How do you maximise your productivity? What can you do to be more productive? Well, I am going to tell you some productivity hacks that you can use straight away to push yourself to be more productive.
Many people use different techniques and approaches to boost their productivity, what works for them may not work for you.
I am going to give you some simple but effect productivty hacks that you can execute straight away.
The most important thing I must emphasis here is that you need to be discipled and follow through with your tasks. My list of smart productivty hacks will help you to be more effiecent and be able to use your time effectively. So, lets get to it and share with you my list.
Task List
A typical way people write their To Do List are things they need to do, for example
- Write the Report
- Email clients
- Debrief management
I found another way of writing the To Do, on that can shift your mindset to be more focused. Change your To Do list to be a bit more detailed and add a deadline of when it needs to be completed by, such as
- Complete the Client Report on SEO activity by 13:00
- Email 10 clients by 15:00
- Management to be Debriefed on SEO updates by 17:00
Ideally, keep your task list short and realistic.
Prioritise Your Tasks
You need to identify the most important tasks that needs to be done first; then followed by other secondary tasks.
I categorise my items by using the traffic light system, Red, Amber and Green. Anything marked with Red requires immediate attention, Amber is secondary action and requires follow up and Green is mostly administration or tasks that can wait for a few more days.
Find out what works for you, there are many ways to categorise your tasks, by priority, timing or effort required for completion.
Smart Productiviy Hacks that Actually Work
Listen To Music
There has been many academia studies and research on the impact of listening to music when working or studying. The research identified it boosts your productivity when listening to music. However, it all depends on the type of music you are listening to and your environmental setting.
I will share with you the type of music I listen to which enables me to be in constate state of focus.
- Choose a song that isnt too upbeat or too loud as it can be distracting
- Choose a song without any lyrics
- Play songs that you are familair with, so if you are not used to clasiccal music then this is not the time to experiment
- Dont listen to podcasts or try to learn new skills
The type of music I listen to is calm and makes me feel the energy, I listen to most of the music from Hans Zimmer and you may have listen to some of his music from various blockbuster movies, check out YouTube as it has a lot of music there. If that doesnt work for you, then search on YouTube for Productivity Music and see what suits you.
Focus To Get Things Done
I would strongly recommend that you try the Pomodoro technique, where you work for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. The idea behind the Pomodoro technique is that you completly focus on the task that needs to be done for 25 minutes, then take a short break for 5 minutes. During that 5 min break go away from your desk and strech your legs or get a coffee.
The intent behind the Pomodoro technique is that you have 25 minutes to complete the task and gives you a sense of urgency that it needs to be done within the time.
If you do four sets of 25 minutes sessions, you will have spent 1 hour and 40 minutes on completing the tasks with only taking 20 minutes of break.
Another tip is when you have your break, consider doing something that will help you to increase your focus or energy. I like to go for a short walk, go get a coffee or quickly catch up on reading a magazine or blog.
Focus on a Single Task
I cannot multi-task at all and I find it difficult to keep on top of what needs to be done and to be honest most of the time I get distracted jumping from one task to another.
Therefore, focus on a single task that you need to do till the point of completion. This way you are devoting your full attention and effort on getting that work done, without being distracted.
Group Tasks Together
This is a simple but very effective productivy hack – group similar tasks together so that you can maximise your time in completing a theme of activities at the same time. For example, you can do the following
- Check and respond to emails and social media
- Group your research together
- Complete all the reports you need to do together as you may have synergies across the reports and reduce duplication
Try and group your tasks together when writing your To Do lists at the beginning of the day. See what items can be grouped together and be done at the same time.
This approach will save you a lot of time and reduce duplication and effort.
Limit Your Email Usage
This is one trick that allows me to continue to focus on my task with out disruption. I check my emails once in the morning to evaluate any changes needed to my action for that day. I will then check my emails again in the afternoon and respond to emails.
Something else you can do is to have an out of office on, so people know when you are checking your emails, this way it sets their expectation that I wont be replying straight away. If it is urgent then they can call me.
This method will help you tremoundlsy as we have a habit on checking emails frequently. I would also go one step further and disable email notifications or close outlook all together when you are working.
