your work period during the segments of work. This boost in energy naturally leads to an increase in productivity as you work through the day.
Hack 5: Implement the Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that helps you stay productive by working in small swatches of time. The basic premise is very simple: you work for 25 minutes uninterrupted, and then take a break of 5 minutes. This cycle continues for four rounds. After the fourth round, you take a longer break (15-30 minutes). Not only can it help keep your brain fresh while working, but it can also help prevent the fatigue of working for very long periods without rest.
The Pomodoro Technique works well for any project, writing, or problems, and times that require sustained focus.. It allows you to make the most of your time and ensures you don’t overwork yourself.
Hack 6: Set SMART Goals for Every Task
SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) clarify your goals and also include measurable milestones for each task. Instead of aimlessly moving about, SMART goals provide a structured framework for doing each task, making it much easier to track your progress and stay on course.
Setting goals for tasks that are smart prevents you from slipping into vague, menacing tasks or to-dos, and you can engage purposefully without falling back into the overwhelm trap of endless tasks, maneuvers, and to-dos, great and small. Whether you are completing a work project or simply a personal task, SMART goals can give you the clarity and purpose to carry out a significant achievement.
Hack 7: Automate Your Routine with Tools
One of the best ways to realize productivity gains is by automating repetitive tasks. For example, Zapier can help automate anything from data entry to auto-responses, emails, and social media posts. Automations free you up from mundane tasks and make your time and mental energy available for tasks that matter.
Automation reduces the potential for human error, enhances flow, and contributes to an overall faster, better day! Whether sending out an auto-email, sending a reminder email, or automating tasks in your CRM, automation tools such as Zapier help you spend more time and energy on work that moves the needle.
The Importance of Time Management for Productivity
Time management is often the key difference between productive and unproductive individuals. Without effective time management, distractions and procrastination can take over, causing stress and burnout, ultimately slowing your increase in productivity.
- Prioritize:
- Effective time management relies on knowing the what, when, and for how long. A solid way to prioritize your things to do is to decide upon the things that are most important or urgent with a helpful system. For instance, you may use the Eisenhower Matrix (important vs. urgent) to identify tasks or label your to-do list with ABCs to classify different tasks. Once you’ve identified what must be done now and what must be done later or could be delegated, avoid feeling overwhelmed with what must be done and spend the time on the highest impact tasks.
- Set Deadlines:
- Deadlines are an important motivator in doing. When you impose strict deadlines to any tasks or projects, realistically, you create urgency and stave off procrastination. Deadlines provide an endpoint that enhances focus. Deadlines permit breaking down a task into small sufficient parts to inject momentum. Setting a deadline, even when there is none imposed, can dramatically motivate one’s productivity. The important task is to create an achievable deadline, yet still, a stretch.
- Track Your Time:
- Keeping track of your time allows you to better understand where your hours go. There are tracking tools, like Tivazo, that help you log your activities and review what you spend your time doing each day. This allows you to see what you, perhaps, are wasting your time on, distracting you, or, who knows, taking longer than you expect. Being informed about how you spend your time allows you to make changes to be more productive. Time tracking can help you avoid falling into a multitasking pitfall, which can often inhibit productivity and foster mistakes.
How to Stay Productive When Working Remotely
Remote employment practices are flexible, but it is also much more challenging to stay productive when you don’t have the structure of an office environment. To stay productive requires you to be disciplined and organized. To start, create a workspace dedicated to work. This means that you establish a clean, quiet, and clutter-free workspace where you can mentally distinguish “work mode” from relaxation, thus helping you focus.
Second, take advantage of productivity apps: mainly Slack, Asana, and Trello are all productivity tools that can help enhance collaborative and engaged employee work as if they were in an office. Using these productivity tools can help you manage various deadlines and adhere to keeping your work separate from your personal life.
Using these strategies will help you create a productive, fulfilling routine for yourself as a remote worker.
Conclusion
Boosting your productivity doesn’t have to be complicated. With these 7 simple hacks, you’ll start seeing results right away. Try implementing one or two of them today and watch your productivity go up!
If you are ready to take your productivity even further, you can download our free productivity planner or subscribe for more professional tips.
