The work space can be such a mix! Yes a mix, because so much goes on at work from relationships with colleagues and your boss to meetings, schedules and even deadines. On today's blog post we talk about how these activities can affect our attitude and performance while also looking at how to better enhance our productivity in the work space.
Speaking of PRODUCTIVITY, how do you best describe this term. I’ll go first haha, Productivity for me means handling all tasks assigned to me efficiently in a way that none suffers at the detriment of the other. Think of it as finding a fine balance to your daily activities.
Before we go any further, I’d like for you to answer some questions which could help you better put things in perspective;
- Are you quick to forget tasks assigned to you?
- Do you have difficulty sitting still?
- Difficulty thinking clearly?
- Frequently losing things or forgetting conversations, tasks and pretty much everything?
- Finding it difficult to perform complicated tasks?
I’m sure almost everyone can relate to at least one of the questions above, I know I certainly can but if you answered yes to all the questions then you are in the right place. This blog post will absolutely help you better concentrate on getting your job done going forward.
All of the above questions are signs a person easily looses concentration and might be needing help to focus on day to day tasks productively. In order for this to happen here are few outlined steps you can take to attain maximum productivity at work;
Set Your Priorities Right:
Setting your priorities right isn’t as difficult as it may sound, it simply requires you knowing exactly what you need to do, how to do them and at what time they need to be done. Start by making a to-do list with the more pressing tasks first, placing the less pressing tasks afterwards. It might also help to set a targeted time for completion of each task, this will serve as motivation to try and get the job done a lot quicker.
Be Efficient:
You literally can be busy doing everything and nothing still, and that’s not what you want at your place of work. You want to be seen as efficient, capable and as a go-to man/woman at work. Efficiency simply put is your ability to do things and in this case execute assigned tasks successfully without wasting time and resources. One easy way to be and remain efficient at what you do is to not take on every task, this is not to say you should turn down every task assigned to you now but if you know taking on too many responsibilities at a time will leave you overwhelmed you might want to politely decline to a maybe a later date.
Delegate Or Ask For Help With Tasks When Necessary:
This is almost similar to my point about efficiency. However this is speaking more to supervisors and managers, generally, THE BOSSES, it is important for you as a manager or boss to know when to delegate certain tasks in order to better concentrate or focus on more pressing projects. Also knowing who to delegate certain tasks to is just as important because it’s always easy to pick the most junior staff who may already be over burdened in situations like this, thereby setting them off balance. So when delegating, ensure to delegate only to those who may not have so much on their plate at a given time.
Reduce Or Totally Avoid Distractions:
What distractions do you harbour at work? For a lot of people I know it is Social-Media, don’t worry I don’t judge, but I must tell the truth though. While it’s okay to allow a little distraction here and there as sometimes work can get so overwhelming, if you do not take caution, you may end up getting so distracted that you forget you have a job to do and that is a no! no! Always remember to FEED YOUR FOCUS and not your Distractions!
Practice Positivity:
An easy way to not be productive at work is to always be filled with so much negativity, yes! Negativity does you no good, not for your relationships with your co-workers or colleagues and certainly not your relationship with your boss. Now tell me, how can you be productive at work when you’re filled with so much negative energy? You’re probably not even going to be able to tell the difference between a constructive criticism and your already preconceived negative assumptions. Whatever you do let love and respect for your job lead! Do your best to keep an open mind and soak in while also giving out as much positive energy as you can.
Finally, I’ll leave you to meditate upon these words. A Healthy Mind is a Sound Mind, A Sound Mind is a Productive Mind!
Think carefully on these words I’m sure you will figure it out, or you already have! Either way all I’m trying to say is this, there’s only so much you can do to be productive if your general wellbeing aka your health is in jeopardy. Take Care Of Yourself First!