10 Effective Ways To Be More Productive At Work

Recently I’ve been going through a phase of unproductivity at work, my page views are plunging, my boss is fuming, and I’ve not been able to meet my daily target. I thought the cause of my unproductivity was my Twitter addiction, after dealing with it, I find myself stuck on Youtube, or endlessly shuffling my music playlist on Spotify (I’ve got a good music taste, you can check it out). In order not to lose my job or hard-working reputation in my office, I went in search of a cure for my lack of productivity. Reading through reputable and authoritative sources like Forbes and New York Times, I compiled these 10 effective ways to be more productive at work. But before diving into that, we have to discuss the three basic principles of Productivity as seen in New York Times.

Basic Principles of Productivity

Productivity is personal, as we are different individuals doing different jobs, however, it is important that you take note of these three basic principles of productivity as they will help guide you through your workday.

1. Trust the small increments.

You can’t go from being the lazy ass that you are to David Goggins in One night, Attaining productivity is a gradual step. You can’t expect to change years of working habits overnight. Small changes in how you work can gradually add up to big changes in productivity. Try one tip to start, and keep adding more as you find the strategies that work best for you.

2. Be accountable.

You are here, so you probably know that human nature is lazy as shit, which is where accountability comes in. Without accountability, the entire human race will probably be on Miami beach, sipping margaritas and having one big ass unending global orgy.  In order words for these tips to work for you, there is a need to find someone or something to hold you accountable. Whether it’s weekly check-ins with a co-worker or setting your own deadlines and announcing them to others, having to answer to someone else can often force you to get the job done.

3. Forgive yourself.

As I said before, human nature ain’t shit, so you must accept that you are sometimes going to slip up, become distracted, and have a bad day.  So you must be willing to forgive yourself and move on.  It’s more important to move on than to dwell on your mistakes.

Read More: 

• Top 10 Practical Ways For Self-Improvement
• 7 Ways To Manage Your Anger At Work
• 7 Ways to Curb your Twitter Addiction

How to be More Productive at work

In search of the basic principles of productivity, I came across content written by the best writer in the whole F*cking world, Mark Manson.  (I will be adding some of his points to this list)The N*gga noted that productivity is a tricky balance. He said if you treat yourself like a slave,  locking yourself into a quiet room, and not allowing yourself to have any fun, you’re going to get burnt out and things will slowly come apart.

He also noted that if you are too lax on yourself,  and you give yourself free time whenever you want it, without being accountable to schedules or commitments, you wouldn’t get anything done. So how can we find this tricky balance and become more productive?

1. Find out what makes you productive.

Trying to align your daily routine to one list you saw online will most likely not work for you, I’ve done this like one thousand times, and it doesn’t work. Why? Productivity is personal, it is up to you to uncover your own personal psychology around what makes you more productive.

How do you find out what makes you productive?  First, you need to figure out your personal values  —that is, what exactly you stand for. You also need to learn what motivates you and how to motivate yourself. Lastly, you need to find out why you are procrastinating, it is a deeper and personal issue than just laziness.

2. Focus on the Quality of Your Work, Not the Quantity

Generally, people measure their productivity by the quantity of work done. Studies have shown that just about everyone only has 3-4 hours of truly productive work in them per day. Mark Manson recommended that you should optimize your day around those 3-4 hours when you’re most creative and productive and be happy with whatever you get past that.

3. Eliminate Distractions While You Work

They are chances that you are addicted to Twitter and Youtube like I am, there is no way you can be productive when these distractions are staring right in your face. So what do you do? Eliminate them, for example, when I am hitting deadlines, I use Block website, which blocks me from social media and any other form of distraction. For those with Smart Phone, turn off the notification on any app, or simply switch off your phone.

4. Schedule Time for Work and Relaxation

Like I said in the introduction, if you treat yourself like a slave,  locking yourself into a quiet room, and not allowing yourself to have any fun, you’re going to get burnt out and things will slowly come apart. So how do you find this tricky balance? Simple, schedule time for work and relaxation.

Write out a to-do of the work you need to get done on a daily bases, and also schedule time for relaxation, even though it means scrolling Twitter mindless for two hours. You might this contradictory but the point is If you schedule your work & play ahead of time you gain more control of the attention you’re giving to work and mindless frivolities

5. Focus on one task at a time

The One Thing Authors, Gary W. Keller, and Jay Papasan have proved how impossible it is for humans to multitask. According to them, the human brain cannot perform two tasks that require high-level brain function at once. Since it is impossible for humans to multi-task, focusing on more than one goal at a time is setting yourself up for failure. Tackling one goal at a time ensures clarity and progress, which will in turn motivate you to continue.

6. Focus on your biggest tasks first

One of the ways to be more productive at work is to focus on the biggest tasks, when you first arrive to work or at a time of day when you are most alert and energized. The biggest tasks are usually the most time-consuming tasks. It is important that you get them done before any other assignments as this will help you stay more focused than working on smaller and shorter tasks first.

7. Break big tasks into smaller objectives

Rather than approach large goals that would require multiple outlets and longer amounts of time to achieve them, consider planning out small objectives throughout your day. Things like filing required paperwork, responding to client emails, or compiling all the resources together that your team will need to complete a future project are small, daily objectives you can set and reach during your eight hours of work time. Similarly, you may use these short objectives as milestones to measure your progress toward a larger goal.

8. Use the two-minute rule

The two-minute rule involves completing tasks that are two minutes or less as well as taking two minutes to get started on small tasks that you may have been putting off. During these short stints of time, if there is a task you can complete in two minutes or less or a task you can get organized to start on, this is the time you would do it. Small tasks are an important part of your overall work productivity, so practicing the two-minute rule can allow you to focus on those small tasks in between the time it takes to work on larger and more complicated tasks.

9. Delegate tasks

Consider using delegation methods to split up tasks between your team members. For instance, if you have a variety of tasks on your to-do list, consider assigning some of these tasks to others if they can be completed without you working on them.

Delegating tasks can also allow you to work on other assignments that may be specifically assigned to you alone, while the rest of the team can dedicate their time to the tasks that would otherwise take time or resources away from other more important projects.

10. Use the Pomodoro strategy

Being more productive at work can depend heavily on your time management, and the Pomodoro method is a strategy that you may find helpful for managing your time more efficiently. Similar to scheduling breaks, the Pomodoro method applies the use of a timer, where you dedicate yourself to a task for 20 minutes, work on it until the timer goes off, and then take a five-minute break.