With 2015 here everyone is setting out new year resolutions with many saying “new year, new me.” If you are less interested in telling everyone how your are going to improve and more interested in working hard in silence and letting your success do the talking then these 7 steps to becoming more productive are exactly what you need.
1. Keep a to-do List
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It might seem counter intuitive because you are spending time making a list instead of actually ‘doing’ something but it does work. Make a list of what you want to do today, whether thats work related or a favour you have to do for someone. Sometimes you can spend an hour trying to remember what it is you have to do… and thats an hour you will never get back.
You can write a list every morning or even a list for the week depending on how long term or short term your goals are.
2. Don’t Try and Do Everything at Once
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When it comes to completing tasks on your list you need to learn to prioritise those which are most important.
You can organise them and tackle them yourself or try and get others to help you with the easier and less important ones which will making asking for help easier. Nobody will thank you for asking a hugely important favour off of them at the last minute.
3. Improve Your Working Environment
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Having a poor work environment is probably one of the biggest challenges people face everyday. Whether it’s your desk being too cluttered or the people that surround you at work or at home it can be a big challenge to give work all your energy when you are using half of it to battle with your work environment.
Fixing this isn’t always easy, but it’s about making changes to that environment to make yourself as comfortable as possible. Sometimes things are out of your control but you can always improve the things that are.
4. Get Enough Sleep
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It’s ok once in a while to stay up all night and drink coffee or energy drinks to keep yourself going but if you can you will be much better of just getting a good nights sleep in the first place. Sometimes if you are struggling to finish a project for work or college late at night you are much better off going to bed earlier and waking up ready to tackle the task in the morning.
5. Don’t Wait around for Others
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Sometimes work can be a lot like a giant waiting game. You send an email to someone and then hours and sometimes even days can pass without a response. If people are taking forever to reply to an important email ask yourself “What can I do whilst I wait?.”
Chances are there will always be something else you can do. If someone else is taking forever to reply and getting nothing done don’t be like them, be better.
6. Don’t Neglect Other Areas of Your Life
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The idea that setting aside other important aspects of life such as romance, family, friends and being sociable will improve your work is true, but only for a short time. In the long run neglecting these important factors in life will only have a negative impact on your work life.
Over time you will become detached from others and lose sight of what is important, leaving you feeling down about life and less productive than ever.
7. Set Yourself Long Term goals
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Following on from the idea of a list for everyday tasks it’s important to not become to focused on day to day life and give a thought about the future now and then.
Are you trying to save for a house? maybe you are thinking about retirement or perhaps just a holiday. Having long term goals or milestones can be a great way to keep yourself motivated as you work towards them and once you achieve them you should always try and set new ones.
