Being able to get more done means you are ahead of yourself and probably have more time to retain that elusive work / life balance. Would you like to do more in less time? We suspect most people will answer with a resounding yes. If this is you then read on for our top tips on how to be more productive.
Be disciplined, take control of your emails, don’t let them build up to the point of being overwhelmed. If you have a project or task to work on, place your phone face down so you are not tempted to look at the alerts, eliminate any possible distractions. Shut down the browsers you don’t need on your desktop, you really don’t need youtube or facebook hovering in the background do you? Focus on the task in hand!
It is great to be part of a team and have the support of others but in the productivity game you take responsibility of your actions and intentions. Have you ever sent an email and waited for a response? This is often the perfect excuse to put things off. Be persistent and proactive with your correspondence and if that doesn’t work ask yourself what you could be doing in the meantime to keep moving forwards.
It is hard to be productive if you are trying to maintain high energy levels all day, working non-stop, flat out and putting in really long hours. We are at our most productive when we break big projects down into smaller chunks and plan a recovery time / break and re-fresh time. Try scheduling blocks of 90-minute work sessions with a planned “cool down” time of 15 minutes directly afterwards. When you know a break is on the horizon, you won’t try to pace yourself with your work, and will be more inclined to dive straight into the difficult stuff that often causes the most blockages.
Everyone has a natural rhythm for their body. Tackle complex tasks when your energy's at its highest level. You will know if you are a morning person or an afternoon person just after you've rested and eaten lunch. Save the routine tasks for when you know your energy dips, like late afternoon. Work to your own timetable if you want to be more productive.
The Coaching Academy was established in 1999, and is now the world's largest coaching school.
In that time we have trained over 14,000 people to become life coaches.
We are accredited by the International Coach Federation and the Association for Coaching, and we're rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot.
