It might not seem easy or even possible at times to increase productivity and get more done in less time. Especially when your to-do list is a mile long and you’re feeling worried, tense and stressed thinking about your workload.
You tend to freeze, your mind is either blank or full of racing thoughts. You can’t seem to get it together in those situations. The result is you not being able to get anything done at all. Those moments when you want to throw your hands up in the air in defeat, hide under the blanket or just cry. Sounds familiar?
When you feel like this it’s important to take a deep breath and tell yourself that you have things under control. Then sit down to come up with your battle plan. And the below time management and productivity hacks will surely help you to increase your productivity to get more done in less time.
Let’s take a look!
Set A Timer
One of my favourite time management techniques to increase productivity is to set a timer for 15 or 30 minutes and try to get as much work done as I can in that set time. The idea of this technique is not to focus on one specific task. It’s to tick of as many tasks on your to-do list as possible.
You have guests coming over in 30 minutes and your house is a mess? Set the timer and tidy up as fast as you can. You’ll be amazed how much you can clean, put away and prepare in 30 minutes!
This technique is effective, because you have this added time pressure as the clock is ticking and counting down. Moreover, there is a game element to this technique as you’re competing with yourself. You’re basically challenging yourself to get as much done as you can in that set time, which makes you work faster than without the timer. And I bet next time you use this technique, you want to see if you can work even faster and get even more done.
When we think we have all the time in the world, we automatically work slower. We fill the time we have no matter what. However, if you give yourself only 30 minutes, you still fill that time, but you fill it in a better and more productive way.
Pomodoro Technique
If you get distracted easily, try the Pomodoro Technique. This techniques is simple to learn and adapt to suit your needs. It’s about breaking down your work into manageable time chunks of 25 minutes. Taking short breaks of 5 minutes after each time interval.
The Pomodoro Technique works, because you dedicate 25 minutes to working on one task. That task will get your full attention for those 25 minutes as you know you don’t have to work on that one particular task forever. You know there is an end insight to that task.
Also, the balance between work and breaks is just enough for you not to lose concentration. Plus, getting some rest to reset your brain.
Work When You’re Most Productive
You don’t get much done when you’re tired and cranky. So, work when you’re most productive and at your best. Work when you have the most energy and are alert and fully awake.
For me, this is in the mornings and the time before 1 pm. After lunch I don’t get much creative work done or anything that requires my full concentration and focus. Simply because I’m getting tired. I’m a morning person, but maybe you’re a night owl. Thus, you’re more likely to get more meaningful work done in the afternoon and/or at night.
Which ever type you are, work when you have the most energy. This is one of the simplest ways to instantly increase productivity.
Avoid Multitasking
People praise themselves for being great at multitasking. I mean who doesn’t want to get many tasks checked of their to-do list at the same time quickly, right? That sounds like a dream.
However, multitasking is actually slowing you down. That’s a fact. Every time you switch between tasks, you’re actually loosing time. It can take you up to 30% longer to complete tasks when you choose to multitask instead of working on tasks in a sequence, one after another.
Furthermore, multitasking is damaging your productivity and creativity. Also, it’s a cause of poor decision-making and mistakes.
Work On One Task At A Time
This point ties nicely into the previous one about multitasking as it more or less overlaps. Multitasking is about switching back and forth between tasks continuously. As we found out this has a cost to you and slows you down. The solution is to single task and work on one task at a time.
Pick a task, work on that and move on when you’ve finished the task. Pick the next task on your list, work on that and move on to the next task when’ve finished task number two and so on.
It’s best to finish one task after another instead of working 30 minutes one one task and then working the next 20 minutes on a different task. You will make progress more or less, but you won’t complete tasks this way. And at the end of the day you will feel like you haven’t accomplished much if you switch between tasks. This is because you will still have incomplete tasks on your list.
It’s better to finish only one or two tasks out of five than working on all five tasks and not completing any of them.
Get The Most Important, Boring Or Annoying Task Out Of The Way First
Remember a day when the workload felt like it was too much? On those sort of days it’s important to work on the most important task first. This could be a project with the deadline approaching fast. Perhaps it’s developing that course you’ve been dreaming about to start your own business.
What’s most important will vary from person to person and task to task. You know what’s most important and what requires your attention. Want to reduce stress and move forward? Get the most important task out of the way first as this is the task that will actually move you forward or get your manager of your back.
If your not swamped with work presently, but have a few tasks you’ve been pushing back and postponing, because they are boring or unpleasant, I urge you to get them done and over with firstly. Tasks such as that unpleasant phone call you have to make or the boring report that’s due in a few days.
You see, those unpleasant and boring tasks don’t disappear. They will always linger in the back of your mind, contributing to feeling uneasy or even stressed.
Add Only Up To 5 Tasks To Your To-Do List
To-do lists are a must-have when it comes to getting shit done. How are you going to know what you have to work on, what you have to do when it’s not written anywhere and you can’t make a plan?
Keeping ideas, tasks and in general things in our head isn’t working. The brain can only keep so much information before it’s overloaded and forgets. How often have you thought of something you have to do, but then forgot about 10 minutes later?
Write things down, that’s the first step. Secondly, write a to-do list, or as I like to call it a get-to-do list. Then limit the number of tasks you have to do that day to five. It’s demotivating to have 10+ tasks on your list and not getting to all of them in one day. It makes you feel like you didn’t get enough done and brings your mood down if you don’t complete all tasks on your list.
Add the five most important task you need to work on and complete that day to your list. Then only work on those. If you manage to complete all tasks before the end of the day, great. Either relax or make a start on another task. But only if you’ve managed to complete the previous five tasks on your list.
If you found this post on The Best Tip To Manage Your Time Effectively helpful, you might enjoy reading my post 5 Time Management Affirmations To Transform How You Think About Time.
And lastly, don’t forget to sign up to my 30 Day Productivity Challenge inside the Freebie Library!
Get the challenge with easy to follow and implement prompts so you can take daily action – one prompt for every day of the month that will boost your productivity without you feeling like it’s too much or overwhelming.
