When was the last time you had a productive day? Maybe you tried productivity tips or hacks you got from social media but still didn’t see an increase in work productivity.
It always seems people are asking how to be productive, and they envy productive people. What makes someone join the ranks of productive people? Why do productive habits seem like common sense, but we still struggle to accept productivity tips?
Some people give up after making a few to-do lists and not seeing their own productivity skyrocket. Unfortunately, achieving peak productivity requires constant practice and discipline.
Do keep in mind that with productive habits comes better mental health and a slew of other benefits. Your work habits will improve as you increase productivity, and you’ll be able to complete tasks more frequently. Boosting productivity will lead to finishing important projects faster and maybe that promotion you’re looking for.
Below we’ll take a look at why you may not be productive at work and what you can do to change that.
Why do you struggle with the question of how to be productive?
First of all, you’re not going to be productive overnight. Sometimes we make attempts to stay productive or improve productivity levels. Then we quit easily. We tend to lose self-control throughout the day, or we face many obstacles as well.
You are unmotivated to make a to-do list
A key element is the lack of motivation. Whether it’s from one task or multiple important tasks, tracking them via to-do lists seems extra. It can come from poor work habits or feeling overwhelmed. Also, if it’s repetitive tasks, it can spark disinterest as well.
You may have a lack of focus
It could be a sign of no focus if you find it hard to stay productive even with small tasks. You need to stay focused to form productive habits. Your lack could come from stress, fatigue, or anxiety.
Too many distractions (think – social media)
These could be anything from personal problems or too many team meetings. Productive people can easily face distractions as well. We’re too connected with too many emails and weaker time management nowadays, which needs to be controlled. Also, ignore your phone, especially social media.
Poor time management
Speaking of time management, it’s only getting worse these days. We find ourselves with either time-consuming tasks or simply too many important tasks on our plates. Without the strict discipline to manage our time, we will always feel as if we’re trying to meet deadlines.
Procrastination
This is a mix of everything. Poor productivity habits and time management meet a habit of putting things to the last moment. Procrastination tends to affect small tasks first as we focus on more important projects. Eventually, our to-do list is overwhelmed with these tasks, leading to more procrastination.
How to be productive?
Before we look at a planner app, there are other ways to join the ranks of productive people. First, you want to focus on clear goals. If you want to achieve peak productivity, you need to know what the end game is. Make the goal one task that encompasses everything.
Tip #1 Get organized – it’s what productive people do
From there, you can break it down further into to-do lists. You want to prioritize what are important tasks on your to-do list and what can be nice to have. A good way of starting is to look at what the hard stuff is and dedicate time to them first.
Make sure you do your best to put in how many hours each task will take so you can get a feeling overall. You need to know exactly what the workload looks like before you can actually start. Then, you can start with one task at a time, complete it and move on to the next task.
You can use this template to organize your tasks and make sure you’ll constantly update:
Tip #2 Have the right working space and remove distractions
Then you’re looking to eliminate distractions. Productivity habits start when you are able to stay focused, which leads to productivity throughout the day. Turn off notifications. Build out focus times in your calendar and so on. Ignore social media.
You also want to have the right environment to feel productive. Make sure you are in a comfortable area with natural light and focus on a certain task at a time.
Even if multi-tasking appears in many lists of productivity tips, it can make you become less efficient. Try to avoid it and focus all your energy on one task at a time.
Tip #3 Perfect your time management skills with your to-do lists
Another key piece is how you handle all your to-do lists. It’s not just about working on completing everything as fast as possible because then you burn out. You want to have focused time blocks where your productivity levels go through the roof. Make sure to take regular short breaks.
A great technique for time management is the Pomodoro Technique, which essentially calls for regular breaks. This technique has you working in 25-minute intervals, typically with a short break. While taking breaks always appears as a bad habit, in fact, they help you with time management. Make sure always to have that break time, and scheduling breaks should be fun.
Have the right tools and start with one task in learning how to be productive
Now we can take a look at the right type of planner app to help us achieve peak productivity. A great option is to visualize each to-do list with diagram software. A diagramming tool such as Mindomo will help to provide the necessary visual structure. Every to-do list can have its own space.
There are also ways to be able to collaborate, which means you’ll be delegating tasks in no time. Being able to seamlessly delegate tasks will help reduce your overall workload and help your team also become productive people.
You can also track to see how much your co-workers are working and not wasting time. There are templates already to help with new projects as they come up. It’s also built to be highly efficient and help you stay away from other distractions. This will allow you to get into a deep work habit and eventually eliminate all the tasks on each to-do list. Sign up and try it our for free!
Keep it smart, simple, and creative!
The Mindomo Team
