When did you feel really productive?

We all want to be productive but how many of us are that? Living in a region where planning or the lack thereof is often criticised, productivity may be hard to achieve. Yet, there are ways you can set yourself up for a productive day.

We’ve gathered our top 3 tips for your productive day here:

1. Be intentional.

Decide how you want to spend the day the night before it actually starts. Yes, that’s right! The night before! Planning your day is often ignored. I’ve met many folks who, if they plan, they do it after checking their emails, listening to voice mails and catching up with colleagues. By then, your day has been decided for you and not by you.

2. Define your 3 top priorities for the day.

Look at your deadlines, requests and workload to establish your top 3 priorities for the day. Work on the first one, the most important priority, before you move to the second one. Once you’ve completed the second one, you move to the third one and only then would you start other work.

Your priorities can be short activities like requesting information in order for you to continue working on a report. It may be something longer like setting the strategy for the next 3-6 months for your team.

It’s all too easy to change your day based on external influences. Now, I don’t say you need to ignore your boss’ or your clients’ request. Yet, you can identify the urgency and importance of handling their requests. In this region, many requests are made out to be emergencies and everything else needs to be dropped. In reality, they may be far from it. For me, I consider an emergency a person dying and they need immediate attention.

3. Take breaks.

Taking breaks has nothing to do with being productive you say? Think again! How productive or effective can you be after 7 hours of straight work with not a single break? No cup of tea, no bathroom break, no snack break. Your productivity declines.

Various studies found it’s better focus for a short time, get lots of quality work done during this time and then take a break. One example of this is the Promodoro Technique. Set a timer for 25 minutes and zoom completely into that activity. Once the alarm goes off, take a quick break of 5 minutes. Repeat this 4x and take a 25-30-minute-long break after this cycle.

Your eyes and mind will thank you! Re-energise by going for a quick walk around the office, grabbing a drink (remember to stay hydrated) or catching up with a colleague in the cafeteria.

To follow my own suggestions for staying productive, I’m now having my break. A nice cuppa with an apple. Today feels like one of the days where I’d like to eat more fruits. This first break for the day will be ideal to beat flies with one stone.

How do you stay productive whether at work or at home? Share your tips with the Organised Life and Mind community. We love to hear about your experiences!

Wishing you a productive day and week,
Until next time,
Agni