Key productivity tips from the experts
Recently, work has become complex. Technology has lead to round-the-clock work schedules and unrealistic expectations. Assignments are now requiring more collaboration, coordination, conference calls, and meetings. In addition, there are more distractions from emails, texts, alerts, etc. Today, more than ever, we need strategies for being productive. A recent article from Harvard Business Review highlighted productivity insights from an online summit of 26 bestselling science and productivity writers:
- Own your time. Work on projects you initiate yourself.
- Recognize busyness as a lack of focus. Busyness robs us from our focus. It prevents us from making progress on the work that matters the most.
- Challenge the myth of the “ideal worker”. Many still believe that the “ideal worker” is the individual who is always working at the expense of their personal life. This is quite the contrary. Being productive is about recognizing you cannot work for extended periods of time while still maintaining a high level of performance. These individuals get plenty of exercise, sleep, and work 90-minute bursts of focused work with short breaks. These individuals also disconnect during off-hours.
- Intentionally leave important tasks incomplete. Resist the urge to finish assignments quickly so that you can move on to the next item. This can increase productivity.
- Make a habit of stepping back. Remove yourself from the daily grind. This is when you have the greatest ideas.
- Help others strategically. Help others without strings attached. Specialize in one or two forms of helping that you genuinely enjoy and excel.
- Have a plan for saying no. Create a script for saying no. Share your workload with others so they know what you are working on and then highlight priorities.
- Make important behaviors measurable. Monitor and track your behaviors. This will lead to changes.
- Do things today that make more time tomorrow. Look for ways to automate or delegate activities that take a lot of time.