Ways to Improve Productivity and Reduce Stress

The complexities of life and haphazard lifestyle choices have made our lives complicated and stressful. Adding to this is another stress of improving our productivity at the workplace and proving ourselves. The never-ending tasks and deadlines to meet only add up to the pile and show an adverse impact on our productivity levels that again adds up to the stress levels. Let us see how we can up our productivity levels and reduce stress in simple yet effective ways.

• Do the difficult things first: It is usual that we often tend to put away things that are difficult either because they require more efforts or we fear failure. However, we have to get rid of this and start working on the hardest things first. Procrastinating on a difficult task will only add up to the stress levels and show impact even on the easier tasks that are being handled. This again deteriorates the productivity and at times we may have to rework as well, on the same tasks.
• Turn off notifications: We are bombarded with oodles of notifications day-in-day-out. One of the best ways to focus on work and improve productivity is to turn off all the notifications for at least a couple of our working hours. Setting aside a particular time as “no disturbance time” will help to concentrate on the work at hand with greater efficiency. If turning off work-related message alerts is not feasible, we should at least switch off ourselves from the not-so-important social media messages that terribly divert our attention every now and then.
• Plan according to energy levels: We should plan our day in such a way that the most daunting task or task that needs maximum energy levels should be done in our most productive time. The times that we are most productive should be scheduled for the most important meetings and projects.
• Focus on one task at a time: We must keep aside multi-tasking and focus on one task and goal at a time. Dividing bigger goals into smaller ones and concentrating on one goal at a time will help improve efficacy.
• Review periodically: One of the important factors affecting productivity is prioritizing tasks. We often work on multiple tasks and projects so, we need to prioritize tasks. Equally important is reviewing periodically if the process we are following is giving the desired output or we need to change our priorities or the process followed. Reviewing our own work on a regular basis helps us optimally utilize our resources and improve efficiency.
• Get some light: Productivity is highly associated with alertness and one can stay alert with enough lighting at the workstation. It will be even more awesome if we can get some natural light as sunlight is the natural energy booster. Working with ample illumination helps us to remain active and energetic, enhancing interest in work and improving our performance.

Although wishing to be more productive is good, expecting to be more productive in a matter of a few days is impractical. Cultivating good habits and following the tips given here with perseverance can certainly improve our productivity over a period of time.