3 Simple actions which will boost your productivity
“I didn’t do anything this week”, “I can never do the things I wish”, “I feel I have no performance in what I do” are common phrases we say or hear frequently. Psychologists say that over time, perpetuating this condition leads to depression, professional stress, loss of self-confidence, frustration, and a lot of other negative emotions culminating with loss of motivation for our jobs. There are 3 favourable factors, which are found in over 75% of those who are experiencing a chronic lack of productivity at the workplace and which at first glance seem surprisingly easy to eliminate. We challenge you to apply the following simple principles for a week, to see what happens:
1. ALWAYS START YOUR DAY WITH COMPLICATED, UNPLEASANT, TIME-CONSUMING THINGS
We all have to do things we like and things we don't like, things we know how to do and things we don't know how to begin. The natural tendency is to start the day or the week with the things we know how to do, the things we like to do, or the things we can quickly complete. It is the natural mechanism of the subconscious, seeking the comfort zone. But by doing so, at the end of the day or week, we will find that the complicated, long-lasting, or unexplored things have remained unresolved, creating stress, worry, and frustration. Ideally, we should start the day precisely with these things, for several reasons:
the satisfaction of solving a complicated thing is much greater than the satisfaction of solving several simple and routine things;
you can do routine things very well at the end of a tiring day, as they no longer require high levels of attention, high levels of concentration, or creativity;
even if you don’t manage to do anything else that day, you will still have the feeling of satisfaction that you have solved something complicated, but also the certainty that the things that have remained undone are familiar, which makes you master of the situation.
2. DO YOUR BEST TO AVOID ANY INTERRUPTION
We often have the tendency whenever we are engaged in a laborious activity, which requires focus and attention, to take a look at the mail at every 5 minutes, or to see what’s new on Whatsapp, on Facebook, to scroll on a news site to be updated with what’s new in the world, or just listen to the colleague who tells how he got stuck in the parking lot. All these totally unnecessary "distractions" destroy our attention and focus and often double the time needed to perform a task. Therefore, it is more advisable to take a half hour break after 2 hours of intense and uninterrupted work, rather than a 10-minute break every half hour. The results are spectacular!
3. NOTE DOWN EVERYTHING
“Verba volant, scripta manent” says a quote from Antiquity, which is more current than ever. As much as we would like to believe that we are infallible, that we are very well organized and that we keep in mind all we have to do, things are not quite like this. The fact that we write down the things we have to do does not make us vulnerable or incapable, but it helps us organize our ideas and frees our memory from unimaginable stress. There are a variety of methods by which we can keep track of the tasks we have to perform, from the classic agenda, to "to do list" applications on phones, electronic calendars, provided with alarms and notifications, special software for task management. Apparently this process of keeping evidence of everything is a waste of time, but compared to the benefits it has (the fact that you no longer stay with your memory loaded, that the probability of "forgetting" to do something is minimal) it is worth it. Moreover, you will always have a traceability of the things you have done, you can do your own analysis, you can become much better at what you do and much more organized. Note done everything, both the things that you do professionally and those that you do personally! This way, when you draw the line at the end of the week, you will find that the feeling that "I did not do nothing this week ” might vanish, or if not, at least you know where you need to intervene to correct this.
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