How productive are you? Productivity is the most important topic which is on everybody’s mind right now. We all desire the ability to get more work done from the time we have. A lot of people struggle with this every day. More often than not, we watch how people accomplish more and complete multiple projects without fail, wondering if its share luck or there is a trick behind it.
The truth, however, is there’s no trick behind their productivity, it is instead their approach; what they have been doing sequentially that has shaped and moulded them to be highly productive.
So what are these behaviours that define highly productive people? What strategies and habits make them reliably more productive than others? What can a person do to build productivity? Below are seven things highly productive people do differently:
1. Highly Productive People do not use a to-do list: Creating a to-do list feels like you have all your activities planned out, but the truth is that to-do lists actually increase stress levels and often cause insomnia. 41% of items on the to-do list don’t get done. All those undone tasks leave you with constant worry and anxiety. Highly productive people discard this list and schedule their entire day in 15 minutes blocks using a calendar.
2. Have SMART goals: Set realistic goals. Set goals which would help you sail through achieving success. Set SMART goals; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Limited. These goals would help improve your achievement and overall productivity.
3. Focus on one task at a time: Knowing the tasks that are important to you and working on it without distraction is one way to help productivity levels. Productive people don’t multi-task; they focus on individual tasks. Quickly switching from task to task makes the mind less efficient. You complete one task effectively, rather than doing multiple tasks and getting none finished.
4. Eliminate distractions while working: One of the most effective ways to get things done is eliminating all forms of distraction. Incoming messages, new pings on social media, constant phone calls, and so much more are more often than not, one of the most significant causes of distractions and enemy to productivity. Turn off your phone if you have to, lock your doors, do what you must to ensure a distraction-free environment where your mind can focus on the things you have to get done.
5. Focus on being productive, not being busy: Let your focus on be only getting things done but getting the right things done. The time it takes to achieve a task is not as important as the results. Stop and ask yourself if what you’re working on is worth the effort. Is it bringing you in the same direction as your goals? Don’t get caught up in activities, even those that seem urgent, unless they are also important
6. Highly productive people work in short intervals: Having a clear fresh mind is key to getting things done and being productive. Highly productive people use short break interval to do the work so they can have a fresh, clear mind to handle high priority tasks. Those intervals can be 60 minutes to 90 minutes.
7. Organise your space: Organising your physical and virtual workspace can save you wasted hours of searching for documents on the computer, looking for papers on your desk, searching for emails or phone numbers. Productive people use a system which helps in organising their space in a way which ensures tasks are carried out at the right time and ideally. They can find all required to achieving their set of activities quickly
There is no trick or magic to achieving more each day. Master a few simple habits which would help you to stop feeling so overworked and overwhelmed and your productivity levels might surprise you.
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