Increasing productivity during the workday is an admirable goal and can help you excel in your profession, no matter where you are in your career. However, it can often be difficult to pinpoint why you’re not getting as much work done as you would like, especially if you’re already working long hours. Here are some simple solutions for helping you improve the speed and quality of your work consistently.
Don’t Multitask
While you may have been given advice about how to effectively work on multiple tasks at once, or find it tempting to do seemingly easy tasks in tandem, most research shows that effective multitasking is not possible. It is better to give all of your attention to a single task at a time, in order to improve the quality of your work and help you finish everything more quickly.
Take Breaks
Breaks allow the brain to focus more effectively in the long run. Schedule short breaks, especially during long tasks, to help improve your work and efficiency. You can go for a walk, get coffee, or have a short conversation in order to help clear your mind and return to your work with renewed focus.
The Two-Minute Rule
Entrepreneur Steve Olenski recommends that if you have a task that you know you can do in less than two minutes, you should do it immediately. This makes the most of short windows of time and saves time in the long run by letting you focus on your more time-consuming tasks and not have to return to small things later in the day.
Find Your Ideal Schedule
When we can be most awake and productive during the day varies from person to person. Figure out when in the day you are most able to focus, and schedule the most difficult tasks during that time. This will allow you to take advantage of your natural cycle and leave only easy things for the times when you’re less efficient.
Finding the routines and strategies that allow you to be the most productive during your workday is an important step towards finding success in both your career and personal life; experiment with different methods of time management to discover what works best for you under your unique circumstances.