How To Be More Productive? 14 Tips To Be Productive

When you’re busy working on a complex project you can sometimes wish there were more hours in the day.

Unfortunately, we’re stuck with only having 24. But whilst we can’t make the day longer, we can take steps towards making the most out of each hour.

We all know someone who seems to have everything under control. They always get everything done in plenty of time and make everything seem so effortless. It may seem at times that they are working at an almost superhuman rate.

But what is these people’s secret? How do these productive people do it? Here are some quick fire productivity tips and productive habits to help you become more efficient in your everyday life, and leveraging the best time tracking software can be one of the keys to optimizing your time management strategy.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

14 Tips to Be More Productive

Key Takeaways

14 Tips to Be More Productive

1. Make an Achievable To-do List

To-do lists are a great way to keep track of all the tasks you have to complete. But they often fail due to the fact that they are often unrealistic or don’t prioritize the correct tasks. This can lead to to-do lists actually doing more harm than good.

2. Focus On One Goal at a Time

Multi-tasking is a lie. It’s been proven that trying to focus on multiple tasks at once will only hinder your progress. Put all of your effort into one single task and make your way through task-by-task.

3. Be Ruthless

Don’t let your to-do list be cluttered with meaningless tasks. Go through your list and unless it is absolutely necessary, get rid of it. Low-priority or meaningless tasks can take up a huge amount of your time that should be spent on more important things.

4. Delegate

Is it completely necessary that you are the one doing this task? If the answer is no and you have the capability, then delegate. Many managers have a whole team of workers that they can utilise but choose not to. If you’ve trusted them enough to hire them, you can trust them enough to complete some of your tasks.

5. Group Similar Tasks

When you switch between tasks, you naturally create friction and break concentration. A great way to cut down on time and task switching is by grouping tasks together. For example if you have to write and send off an email, don’t just do one then move on. You should respond to all of your emails and then leave that task alone for the rest of the day.

6. Prioritise

It’s only natural that some of your tasks will be more important than others. It’s often these more important tasks that can weigh on our minds and create tension and stress.

If you focus on simply checking off tasks on your list then you’ll end up with a mix of important and less important tasks being completed. It also leaves you open to procrastination. It’s easy to spend the whole day just ticking off easy, less important tasks instead of tackling the harder, high-priority tasks.

So make sure that you always start by ticking off the most important tasks, or the tasks with the nearest deadlines.

7. Keep a Pen and Paper Handy

In today’s world, there are a million and one distractions ready to knock you off your stride. How many times have you been in the middle of a task only to be distracted by something which leads you down a different path?

A great way to counter this is by keeping a pen and paper next to your workspace as a “distraction list”. This means that every time a notification pops up, or you remember another task you have to do, you can simply jot it down.

Then when you’ve finished your current task, you can look at your list and be reminded of what may have previously distracted you.

8. Track Your Time

Some tasks should only take a certain amount of time to complete. For example, sending a simple email should only take a few minutes. But it’s easy to fall into the rabbit hole of bad habits such as pouring through your inbox and getting distracted by other incoming emails.

That’s why tracking your time with time tracking software is one of the best healthy habits to get into. Tracking your time means you can easily split your day into time slots and create a realistic plan for your day.

9. Break Down Tasks

When you’re facing a particularly complex project, it can seem almost insurmountable. One way to make the whole process seem less daunting is to break a project down into smaller bite-sized chunks.

10. Allow Yourself Breaks

Your brain is like a muscle. That means it’s prone to getting tired if it’s used too much. That’s why you should always schedule short breaks throughout the day to keep your mind fresh and efficient.

Using methods such as the Pomodoro Technique will allow you to be more efficient with your time without burning yourself out.

11. Create Boundaries

Working within a team can have huge benefits – but it also has its drawbacks.

When you’re getting ready to do a complex task then the last thing you want is somebody coming up and asking you a question or distracting you. So it’s important to create boundaries within your team that show when it is and isn’t appropriate to come to you with questions.

12. Find the Fun

There’s often a preconceived notion that all work has to be boring. In reality, there are plenty of ways to make tasks more enjoyable. Whether that’s as simple as listening to your favourite music while you’re doing admin work, or doing a task alongside a work friend. Finding the fun in the everyday can be a great way to increase your productivity.

13. Find the Shortcuts

As the saying goes; don’t work hard, work smart.

If you find yourself repeating the same tasks over and over, see if there is a way to do these tasks faster. There’s nothing wrong with finding the ‘lazy’ way to do something if it means you get the same result with less time.

14. Understand How You Work

We all have healthy habits and bad habits. But being able to know what they are and identifying them can be a great help.

For example, some people may be more productive than others at a different time of day. Some of us are morning people, some of us are night owls, so see if you can find your peak hours to work.

Key Takeaways

Hopefully these tips will be able to help you get the most out of your working day. But remember to be kind to yourself. Productivity habits are hard to form, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect.

Are you looking for more business advice on everything from starting a new business to new business practices?

Then check out the FreshBooks Hub.

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