We’ve all had those days: You begin with a schedule, then mid-morning you realize that it’s already 5 PM and you have only managed to accomplish a few things.

 

How did that happen?

 

I understand that productivity is not always easy, with all those distractions around and our willpower tested all the time.

 

But do not despair, the 10 tips in this article will explain how you can take your productivity level up a notch.

 

Picture this: a properly coordinated day in which you can go about your schedule without wasting time and or getting overburdened. These simple tricks will help you remain productive throughout the day and make you an unstoppable force.

 

Therefore, there is no better time than now to get right into the thick of things and maximize every given second.

 

1. Get Rid of Distractions 

 

Notifications are liked by humans but at the same time, they also feel quite complex. A few individuals experience strong dopamine release each time their possession vibrates, beeps, or alerts them. People are stressed and anxious. 

 

Whether you like them or not, all of us are currently so preoccupied with our notifications that we don’t even require one to be preoccupied! Just the mere expectation of a notification is enough to make us lose focus on what should be productive work.

 

If you want to enhance productivity, such disparities must be eliminated. Here are two ways in which you could do this: 

 

You could designate certain hours in the day in which you would only glance at your notifications. For instance, in the morning when one wakes up, mid-morning before lunch and just an hour before the working day is over. 

 

The same could be done for the rest of the day by closing the tab which contains the site you are most likely to visit or the email tab if you are most likely to cheat. 

 

It is also possible to set up notifications through a calendar application, for example, Google Calendar, so that you do not overlook your notifications on purpose! 

 

2. Sharing Schedules With Other People

 

Schedule your appointments and meetings with your co-workers so that interruption is done at a time that suits all. Integration of the schedule enables one to be fully conversant with his or her colleagues’ timetable, which in turn minimizes setbacks such as general interferences that may result from the scheduling of the meetings. This approach brings in better cooperation and concentration at work thus improving the productivity of offices.

 

3. Utilizing the 10-Minute Rule

 

Anytime you find the need to procrastinate or get distracted, just apply the 10-minute rule. Find a way to convince yourself that you only need to be busy on the task at hand for ten more minutes. At times, he observes that when the ten minutes are up then he is able to go back to work. Since this rule assists you in addressing the first 5 to 15 minutes of procrastination, using it can lengthen periods of focused work can be seen as a great work productivity hack.

 

4. Let Yourself to Procrastinate 

Supposedly, scheduling procrastination to occur during specific times means that you will spend less time procrastinating during any given day. 

 

Probably you have already heard about a time management technique based on this concept – Pomodoro Technique. The method is simple. You work for five minutes after which you take a twenty-five minutes break. 

 

Introduced in this decade, it is named the Pomodoro Technique after the Tomato-shaped timers used in the kitchen. The timer is important to this method as it will be used to remind you when to stop working and when to begin working.

 

5. Adopt Precommitment Strategies

 

Precommitment is all about creating situations that help you avoid distractions. For instance, you can download programs that prevent you from visiting unproductive sites during working time or agree with your partner to finish a task. These strategies use your future self's wiser self to correct your current self thereby making them important work productivity tools.

 

6. Make Your Workplace Free from Distractions

 

Environment affects your ability to concentrate and is in most cases associated with your physical surroundings. HR solutions suggest that you can try to do all you can to avoid anything that may distract you while working, this involves tidying the workplace. Wear headphones and avoid using headphones with noise control, and if possible, try and apply the clear desk policy at work. Use items that will help you to have that positive attitude towards work, but do not over-accessorize. This is one of the most basic office productivity tips.

 

7. Visualise Your Tasks 

 

When you’re trying to be more productive, it’s not about waking up early in the morning so that there are more hours to the day, it’s about the use of the available hours. 

 

In other words, the time difference is important. But, given the fact that our brains can process the information received through our eyes 60,000 faster than the text you’ll agree that by visualizing your tasks, you’ll be able to save some time and be more efficient. 

 

This is the premise on which the Kanban method, a workflow management technique is founded and it originated from the manufacturing industry. 

 

Kanban boards are designed so that you can see all of your tasks at a glance. Columns are also subdivided, which have been typically named ‘To Do,’ ‘In Progress,’ and ‘Done.’ These columns enable you to easily identify the area of the organisation that is congested, and what must be done. 

 

8. Use the Eisenhower Matrix

 

Both the Pomodoro Technique and the Eisenhower Matrix are productivity techniques that help in managing time more efficiently. 

 

The matrix enables you to prioritise your tasks based on the fact that it divides tasks into four groups. Tasks can be:

 

• Urgent and important
• Urgent but not important 
• Not urgent but important
• Not urgent and not important

 

Once you have divided the tasks based out on the four quadrants of the matrix, you will have an idea about what needs to be achieved, what needs to be planned, what can be delegated and what needs to be avoided.

 

9. Building Psychological Safety

 

Promote the idea of a ‘psychologically safe’ workplace in your team. When employees are protected from negative consequences for speaking out, then they will act in ways that are beneficial to that organization. It is possible to get a better solution to the problems being faced in the workplace if open discussions were made more often in the office, hence increasing the productivity of the employees in that office.

 

10. Promoting Preventable Use of Time

 

Make sure creatures of habit have a pattern of rest in their workplace. Policies such as ‘no meeting Wednesday’ or a block of time to work through emails and a few other tasks can be useful to help employees stay organized and avoid burnout from work. It is good for organizational health and is also beneficial as it reduces work-life conflict and enhances effectiveness.

 

11. Practicing Regular Reflection and Adjustment

 

Schedule time at least once a week to take stock of what went well, and what did not in the pursuit of efficiency. In this way, modify your strategies. This practice shows you how to hone your productivity skills and keeps you flexible for new challenges. Write your day’s activities in a diary or use an app to document your productivity to identify productivity boosters and barriers. This is good work productivity advice since performance should be regularly adjusted.

 

12. Just Give Up 

 

Of course, we didn’t mean that or at least, that’s what we wish to argue in this paper. 

 

But as you realize you are stuck, then, in some cases, the best you can do is to leave it and move to another activity for a while.

 

After you can return to what you are doing later or tomorrow and approach it with a different attitude and maybe even new ideas.