If a week ago we talked about Mindfulness as a method to reduce work stress, this time we want to focus on other techniques that serve to improve performance at work. First of all, it is necessary to clarify that working more hours does not mean performing better. Productivity is measured by the number of goals achieved, not by the time spent. This idea was applied by the revered Steve Jobs , who explained his procedure at Apple in this way, based on the simplification of tasks: “I have a sheet of paper with ten things to do and if my company can only do one for next year I see what it is and I literally shut everything else down . “
Techniques To Increase Productivity
Follow these ten tips to get organized and improve your work performance:
- Plan the day: before going to sleep, review the appointments, calls or meetings that you have scheduled and analyze any delivery date that you have pending. This way you will start the day prepared for what awaits you. Allow time for unforeseen events, which is enough to react and prevent your organization from collapsing at the slightest problem.
- Organize tasks: we are not machines. At the moment, we are not able to efficiently do two or more tasks at the same time. The ideal is to start with a small activity of medium difficulty, which serves as a warm-up to reach maximum intellectual performance. Then introduce the most complicated work, to finish with simpler tasks and in which less fatigue interferes.
- Learn to delegate: in the field of productivity, Pareto’s Law is as simple as that 20% of your tasks occupy 80% of your time. Practice the art of elimination to detect and delete or delegate from your list of tasks those that do not bring you much benefit and consume a large part of your time.
- Avoid distractions: move your phone a couple of meters away, leave it on silent and program it to only ring when you are called and not when a WhatsApp arrives. You’ll have time to look at it during breaks or when your day is over. The ambient noise level is another factor to control.
- Schedule breaks: fresh air and movement will put your brain in the right attitude to start the day. The brain needs phases of compression and decompression, maximum concentration and relaxation. In 10-20 minutes you can achieve the ideal state of mind to face a day of heavy work.
- Identify the moments of motivation: detect which are the periods of the day in which you work more productively. It is essential to learn to handle the urgencies of the clients, so as not to be interrupted in moments of maximum concentration. You must return calls and messages once pending work is finished.
- Organize the workplace: keep the table as clear and clean as possible, without distracting objects within sight. Tools like Evernote help manage your schedule digitally.
- Control nutrition: avoid feeling hungry, but without eating copious meals that increase the degree of drowsiness. It is also important to stay hydrated, preferably drinking water.
- Disconnect from work: it becomes crucial when you have a partner or family. You have to forget about work when the working day is over. Nothing to look at the email on the mobile as soon as you get up, to answer emails after hours, etc. Sleeping an adequate number of hours will help improve our levels of attention and concentration.
- Play sports: it is better to invest an hour of free time playing sports than to see how the walls of your house consume you. It is also necessary to be with friends or family and enjoy any hobbies you have.
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