Lo and behold your Wikipedia definition of productivity:
“Productivity is expressed as the ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production process, i.e., output per unit of input, typically over a specific period of time.”
Since I have already outlined the definition of productivity from such a certified (sarcasm intended) source, you can skip surfing the internet for the meaning of productivity.
Let’s get down to the real deal here, shall we? We have twenty-four hours in a day, and how do we spend it? Some of us spend twenty hours sleeping while others spend twenty-two hours thinking about what we should be doing. Let’s put some math into perspective here: twenty-four hours a day equate to a hundred percent. You spend twenty hours daydreaming, so that is like what? Approximately eighty percent of your day?
So, you spend eighty percent of your day doing nothing, and I’m sure the remaining twenty percent is not looking good either. In short, you didn’t get anything done, so your productivity for the day can be counted as zero!
Don’t worry; I am not too proud of myself either when it comes to being productive.
Being lazy and doing nothing is something instilled in all of our bones.
I fear that the words “Died because I was too lazy to stay alive” will be written on my stone.
This fear keeps me awake at night, but I am changing myself, and I am here to help you change as well. The fancy word productivity that we all hear from time to time is nothing but a fancy word.
It’s all about how much work you get done and in what amount of time. And the real question here is, are you even getting anything done or just pretending that it will get done on its own? Whatever the circumstances are, I’m going to list down a few techniques that will help you get things done, so without delaying any further, let’s jump right into them!
Increasing Productivity But How?
You will find numerous ways on the internet to tell you how you can be more productive, but I will list down the most effective ways. You can quickly adapt any of the following methods to do more in less time per your personality and lifestyle.
Stop looking forward to an overnight change to be productive
We have habits that we developed over many years, especially those habits that aren’t in our favor at all.
You cannot just expect these unwanted habits to go away overnight. The quicker you realize this, the faster you will see those results that you are expecting.
Trust small increments and do not jump into things. For example, I wanted to start eating healthy, and I decided to change my habits overnight but failed every time.
I did eventually start eating healthy by making small changes in my lifestyle. I started with reducing my coffee intake, then replacing my coffee with a more nutritious option, and so on.
And let me tell you, it did pay off. Hence, my advice is that never expect things to change overnight because they never will, and it will only demotivate you. You cannot expect a wound to heal overnight. It takes its time. The same applies to you as well.
Take your time and start with minor changes. Small changes will lead to more significant results, making you more productive at the end of the day.
Accountability will do you wonders in productivity!
In my opinion, one should always be accountable to someone, and if there’s no “someone,” then to yourself at least.
Let’s look at it this way: You try not to run the traffic light or speed because you know you will be accountable to the law. If you break the law, you will be paying a ticket, so you do not break the traffic light and speeding rules even if nobody is watching.
Now apply the same traffic light rules to your life as well. Believe that if you are not going to get something done, you will be held accountable and punished for it.
Accountability should always keep your productivity no matter what the circumstances are because once we train the human brain to do something, it abides by it always!
Stop being so hard on yourself!
I am guilty of this as well. We sometimes try so hard to get things done that we end up doing many things wrong. Being hard on ourselves eventually demotivates us, and we start to criticize ourselves a lot. We become our own biggest enemy.
You need to realize that it is okay to fail sometimes as long as you get back up and do it again without repeating the same mistake. Forgive yourself, dust yourself off and start over!
Mono-tasking over Multi-tasking When It Comes to Productivity
Ah yes! Been there, done that!
I am a firm believer in mono-tasking! Why? Because in my opinion, you tend to get overwhelmed and lose focus when you multi-task. You are unable to give your full attention to a task while you are multi-tasking. Hence, sometimes you even end up making mistakes.
For example, let’s say you are on a road trip and the time is the early 2000’s – the era of maps.
You are on your phone talking to a friend, arguing with him/her about who is going to be America’s Next Top Model, and at the same time looking at the map to see which exit you should be taking next.
Five minutes later, you realize you have taken the wrong exit to some old whammy town, all because you were not correctly focusing and looking at the map. Now you are lost because the exit you took does not even exist on the map!
This is what happens when you try to multi-task. You get overwhelmed and discouraged and start making many mistakes. You end up doing all the tasks half-heartedly.
Focus on one thing at a time and never overwhelm yourself with many things because it will only cost you your time and peace, and it’s not worth it. Make mono-tasking your friend because one task at a time will help you achieve all your tasks and make you more productive.
Destroy Distractions and Be Productive
I just received a friend request from Keanu Reeves on Facebook. Guess what? That’s a fake account, and you need to put your cell phone away if you need to get things done.
Your biggest enemy is the distractions around you. If you genuinely want to get things done, you have to remove all sorts of distractions from your sight. I know it’s not easy, but procrastination will only hinder your performance.
You are so focused on doing your assignment, and you are close to completing it, but the deadline is also around the corner. Suddenly, you get a text from your friend. You think to yourself, “I’ll reply just this once!” Two hours later, you are on the couch, going through a mental breakdown and complaining to your friend about how you couldn’t complete the assignment on time.
We don’t want that now, do we?
So to avoid such a situation, get rid of anything you think is a distraction for you. You need to sit down and do the work and then reward yourself with an hour of cell phone time or whatever you want.
More straightforward tasks to the most challenging tasks!
This may be contradicting what a lot of people say but hear me out.
Let’s say you have a list of things to do, and it’s a long list. If you choose the most challenging task to do first, you end up burning yourself out, and you only get half of it done! This is why you need to do the more straightforward tasks first.
Get done with the more straightforward tasks first because they will give you a sense of achievement and a great deal of motivation.
Once you know that you can do things, you would find it easier to do the more challenging tasks. You will be more motivated and determined to get all the things done on the list in the given amount of time.
It makes sense, right? I thought so!
Set up a System to be Productive – Sounds so professional but is not!
Setting a system can significantly increase our productivity. Our work is so scattered at times that we don’t even know where to start.
Always try to set up a system for yourself that works best for you to get things done. It will help you start at least.
For example, you are solving a thousand-piece puzzle, what are you going to do first? You will ensure that all the puzzle pieces are turned around to see which part fits which piece the best. The same applies to you setting up a system for getting things done.
You need to know where to start, and then all the puzzle pieces will eventually begin to fit into their place.
The Word No: Comes in Handy
I have had the most challenging time saying no to people when I should have, and I acknowledge that now.
The word ‘No’ is a powerful one and can help you be more productive. But how, you ask?
Let’s say you are doing like ten things now, and then Karen from the Human Resource department comes to you and asks you to do something for her. You can barely manage to do your ten things, but now since you don’t know how to say “No” to Karen, you become overwhelmed and frustrated.
You eventually end up doing nothing, disappointing yourself and Karen as well, for that matter.
If you could have politely said “No” to Karen, I’m sure she would have understood, and you would have been able to get your things done on time as well.
So, in short, start saying “No” if you want to be more productive!
