How Can You Be More Productive at Work?
Losing concentration and regular rants from the boss is a common thing for most of the people in office. Here are some tips that might help you.
Is your boss pissed off with you? Is he saying that you simply jaywalk around the office and not take any interest in work? If you think the claims are wrong or you simply wish to become more productive at work, here are some simple tips you may follow to improve your focus at work.
Organize your workspace
Before you begin your day at the office with your official work, keep out some time to declutter the space in case you have left it unorganized the last day when you left the office. Studies have proved that when a place is organized it has a positive impact on the mind that helps you to focus and think in a more clear way. It also helps you in saving time. All the time that is wasted while searching a particular paper or simply a pen is saved as everything is right in front of you in an organized way.
Add some color
Researches have proved that long working hours make the brain idle after a point and you need a relaxation. It is not possible to take a fag break every 20 minutes. You can try out adding some bright colors on the pinboard. That might be a family collage, or an achievement picture, or simply a sticky note with a positive quote. Another option that is suggested by experts is the inclusion of plants on your desk. It is also helpful for your eyes.
As you work on office laptops or computers, your eyes are exposed to harmful blue light. To prevent the bad effects to some extent, you can take up the 20-20-20 rule. Keep the plant at 20 feet away from your eyes and after every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break to look at the green. If you want to add some specific colors in several forms, then blue and red could be great options. Red helps you in putting your attention to all the minor details and can help you to achieve accuracy. Blue is a soothing color and it will help you in keeping your focus and stay calm. If you manage to get a window seat in the office from where you would be able to see the sky or the green then as per experts it would bring a very positive impact on your work.
The most difficult task is to be completed first
There is a tendency in people to keep the most dreadful work for the last. But experts say that is the most wrong thing to do. When you are keeping it for the last, the whole time your mind is stuck into the tension. The toughest work keeps haunting you at the back of the mind and you remain anxious about it. Studies show that this actually affects your overall productivity. The tasks that are not that difficult for you goes wrong due to carelessness. Experts suggest that you must complete the most difficult part in the first place. There is no point lingering it, as at the end of the day you cannot skip that one. Do it when your mind is fresh and complete that before you jump into the next one.
Prioritize your tasks
One of the main problems, why people are not able to get the complete result of their hard work. Experts say that most of the people work hard but they do not know which way to channelize the dedication and hard work. This remains the reason of their drawback and they are unable to prove their efforts. To get results, you must know how to prioritize work. You must find out which is the most important thing to do and which task can be pushed below in the priority list. Once you do that, you will get the right sync of the work. As you follow the pattern, you will find significant changes in the productivity levels.
Check emails at a certain time
It is time you, turn off those email notifications that continues to pop up when you are in the middle of a work. This can be very distracting. In a study, it has been seen that a person wastes upto 20 minutes while checking the mail, reading the content, framing a reply and then returning back to the work he/she had been doing at the first place. Even if you do not check the mail instantly, experts say that it is a human tendency to alert the mind to check the mail as soon as possible. This is a diversion of focus from the work that you are doing in the first place.
Take the required break
However important the work is, you must take the required break. Experts suggest that taking short tea breaks or doing something else is required for the mind rather than the body. As per reports, the human brain’s average attention span is 20 minutes. After that, the brain automatically takes a diversion and you are not able to give the entire focus without a break. So rather than wasting time over a work that you have been struggling for hours, take that 5-minute break that will rejuvenate you to work better.
Get into your zone
This is applicable for the people who are not doing any teamwork and is concentrating purely over personal input. Make your own zone of work. Studies have proved that for some people, music works in a great way to focus. This takes you into your own arena, where no other distraction will come in between and you get to work as you listen to your favorite tunes. On a lighter note, it is a subtle way of telling your colleagues not to disturb you when you are trying to concentrate.
Multitasking and not noting down the tasks are common mistakes that hamper the productivity. At the same time, it is not advisable to procrastinate the work by simply doing everything except work as that will definitely be a bad hit to your professionalism records.