Strategies to boost your productivity

 Productivity strategies are actually steps to help you focus on the essentials instead of dawdling in the routine. Virtually everyone needs them, but very few actually have effective strategies to improve it. Here are some tips to boost your productivity, help you manage your time better and work more efficiently.

1.  Organize your work!

There are many ways to manage work to gain productivity. Many time management experts recommend using the 3 "P's": planning, prioritizing and perseverance, to get the job done.

Planning: When you plan your work, define your goals, your priorities. Help determine how much time you will spend on each task. However, it is important not to plan too many things at once, so as not to spread yourself too thin. This will allow you to be more efficient and not get distracted.

Priority: It is also important to refine your priorities based on your planning. With good planning, you can determine which tasks are the most important and which ones can wait.

Perseverance: With good planning and defined priorities, it is easier to be persistent. Being persistent means that you do what needs to be done first. In addition to that, you do what is important, without getting distracted by tasks that can wait.

Another effective way to manage your work is to focus on one project at a time, rather than several. If you're always doing multiple things at once, your work will be messy. When you are focused on one project, all your energy is dedicated to that task.

To better manage your time, be disciplined in your organization. Plan what you will spend your time on, and stay focused on your work. Even if things don't go as planned, and you don't get everything done that you wanted to, you still have to move on to the next task and finish what you started.

2. Set realistic goals

You need to set your own goals, and make sure they are realistic. If you can't set a simple goal, or if you can't finish what you've started, it means your goal is too ambitious. Your goal should be a concrete task that you can focus on. It must be practical, and achievable.

If you aim too high, you may be disappointed, and you may lose control of your daily activities. If you need to do anything to succeed, it's to set a realistic goal to gain productivity.

You also need to make sure that your goal is achievable in a given time frame. If you can't finish what you started to do, start with the most important tasks. This will keep you motivated, and prevent you from feeling discouraged.

3. Use time wisely to become more productive.

In order to progress, it is important to know how to use your time wisely to gain in productivity. To do this, you must take note of the tasks you need to do, and the work you intend to do. Organize yourself so that you don't waste your time on activities that are not a priority.

What is important for you is to make a list of the activities you have to do. Remember that it is not the quantity of work you have to do, but the quality of the work you will do.

The important thing is to plan your time so that you can do the activities you need to do to achieve your goals. Don't leave all tasks to the last minute, as this will prevent you from taking a step back from what you have to do.

The best way to plan your time so you can accomplish your goals is to start at the end. Start by making a list of all the activities you need to do, and then rank them according to their importance. Second, make a list of all the activities you need to do in chronological order.

Many people are mistaken in thinking that the way to get things done is to start with what they need to do from most urgent to least urgent. In reality, this will waste your time and wear you out. Instead, start with what you have to do that is most important and most complicated. You will then feel almost relieved to have accomplished it, which will allow you to take a step back from your work and see what you can do next.

Remember, success is a matter of habit. Start by planning your time and creating habits that will help you achieve your goals.

4. Know how to say "no."

Learn how to say no. There are many things you need to do every day, and you can't do everything you want. You need to say no to some activities in order to focus on the important tasks. For example, you don't need to answer the phone if you are working on an important project. You don't need to go to the meeting room if you have a job to finish. You don't have to be a mechanic doing assembly-line tasks. You need to learn to say no.

Be firm when you refuse a task to gain productivity. You should not be someone who just says no without explaining why. Here are some sample phrases you can use:

 "You know, I'm working on a very important project. I tried to finish it yesterday, but there were so many things going on that I couldn't finish it. I need to focus on this project and I can't deal with what you are asking me to do."

"I'm sorry, but I can't deal with that. I have a busy schedule and I have to manage priorities."

"I think I'm going to have to decline. I have a busy schedule and I don't have time to deal with this."

"I wouldn't be able to finish this task now. I have another project to finish and I wouldn't have time to do it."

It's important not to give excuses. Be honest and respect your time. If you say no, you need to be firm and clear about why you are saying no. There is no reason to lie or be negative. Just say it the way you feel it.

5. avoid multitasking

Since the 1920s, psychologists have been looking at the notion of being able to do several things at once. 

At the time, multitasking was not yet a term. 

The term did not appear until the 1960s and was used to describe the different functionalities that a computer could have.

What computers did was so amazing that a new term had to be invented to describe it.

Over time, as the term was galvanized, it began to be thought of as being able to do multiple things at once and at almost the same time. But even computers don't do that. 

Rather, it's a single processor that can do multiple tasks. Computers process one piece of code at a time. They do one task after another until all the work is done. 

It is important to note that people can obviously do some things at the same time (eating and talking, walking and chatting, etc.) but like computers we cannot concentrate on several things at once. 

And yet, it is obvious that any job well done requires concentration and involvement.

Try to catch several hares at once and you will get none.

If doing the important things is the most important, why do anything else at the same time?

Nass, a professor at Stanford University, conducted a study of more than 250 of his students to analyze how often they multitasked. 

He divided the students into two groups. 

Among others, those who practiced multitasking frequently and those who practiced it occasionally.

At the end of the experiment, they realized that the multitasking students lost productivity, they had difficulty to have a deep knowledge about things.

This makes Steve Uzzel say that "multitasking is just an opportunity to miss several things at once". 

Conclusion

The key to your success lies in your ability to focus on the things that are important to your productivity.

"Focus is the key to success"- Warren Buffet.

How can you increase your focus?

Here's what I suggest: Take a piece of paper and a pencil, write down all the activities that occupy your time all day long.

Then write down the things that take up the most of your energy and focus on them.

Answer emails as quickly as possible, take time to sort out the important ones from the unimportant ones.

Focus on the goal you have set for yourself, even if you haven't achieved it, make sure you progress little by little.

You can't do everything at once, so avoid spreading yourself too thin, focus on your goal.

When you are in the middle of work, don't try to organize your child's party, don't answer the phone, don't read any emails.

 Don't let anything go by, focus on the important things to be more efficient and succeed in reaching your goals.