Think getting into the office at 7:30 am and immediately opening your email is the sign of a productive worker? Think again!
Email can distract you from your core duties and prevent you from crossing off items on your “to do” list. So, if you want to be more productive, only check email at set times throughout the day and stay focused.
And if you want to improve your productivity even further, follow these other 4 tips too:
Prepare for the next day…before leaving the office.
At the end of each day, create a list of tasks you need to complete the next day. These should be in order of priority, so the most important one is first. When your workday is goal oriented – rather than just flying back and forth from task to task, it’s much easier to get things accomplished. Plus, by creating your plan a day in advance, you’re really getting a head start on your work and will feel more ready to tackle the next day’s challenges as a result.
Discipline yourself against tempting time-wasters.
It’s tempting to check your personal email or Facebook account during the workday, but these are time-wasters. Even if everyone else is doing it, you need to discipline yourself to be the exception. And if you’re tempted to surf the web or waste time in some other way, then switch gears. Stop on the project you’re working on and move on to something else.
Know when to say “no.”
It’s hard to say “no” when asked to take on a new project are complete a task that’s outside your area of responsibility. But highly effective people do it all the time. So if you’re up against a deadline or know you’re not the best person for the job, then say so. Offer an alternate solution or suggestion as to how else to get the work done.
Take a break.
Spending hours and hours working without a break is counterproductive. So don’t think the more hours you put in, the more productive you’ll be. It’s all about balance: work hard and break hard. In other words, take a couple of breaks throughout the day, schedule time to actually eat lunch away from your desk, and don’t stay up late every night doing work. If you don’t strive for a balance, then you’re going to wind up miserable and ineffective.
Want to ramp up your productivity…in a new position?
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