To be productive means you need to optimize the limited time you have to achieve as much as possible. The process can be overwhelming.
In the work hour, you are responding to people, handling different projects and multi-tasking in order to get done as much work as possible and to be able to check off your to-do list.
But at the end of the day, you realize that you could achieve and show only a little. For all the time and energy you invested you are only able to accomplish a little.
But you can always take control in this scenario. Be aware of these reasons that can get overlooked but hinder your productivity.
You got no clue where your time flies
Time is an invaluable asset for anyone and everyone. If you take a look at how you are working on something rigorously without paying attention to the time you are spending to complete each task, you will be shocked to find that most of your time is wasted on doing tasks that have little importance and doesn’t add much value to the overall project.
Be mindful of what tasks you are spending time on. Make sure you are not trying to do all things at once. Focus your attention on one task; accomplish it and then move on to another. You will be able to track your time spent on completing each task daily.
The idea is to go small, the people who accomplish many things in a day actually ignore the tasks they can do but focus on what they should do.
Spending excess of your time in sending and responding to emails
At work generally, you receive emails each minute. The bad habit is to keep checking each mail and then feeling stressed about the message it carries. It affects the way you work on the other pending tasks.
You keep switching through tasks as and when each email distracts you. Coordinating with your team over the emails is costing you a great amount of time than you realize.
As soon as you open an email, quickly decide whether you want to delete it, archive it or take immediate action. Identify the action you need to take, a reply, addition to a to-do list or just filing it away.
If you need to respond to a mail and it takes less than a minute to reply then go for it. If not, schedule a free time, when you can do so to be able to clear your inbox.
Send less and short emails to keep the matter concise. It is easy to be read and acted on and takes less than usual time to write them.
You don’t have specific, attainable and time-bound goals
Setting goal is fundamental to productivity. A goal gives you direction. You are more likely to stick to your goals if you have a determined plan for the place, time and process of the action.
Set small goals and not too many; the key to achieving goals is to focus your attention on a smaller number of things, to make you highly productive at conducting them in a limited time.
You miss measuring your results
Assessing your results is crucial for you to figure out what are the things working and what is not. Otherwise, you will be wasting your time involving in the activities that have merely any impact on your productivity.
Analyze what are your inputs and outputs. Identify if you are getting the expected results for which you are employing all your energy.
Assess your schedule for the week daily and jot down the time you spend on social media, web browsing, checking work, personal emails, and meetings or reading news.
Given the number of hours, you work at your office each week, check the percentage of time you spend on each activity. You will spot the problem areas.
You will be able to pinpoint the exact errors where you should develop an efficient system. Know where you should cut back time to shift focus on things that contributes more to your productivity.
