How to be more productive

There’s a lot going on here at Life Coach Directory, and while this is obviously an exciting time, it has bumped up our workload.

Rather than working longer hours and pulling our hair out with stress, we have looked at ways we can boost our productivity at work.

Here’s what we came up with...

Start the day with a clear, focused mind

When reading interviews with successful people, there’s something many of them have in common - meditation (or some sort of meditative practice) first thing in the morning. This helps you start your day on the right foot, with a clear, calm and collected state of mind.

Alongside some early morning quiet time, we’ve been shunning social media and email checking to keep us focused.

Set your intention

What would you like to achieve today? If you have no set intentions, it can be easy to get lost in a sea of emails, chats and meetings. Pinpoint a few key tasks you would like to achieve today.

Prioritise

The next step is to decide which of these tasks is the most important. Tackling the scariest thing on the list first is recommended. You are likely to have the most energy first thing and will feel a huge sense of achievement once you’ve ticked it off your to-do list.

Allocate email-checking time

Checking and responding to emails is a common time-suck, and something we all fall prey to here at Life Coach Directory. To avoid this, try setting yourself email-checking times and only look/respond to emails during these allocated time slots.

Avoid multi-tasking

As productive as multi-tasking may appear, many studies have revealed it to be the opposite. Instead, focus on one task at a time, giving it all your attention until it’s completed.

Enter hermit mode

To help with the above, our team have embraced headphone, or ‘hermit’ mode. This is when you have a little block of time dedicated to working on something that requires all your attention. We pop our headphones in as a way to say ‘do not disturb’ to our colleagues. You’ll be amazed with how much you can achieve with this simple tweak!

Take regular breaks

When we’re busy, it can be easy to work too hard and burn out. Keep things in balance by taking regular breaks. Have a stretch, walk outside, get a coffee. Always take at least 30 minutes for lunch and try to escape the office environment at least once throughout the day.

Plan ahead

If you know you’ve got a busy period ahead, plan what you can. For example, our communications team know they need to schedule social media and blog posts weekly. Taking an hour to plan this for the upcoming couple of weeks makes it that much easier when you have lots going on.

What are your tips to increase productivity? Let us know on Facebook or send us a tweet!