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In today’s working culture, the word productivity is thrown around with quite a bit of abundance. There are a lot of different philosophies and theories on how modern working professionals can maximize their daily productivity levels, and some work better than others. It’s important to note that everyone is a little bit different and a variety of productivity tactics and strategies may work for you even though they don’t work for someone else. That’s totally okay. Finding the right combination of productivity tactics and strategies for you, your goals, and your weekly schedule can take a little bit of trial and error.
That being said, there are a variety of productivity tactics that are good to start with for the working professional who is still looking for their own perfect combination. By implementing the following tactics and strategies, you may be able to effectively improve your daily levels of productivity, and see a gradual increase in how much work you’re effectively able to get done each and every single day.
From work-life to personal life, it is important to become more self-aware and learn more about how we might be wired. Doing so helps us be more productive with our time, connections, and efficiency in our efforts. Take a look at your risks, bias, and relatability with others to get a leg up on understanding yourself.
– Blake Wisz, Author, Wired2Perform –
1. Set Daily Goals
When focusing on maximizing and optimizing individual levels of productivity, a good place to start is with setting daily goals. Daily goals are really effective productivity tools for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, by setting daily goals, you give yourself an achievable and actionable level of productivity for which you can strive each and every day.
Not only that, but by reaching daily goals in succession, you can set yourself up to reach long term goals down the road incrementally.
If you can reach a daily goal, then you can reach your weekly goals. If you can reach your weekly goals, your monthly goals should be attainable, and so on, and so on. It’s all about incremental progress. Just try to be better than the day before.
– Brian Lee, Co-Founder and CEO, ARENA CLUB –
Daily goals are also helpful in allowing you to reach a level of productivity that is maintainable over a long period of time. This allows you to build a sustainable work-life balance that, in turn, decreases your likelihood of experiencing burn out. This is crucial in today’s day and age because of the go-go-go nature that so many of us feel pressured to adhere to on a daily basis.
However, many workplace cultures are warming up to the idea that mental and emotional health are just as major priorities as productivity. As such, many more workplaces are giving their employees more time to rest and relax as needed.
Half the battle in long term productivity is avoiding burn out, not overworking, and making sure that you’re taking time to yourself for rest and relaxation. It’s just as much about achieving a sustainable balance as it is reaching goals on a regular basis.
– Cody Candee, Founder and CEO, Bounce Luggage Storage –
2. Turn off Notifications
With nearly everything around us being technologically integrated, or connected to the internet in some capacity or another, it can be easy to lose oneself in distractions. Think about the ever-present essence of your smartphone and how it’s always in your pocket, in your hand, or on your desk. The immediate proximity of your smartphone is just one example of why it is so pertinent to turn off notifications during working hours.
Try turning your phone on do-not-disturb when you’re working. Otherwise, you might get distracted by too many things and too many people. Check your phone on breaks, or over lunch, but when you’re working, it helps to focus without those constant pings.
– Brittany Dolin, Co-Founder, Pocketbook Agency –
Notifications can come from any number of applications or functions on a phone. From text messages, to phone calls, to social media notifications – the number of contact points that most modern employees have today is truly unlimited in some aspects. If you find yourself struggling with daily productivity, check to see how much time you spend on your phone. If you can effectively reduce the hours you spend on your phone, you’ll also be able to increase your daily productivity.
Everything in life comes down to a balance. The things that are important to you will help dictate where you funnel your energy and put most of your intent. If you reduce the amount of energy you put into your phone and social networking, you can effectively increase the amount of energy you put into your work by the same amount.
– Andrew Meyer, CEO, Arbor –
3. Create a Schedule
There are a plethora of productivity tips and tricks that you can find. However, one of the most effective to be published time and time again is the power of a schedule. Scheduling can be both hour-by-hour and day-by-day, or even longer term than that. Yet, it’s crucial to begin with hour-by-hour planning for daily productivity. For example, if you can block out a few hours each day to focus on email correspondence, say once in the morning, once before or after lunch, and one final time at the end of your work day, you’ll better be able to focus the rest of your time on tasks and meetings.
Blocking out time for email specifically is a really helpful way to increase productivity. It’s so easy to be elbow-deep in a project, get one ping from a team member, and lose all focus. Utilizing the “Snooze” feature on Gmail or “Remind me later” feature on Slack can be a lifesaver when you want to stay focused.
– Sean Doherty, General Manager, Box Genie –
Creating a daily schedule for yourself is also helpful in positioning deep work periods around meetings and other work events or obligations. This way, you won’t lose track of time while you’re buried in work and end up late to a meeting, and you also won’t get sidetracked by a meeting when you’re in the middle of finding your groove on a project.
Juggling meetings, work projects, correspondence, and other daily maintenance tasks that may just pop up can be hard. That’s why having a schedule and blocking out time for all your different tasks can be so effective at making sure everything is complete and delivered on time.
– Lionel Mora, CEO, Neoplants –
4. Plan Ahead Where Possible
In a similar fashion to making sure you have your days and your weeks scheduled, there will also be opportunities for you to prepare in advance and plan ahead. You should take these opportunities every chance you get. When you’re effectively able to plan or work ahead for meetings, you can set yourself up for success, give yourself a buffer for future projects, and even actively reduce the levels of stress you deal with on a day-to-day basis.
Life can become so much easier when you start working ahead. It took a while to really learn the value of working on projects a week or so ahead of time, but it’s really a game-changer.
– Max Ade, CEO, Pickleheads –
In the event of client calls, team meetings, or organizational pitches, preparing and planning ahead will also make you look more professional and capable.
It’s always good to get ahead of the game, especially in the context of a client meeting. You don’t want to show up unprepared or feel like you’re scrambling for answers. You want to be confident when presenting to clients.
– Alexandre Robicquet, Co-Founder and CEO, Crossing Minds –
5. Hire Help if Necessary
When it comes down to it, if you’re really at a point where you have too much on your plate to handle yourself, it may be time to just hire some help outright. This can come in the way of an executive assistant, or it could be a mentee who wants to get started in the industry.
There’s nothing wrong with admitting you’re at the point where you need help. In fact, that’s probably a good thing. It most likely means you’re doing something right if you have so much work to do that you need a little help staying organized.
– Zach Goldstein, CEO, Public Rec –
Whether you decide to hire a protege to train in the industry, or you just bring on an executive assistant for yourself, a little help can go a long way in making sure you stay on top of daily tasks, respond to urgent correspondences, and prioritize your high-value clients at all times.
Asking for help can be incredibly fulfilling. It shows you know your limits and are smart about where you are allocating your time. If there is a minor task that needs to get done, offloading that can help you chip away at those more difficult tasks in a more timely manner.
– Bryan Jones, CEO, Truckbase –
A few Final Words on Productivity
There are a plethora of tips and tricks you can find that will promise to increase your levels of productivity during the day and throughout the week. When it comes down to it, though, staying organized, reducing distractions, and planning ahead are the best ways to reach daily goals that lead to realizing lifelong dreams.
As you focus on your resolve to improve, celebrate your wins, and don’t beat yourself up over the losses. Productivity is, after all, work. Boost yours even a little this year, and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.
– Max Palmer, Author, Calendar –
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