‘How to increase productivity?’ is a popular question in the business world. If you google it, you will get tons of blog posts. Why then, one more post? Is there anything special about it? The answer is YES.
In today’s post, I’m going to share with you 6 lesser known secrets to boost productivity.
After reading this post, you will certainly be able to boost your productivity. Especially, the 4th secret can really make a big difference. Without further ado, let’s explore these lesser known tactics to do more in less time.
1- Wait to read emails
If you see your inbox is flooded with emails, don’t start reading every email in the morning. Emails are going to be there. Don’t be among people who spend 6.3 hours a day in checking their emails. Emails are a necessary evil. You can’t live without them, but they take a big share of your time in the office.
What you should do is to limit your time when you check emails. Email labeling can help you in this matter. Not only email labeling makes it easy to manage inbox, but also it ensures that you won’t miss any important message. Seeing a labeled inbox, you can easily decide which emails need immediate responses and which ones can wait.
So, in the morning, when you enter your office, don’t read emails first. Rather, finish important tasks first. This will provide you with a sense of accomplishment. And you will start your day with a good mindset. Believe me, this simple practice can drastically improve your productivity.
2- Minimize simple decisions
Former President of the United States Barack Obama said once, “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits,” he said. “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”
When asked “Why do you wear the same T-shirt every day?,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg answered, “I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community,” And he clarified he had “multiple same t-shirts”.
Do you see any similarity in these statements made by productivity powerhouses? Both of them have minimized small decision making in their lives so that they can make big decisions.
You can also do the same. Try to minimize small decisions in day-to-day work, such as deciding a meeting date or meeting venue, etc. This will definitely improve your productivity.
3- Silence your phone
Want to be super productive? Smash your smartphone. You cannot do it. No one can. But do you know your smartphone can take a toll on your productivity?
According to a new Florida State University study, “Whether you are alerted to an incoming phone call or text by a trendy ringtone, an alarm bell or a quiet vibration, just receiving a notification on your cell phone can cause enough of a distraction to impair your ability to focus on a given task.”
There was a surprising thing in the study – a distraction caused by a sound or a vibration has a similar effect on a person when the person actively makes a call or sends a text.
The point here is, You should silence your phone when you are working on a crucial project. This will boost your productivity certainly.
4- Delegate non-core tasks
Being productive never means doing every task yourself and become burnout. In fact, it means getting done more in less time and doing things that really matter.
This means you should never entangle yourself with petty tasks that you can easily delegate to others. Here is a list of some common tasks that you can easily delegate to others:
- Email labeling and calendar management
- Social media management
- Keeping an eye on your competitors
- Sending newsletters to prospects and customers
- Preparing Powerpoint slides for meetings
These tasks you can easily delegate to others. In case you are running short of employees. You can hire a virtual assistant. And if you do so, you won’t be alone, most successful entrepreneurs hire virtual assistants. Delegate petty tasks and see the difference in your productivity.
5- Take a break
So you don’t want to take a break. There is a lot to achieve today, and your whole week is packed with deadlines, isn’t it? You are not alone. Most people have a guilt feeling when they take a break. But what they (and probably you) don’t that taking breaks can actually boost productivity.
Let us take a look at the benefits of taking a break:
- Breaks keep you from getting bored
- Breaks help you retain information
- Breaks help you rejuvenate your goal
As we have a limited capacity for concentrating over extended time periods, scheduling a 15-minute break can save you from burnout. If want to boost your productivity, you should take a few small breaks in a day and a few days break after every 3 months.
6- Get up earlier
GE CEO Jeff Immelt gets up at 5.30 in the morning every day, founder and chairman of the Virgin Group Richard Branson gets up at about 5.45 in the morning, and Apple CEO Tim Cook gets up around 4.30 AM. And there are many entrepreneurs who leave their beds early in the morning.
It seems like the old adage – the early bird catches the worm – holds the ground. Even the Harvard Business Review endorsed the same. So if you want to boost your productivity, you should start getting up early in the morning. These six practices, if you follow them religiously, will help you do more in less time.
Remember – you owe it to yourself to be more productive.
Conclusion:
Being productive is not a personality trait. Rather, it’s a habit. By minimizing simple decisions, silencing your phone, delegating non-core tasks, taking a break, getting up earlier, and delaying the urge to read emails frequently, you can double your productivity, if not triple.
Cultivate these habits in your daily routine and boost your productivity.
What about you? Do you have any tip to boost productivity? Do share it in the comment section. I’d love to hear about it.
