9:00 AM. The workday begins. You turn on your computer, Facebook, Whatsapp, talk to your colleagues, finish breakfast, and after so many small (distr) actions, you finally begin to work.
And guess what? It's already 10:00 AM. This description is a reality for many people. The ability to start, concentrate, and finish the day's tasks seems more like a gift than a habit.
However, it's not like that. Being a productive person is possible, and the benefits are evident for those who do it and for the entire work team. How can you achieve this habit? We share 7 tips to activate it in your life starting today.
1.- Set priorities for the day
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Plan an action strategy. Write a list of the day's tasks and define which one you should tackle first. This way, you'll have an overview of the day and you'll be able to define the steps to achieve your goals. It's necessary to distinguish between what is urgent - situations that demand your immediate attention - and what is important - what contributes to your personal and long-term goals.
For example: sending an invoice for collection before the 30th is more urgent than responding to all your emails; but it's probably not more important than having an annual planning meeting to decide the direction of the business.
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It's advisable to plan ahead to avoid filling our day with urgencies and to be able to accomplish both tasks. One of our favorite apps to achieve this is Todoist.
Plan ahead to avoid filling your day with urgent activities.
A tool that helps prioritize tasks is the "Eisenhower matrix" (later popularized by Stephen Covey), which has 4 quadrants according to these two categories: important/urgent.
2.- Start with the most difficult and valuable tasks
Benefit from your morning energy to do the most challenging activities that will probably take more work to complete. By doing this, you'll notice that you enter a mood of concentration and productivity.
Now, if you have personal goals, you must learn to give time to those that don't necessarily generate a profit but have personal value. Dedicate the morning to it. If you have to wake up earlier, learn to give yourself that space. Don't leave it for when "you have no more pending tasks." We all know that phrase is a nice fiction.
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3.- Delegate early
A day at the office can be like a basketball game: whoever has the ball executes the action. If in your list of priorities, you detect that you need third parties to achieve a goal, pass them the ball from the first hour to make your play later.
For example, if you need to print a file that your boss needs to approve, send an email early requesting approval.
Don't forget that delegating is a leadership quality. Transfer activities and responsibilities to your collaborators so that they can execute them during the day. Don't be afraid to pass the ball to others so that you can concentrate on planning the next play.
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One day in the office can be like a basketball game. Don't be afraid to pass the ball to others so that you can plan the next play.
4.- Define specific times to check emails
Once you've completed the previous steps, schedule at what time you will check your email. If you don't control it, this activity - mandatory and necessary in almost all jobs - can consume time to perform important and/or urgent activities (review step 1).
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Emails are for communicating specific messages. The golden rule is that an email must have 5 statements or less to be effective.
5.- Minimize digital distractions
Our beloved internet is a glorious source of information and knowledge... and also distractions. Regardless of age, anyone can fall into the black hole of scrolling down and mindlessly clicking from link to link.
Stay away from this senseless habit: silence your chats, only attend to important messages. If willpower is not enough, we recommend using apps that help minimize these distractions, here are some: Keepmeout!, StayFocusd (Chrome extension), FOCUS (only for Mac) and SelfControl.
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6.- Take effective breaks
Did you know that the human brain can only concentrate for a limited time? It's impossible to ask for productivity after working 3 hours in the same position.
Denying ourselves breaks can cause mental and physical damage, such as circulatory problems in the legs, as mentioned by Professor Beverly Hunt of Guy’s & St Thomas Hospital in London.
Breaks do not involve surfing the web, it is better to take 5 minutes to walk around a bit, call a friend, or even change your work location to get your mind ready to tackle a new task with total concentration.
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7.- Define a work schedule
Change your mentality. If you think "I will work until I finish," you are mentally giving yourself permission to extend an activity, and you may even "punish" yourself by staying in the office until you finish.
Stop being the person who says they work 10 hours, of which they are distracted for 5. You don't want this in your life. It's better to think "I'm going to finish by X time." This thought carries an implicit challenge and predisposes your attention to finishing within the defined time.
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Didn't finish on time? Sometimes it's okay to stay, but most of the time we should leave. You will notice that with practice, you will be more productive in completing the work on time.
Don't think: "I'm going to work until I finish" Instead, think: "I'm going to finish by such time"
