How to increase productivity

Overwhelmed by your to-do list? Take a look at our simple tips to boost productivity and get more done.

Sadly there is no such thing as a 30 hour day – we are all restricted to just 24 hours – but how do we get more done in this time?

Create routines – Schedule tasks for certain times of the day (i.e. responding to emails first thing or exercising after work), soon enough a habit will form and the routine will become autopilot.

Get enough sleep – Feeling tired at work is an instant productivity killer. Try to get at least seven hours of sleep a night to feel refreshed and energised.

Wake up earlier – Assuming you can still fit in adequate snooze time, try waking up one hour earlier to get tasks done when it’s quiet and there are fewer distractions.

Make a to-do list – But keep it simple and attainable. Try to make a daily to-do list of realistic jobs to tackle such as, ‘make dentist appointment’ or ‘go to yoga class’. These may be small tasks, but they all add up and will keep you from feeling overwhelmed.

Make a to-don’t list too – Bad habits are just as important as good ones. Make a list of things that make you unproductive (hello Facebook) and make sure you avoid them.

Don’t multi-task – As much as many of us like to think we can do a million jobs at once, we work far better when concentrating on one task at a time.

Take a workout break – If you start to feel sluggish around lunchtime and the idea of tackling afternoon tasks is making you want to curl up and take a big nap – try taking a workout break. Exercising during the day is known to increase productivity and will give your energy levels a boost too.

De-clutter – Clear away anything that could cause distractions, that means putting away the dishes, tidying those rogue papers on your desk and hanging up that clean washing.

Take a break – Make sure you carve out some quality ‘you’ time to keep a balance and help you from feeling overworked and stressed.

Being more productive is an important step in increasing your motivation. To find out how a life coach could help you with this, please see our Motivation page.

View and comment on the original Greatist article.