10 Steps to Becoming a Productivity Guru
Who here has ever felt like they were at the helm of a sinking ship? 🙋
Getting behind on one thing can quickly snowball into your entire schedule and all of your goals being thrown off course. Everyone wants to maximize their time and reduce the amount of friction we feel from experiencing failures.
So what do you do when you need to up your productivity game and minimize distractions?
You commit to making meaningful changes to your habits! #goals
If you’ve struggled with your productivity, this blog for you.
So, without further ado, let’s jump into my best tips to help you become a productivity guru!
The Ten Steps You Can Take to Become More Productive
This may be cheating, but I want you to do something BEFORE you dive into these ten steps: time journal.
Take thirty minutes and jot down what you spend the most time on from day to day. Better yet, track your time and tasks over the course of three days. That way, you know EXACTLY what you are spending your time on and where your productivity starts to slack.
Once you have that, try these ten steps:
Every Friday morning, write down everything you want to accomplish the following week. Take 5 minutes and write everything out. Once you are done, reorganize the list so that similar tasks are grouped together and assigned to specific days. As the week progresses, cross out the tasks you accomplished. If you did not get to something on your list, make sure you relist it as a goal for the next week.
Block out your calendar. Block out time on your calendar to eat lunch, go for a walk, and have a moment by yourself. Set it to private so no one can see what is on your schedule, but you’ll still be able to follow along with your plan. Don’t forget to schedule in time for your physical fitness too and keep your gym bag in your car! You may be surprised how much you can get done if you schedule it out.
When it is time to #WERK, get in the zone. Studies have shown that having your phone around you can seriously distract from your productivity. Turn your phone on airplane mode or put it in a place that is inaccessible to you when you are in work mode. To avoid distraction, you can also try an app like SelfControl to block access to sites like Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube while you’re in the zone.
Try getting to work early or staying late 1 day a week to have some alone, focused time. There’s distraction when there are fewer people around. If you are the type of person who needs alone time to get in the zone, try working that into your schedule!
Always set up an agenda before a meeting. No agenda, no meeting. We’ve all been stuck in meetings that could have been an email. So, boost your productivity by cutting out unorganized or irrelevant meetings. Studies have shown that creating an agenda controls the flow of discussion and keeps meetings high-yielding.
Have an open door policy WITH boundaries. This should be part of your work toward radical transparency as much as it is about productivity. Make sure that people know when you’re available and what you’re available for.
Disengage with negative coworkers. Negativity and office drama is not only ineffective for building an effective team culture, it is also a time sucker. You’ll up your productivity simply by disengaging with people who do not support your success.
Set up a regular meeting with your manager to ensure all projects are being delegated appropriately. This will not only help ensure that things are managed by the right team members, but it’s a great way to check in with your manager make sure you are both on the same page.
Gain trust. If you say you are going to get something done, set a date and submit the project on time. It’s unproductive to take on projects that you can’t handle, and you will lose trust of your team. So, become a productivity guru by knowing when to say no.
Get an accountability buddy. One of the best ways to make sure you’re staying on track and being productive is having someone follow up with you. Find an accountability buddy and keep up with them regularly to build up a great work routine.
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