HAVE you ever felt that you are not getting enough work done every day?
Maintaining focus and being productive all day can be difficult for some workers to sustain. On the other hand, there are people who manage this with relative ease. So how can you raise your productivity levels?
While there are no firm rules on how to achieve this, there are a few things you can do that can help boost your daily output.
1. Prioritise your tasks
While there may be a sense of urgency with everything that you are working on, it’s important to consider what tasks really need to be tackled first. Whether it’s an email, writing a report, or completing a certain aspect or a larger project – focus on one job at a time in order of importance. To keep track of everything you need to finish, make a list – for both small and large things that need doing. A list helps you to plan your day, or week, so that you can manage your workload and work through things in a methodical way.
2. Don’t put work off
When you have a heavy workload, making wise decisions about what tasks to deal with first can often be difficult. To help you dive through the work, assess whether you have any small tasks that will take just a few minutes to complete. Rather than putting them to one side to be dealt with later, it’s best to do them immediately instead. This can help you tick off some things from your to-do list, which can reduce any stress you may be feeling.
3. Think positively
If you’re feeling overwhelmed at work, it can be easy to feel a bit down. While it may be difficult, it’s important to try and maintain a positive outlook as this will do wonders for your productivity levels. Try and give yourself a bit of a pep talk. If you have a huge amount of work piling up, instead of allowing it to feel like a burden, why not approach it from another view point, such as thinking about the best approach to achieve everything. If you are feeling stressed, consider what the root cause is and think about strategies to deal with the situation, or what needs to change.
4. Take breaks
When the workload builds up, it can be easy to become attached to your desk and not really move around during the day. Not only is this unhealthy physically, it can also actually reduce your effectiveness. Taking a few minutes to step away from your work and your desk can give you a much-needed mental break that will give your concentration levels a boost, thus helping your overall performance.
5. Exercise
Everyone knows that exercising is good for you, providing an endless amount of benefits. Apart from raising your energy levels, exercising can help reduce stress, anxiety and depression. Having a regular fitness workout also makes you feel more alert and increase your level of focus, which ultimately makes you more productive.
This is a weekly column by SarawakYES! – an initiative driven by Faradale Media-M Sdn Bhd and supported by Angkatan Zaman Mansang (Azam) Sarawak – to provide advice and stories on the topics of education and careers to support Sarawakians seeking to achieve their dreams. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.