25 Tips To Increase Productivity

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Ever since I was a child, I have been taught that I need to multi-task. That I need to be able to handle multiple tasks at the same time and accomplish them successfully. But according to this report about multi-tasking is counter-productive and several other reports that I’ve read, staying focused on one task is significantly more productive.

If I aim to write 5 articles a day, sometimes, I could end up with low quality work or nothing at all because of the “multi-tasks” and the distractions I have.

Here are 25 tips I recommend to anyone who is facing productivity issues.

1. Turn off the email

Tim Ferriss wrote a best-selling book about the 4 Hour Work Week – one of the things he talks about is to answer the email in an allocated time slot per day which helps increase productivity.

2. Open the necessary programs

Opening too many programs on your computer can be a source of distraction because it reminds you that you have more things to do. Keep the ones that you need open but close all other unnecessary stuff.

3. Disconnect the internet

This is one of the most powerful ways of removing distraction. Simply because the internet is a HUGE source of distraction for many people.

If you need the internet for information, extract the information you need and once you’ve got it all, disconnect the internet and get to work.

4. Find a quiet spot

A lot of people work very well in quiet locations – this is because it allows the collection of thoughts and to let everything flow in sequence.

5. Take a breather

If you’ve been working a long time, it’s important to take a breather because your mind has been working for a long time. A breather is important EVEN if you have a lot of things to finish.

Allow yourself to take a break, give yourself some time to recover from the activity you’ve been doing so you can go further with your work.

6. Do a brain-dump

Take a piece of paper (or anything you’re comfortable with) and literally download every single thing onto it in the first part of your day or just before you start working.

This allows you to unload whatever you have on your mind onto that piece of paper so that you’re not constantly reminded to do something about it.

Put it on paper – take it off the mind.

7. Use mind mapping techniques

Mind mapping helps to organize and structure your thoughts so you can work more efficiently. Instead of wondering what’s the next step, placing it all on the mindmap allows you to have a quick guide on what to do next.

8. Write on paper instead of typing

Most people are still used to writing on paper rather than typing. If you still prefer to write, go ahead and do your writing on paper. Once you’ve finished with that, move that information into the computer.

9. Switch off the loud music

Unless you’re the kind of person that produces better with loud music, turn it off. Soft music (like classical or symphonies) have been said to help increase productivity.

If music helps you to think, play it. But if you find tha you’re enjoying the music more than producing good quality work, you might want to reconsider.

10. Set yourself a deadline

Giving yourself pressure can significantly help you to produce more. A person who doesn’t have a deadline or a goal to reach usually won’t strive to finish the work.

If you have a deadline and you work towards it, it’ll help you to keep working and keep producing until you’ve reached your goal.

11. Bite sized goals

Setting small goals is essential as it helps you to move towards the bigger goal. If you aim to finish a certain project, break it down to smaller little bits and finish them bit by bit.

12. Idea journal

Keep a journal or notebook with you handy. When you think of an idea, write it down in that journal (this is a tip from Jim Rohn). If you run out of ideas in future, you can refer to the journal for ideas.

If you are working on something and you think of something interesting, write it down into that journal so you can get to it later – finish up the work at hand first.

13. Silence your phone

There are people who are addicted to checking their phone – checking their phone for messages or calls every few minutes EVEN if there’s no messages coming in.

Turn it to silent mode, switch it off, put your focus on to your work so you don’t distract yourself from the work that you’re meant to do.

14. Focus on goal to achieve

To keep yourself from being distracted doing too many things, you need to focus on your goal. Doing too many things can actually impede and slow down your progress towards achieving the goal.

15. Dangling the carrot

Dangling the carrot is a way people encourage donkeys to move. Likewise, if you have a prize that’s in front of you, you can dangle that away from you far enough so you can’t reach it… but close enough so that it’s attainable to reach.

16. Weigh the possible results

Often, when you are working, you get lots of ideas. Consider for yourself if taking that route is going to help you get closer to your goal or will that bring you away from the goal.

Weigh them and find out which is the end result that you desire… then work towards it.

17. Perfectionism Pooper

Aim not to be perfect – because no one will ever be. You can make your work close to perfection but it’ll always be a growing process. Don’t aim to perfect your work – aim to finish.

Once you’ve finished the work, THEN aim to perfect it.

Wanting to perfect it while working on it won’t help you to be productive.

18. Friendly competition

External pressures can be helpful because there are people that love to compete. If you have this desire to win and you like the winning feeling, find a friend and do a little competition.

19. External monitor

Getting someone to help monitor your results is because there are people who work better when someone is there to keep you accountable.

20. Clear your table

If you have a work table, clearing your table can help you to work better because you are visually seeing a cleaner interface and you can feel better working.

(On a sidenote, I’m quite a messy person by nature. But there’s a certain therapeutic effect when I work on a clean table. Try it!)

21. Put your ego away

Often, when you are working and someone makes a remark on how you can improve your work, your pride might get in the way of considering that remark as a valid and possible improvement to your work.

No man is an island and a suggestion taken could well help you to improve productivity for your work.

22. Perfect previous work

If you write articles or certain content, there’s a good chance that you have a lot of older content. Try going through the finished work you have and see if there’s anyway you can improve on it.

But instead of improving that article… make a new one and improve on it. It works because your knowledge about that topic has grown.

23. Eat in moderation

Eating just enough can help you to improve productivity because if you overeat – you might start feeling sleepy. If you undereat, you might be thinking of food when you’re working.

24. Get enough sleep

If you don’t have enough sleep, it can seriously affect your productivity. However, if you oversleep, it also won’t do you any good. Work on your sleep pattern to get the best productive cycle for yourself.

25. Enjoy your work

The most important thing to increase productivity is to enjoy the work that you do. Find some little joy or think about what you’ll get when you finish the work. If you’re working but you’re totally not enjoying it, you might not be able to produce high quality work.

Tagged with: productivity

Filed under: Self Help • Work From Home Strategies

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