Is it too early to talk about New Years resolutions?
Probably. I can be 100% sure that this won’t be the last ‘New Year, New Me’ post you’ll have inflicted on you over the next few months. Every trainer, business coach, and motivational speaker throughout the land will be churning them out – and it’s hard to view any of them without a deep-seated, innately British and (perhaps) justified sense of suspicion and ennui.
Some will be valid, of course, some not so, but if we get ours out in early December maybe you’ll read it. Expect to see lots of images like the one below….
The road (to improved productivity) is paved with good intentions, of course, if you’ll excuse the aphorism. We have previously discussed motivation in this blog before and how motivation and (in)action are often confused. However they are both crucial here – it’s not the creation of the resolution that’s important but the motivation AND action needed to carry it through. And how do you ensure that you can remain motivated and active? Well, people are different of course, but making the process pleasurable and rewarding is a start.
Now, it takes ooooh, about three nano-seconds to find a plethora of self-help, motivational, productivity-increasing lists on Google, so I’ll try not to be too lazy, but let’s look at a brief summary from Forbes, as they tend to know a few things….
- Tackle tougher tasks when you’re most alert – Make’s sense naturally. I’d add ‘get the toughest task done first’, but then I’m a morning person.
- Schedule administrative time – True that. Deal with your e-mails, admin chores and phone calls in an allotted period and don’t touch them outside of that period. More creative and productive time guaranteed.
- Take regular breaks – There are lots of studies on this. Taking 15 minutes every hour and a half or so can give you a boost and re-energise your focus.
- Stop multitasking – It’s no revelation to discover that focussing on one project at a time leads to a more successful conclusion.
So far so good, if a little obvious. But let’s consider the four bullet points above in addition to the ‘pleasure/reward’ syndrome that affects us all:
- Tackle tougher tasks when you’re most alert – OK, tough tasks are never pleasurable or But the completion of them is. How often have you worried overnight about a problem you didn’t want to face head-on, only to be incredibly pleased when it’s completed? Start your day in this fashion and you can’t help feeling good.
- Schedule administrative time – Apparently it takes up to 26 minutes to refocus after an interruption, being able to avoid them has to help. Similarly we are all creatures of habit – scheduling a set period each day creates a sense of calm and wellbeing. And your co-workers will soon get to know when that period is,
- Take regular breaks – Try this for yourself. Taking a cup of tea or a walk, or chatting to friends or family every hour or so can give your mind a real boost when you get back to work, and you’ll soon make up for the time you’ve missed in productivity. It also makes work feel ‘less like work’ which is an added bonus if you don’t like your job!
- Stop multitasking – A reward again here. Get something achieved and move on to achieving something else. Nothing is more stressful than trying to multitask and failing on numerous levels instead of just the one! And it doesn’t work anyway. According to Earl K Miller, quoted in the NY Times and elsewhere, multitasking is not humanly possible. So there.
Will this advice help in the quest to be more productive next year? Well that’s down to an individual’s own personality, but it can’t hurt, that’s for sure. One other thing is important to consider though: Don’t beat yourself up. We all have good days and bad days, productive days and otherwise. But, if it goes wrong perhaps taking a break and re-reading these tips may help.
Good luck and let me know how you get on with improving your productivity.
– Blake
You can contact me via blake.henegan@optimuslearningservices.com or call 0845 519 7408
