Do you work your tail off in the office hoping to outperform everyone, only to wonder why your productivity still sucks? Are you worried about- how to come out with the messed up schedule?
See, old habits are hard to break and new ones are hard to form. But if you include the following into your life, it is certain that you’ll soon feel the benefits of a good schedule for work.
Plan!
Managerial scientists have cried hoarsely on this one. Planning significantly reduces your mental load. When you have an organized order of tasks in your mind, your mind doesn’t wander and your focus on your key tasks remains strong.
Here’s how to go about planning:
First thing in the morning
The first thirty to forty minutes of your day in the office must be spent on planning your tasks. Though this may seem like letting go of much valuable time at the start of the day, you will realize in the long run that this very task reduced your time by a huge margin
Scrutinize
Organizing is the mother of planning. And no organizing is possible if you don’t prioritize your tasks and resources well. Something as seemingly innocuous as a cluttered desktop screen takes a toll on your overall mood to work. Hence, keep it clean. Declutter your computer and mobile phone by deleting unnecessary files and apps. Apart from relieving your eye sores, it also saves battery life!
Breaks are important!
Breaks are necessary! Two simple reasons:
They check boredom
You may be playing a video game or analyzing the annual balance sheet of a company. Marshall’s law of diminishing returns starts to set in, no matter what you do. Breaks are hence, a delight when it comes to avoiding monotony and boredom in your tasks.
They help memory and recall
Pretty much like a computer, our brain also registers information by categorizing it under its appropriate head. But the brain
You can follow various approaches to taking breaks like taking a 15-minute break after every 2 hours, a 10-minute break after every 50 minutes, or a 10-minute break after every 90 minutes of work. The approach that has now become very popular and has proven extremely effective is the Pomodoro Technique. It involves 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break.
The reason it works is that it prevents burnout, which is a tendency for millennials, owing to their ever-so-distractive environments. Hence, it makes you enjoy your work more and boosts productivity. To make the process of checking time easier, get the tomato-timer online!
Carry a task list
Much of the work-related stress comes from the thought of the pending tasks and not from actual work. We need a path to follow in a suitable order.
And we have all tried reminders, haven’t we? The problem with reminders is that they may not ring at the right time. You may often need to dismiss some of them, only to forget the concerned task soon.
Having a pocket list with all the important tasks of the day helps you stay focused and prevent wastage of time in thinking about the next task after you complete one.
Key tasks before lunch
Every day, you have some tasks that are important, and some tasks that are high-priority! Although you have the entire day for completing all the tasks, you must complete the high priority ones sooner than others. This gets rid of a bunch of your mental load, ensuring a relaxed mind. And only a relaxed mind can be productive at work. This practice also helps you avoid working overtime.
Enough sleep
Studies have revealed that the effects of sleeping just 6 hours everyday mimic the effect of 1% alcohol consumption in humans. Sleep is important for healthy hormone growth and general health too. Hence, it is an area that shouldn’t be taken lightly
Having insane productivity at work is the dream of every entrepreneur out there. But achieving the same requires good habits. You incorporate them, and turn yourself into a productivity-generating machine!