Whether you’re just getting back from a 3-day vacation or feeling the dreaded mid-week slump, sometimes you need more than an inspiring #MondayMotivation pic from your Instagram feed to get you motivated at work.
Solutions for Staying Productive at Work
Staying productive throughout a long and tedious workday is often easier said than done. From checking off your daily task list to getting through an inbox full of emails, here are 5 simple solutions for staying productive at work.
1. Stop Procrastinating
From last-minute assignments thrown on your desk to major time-crunches, one of the first solutions for staying productive is to remove the word “procrastination” from your vocabulary. While we often procrastinate when we feel the daunting pressure of an important project or looming deadline, avoiding work will only create more internal stress and anxiety.
The next time you catch yourself putting-off a project, face it dead on and get to work. Start small – even making a checklist to help you organize your project will help you get started. Once you get the ball rolling, you’ll quickly realize that the project is easier to handle than you thought.
2. Sort Your Emails by Priority Level
As a busy professional, you’re probably inundated with dozens of emails a day. Before getting overwhelmed with an influx of messages, as you start your day, take a quick glance at your email messages (by browsing subject lines) to determine which messages need immediate responses, and which ones you can put off until later in the day (or week, for that matter). The messages that require your urgent reply should get color-coded or flagged. That will help you feel more in control about your communication, by enabling you to handle the most imperative messages, while de-prioritizing the less time-sensitive emails.
3. Turn-off Push Notifications on Your Phone
One of the best ways to stay productive is to focus on the tasks at hand. But, that’s sometimes difficult to do, when we’re bombarded with a constant stream of text messages, social media updates, and other distractions. During your workday, it’s advisable to turn-off push notifications on your phone. If that’s not possible (because you use your cell phone for work-related communication), at least turn-off social media communications in your phone settings. This might mean you’ll miss-out on your friends’ latest Facebook posts and tweets, but it will help you stay productive at work, which will only help you get ahead in your career.
4. Take Breaks Throughout The Work Day
Even though it sounds contradictory, one of the best solutions for staying productive at work is to take 10-minute breaks throughout your work day. Whether you just get up from your desk to stretch a bit or you head outside for a short coffee break, taking a few breaks during your day will help you release any pent-up anxiety, re-gain clarity, and keep your focus laser-sharp.
5. Delegate Responsibilities
While we all wish we could be Wonder Woman, the truth is – we’re just human. To help us better manage our workloads, we sometimes need to delegate responsibilities and tasks to other people. As a ‘do-it-herself’ gal, I’ve often thought it’d be best if I handled everything on my own. But, I’ve learned that this is the fastest way to feeling stressed out, which lowers the quality of my work. So, I’ve learned that it’s sometimes better to collaborate with peers by sharing responsibilities. Not only does teamwork make our jobs easier and more enjoyable, it also helps us be more productive, as we’re able to bounce ideas off other people and get tasks done faster.
For more inspiring work tips and ideas, visit the Career Section on Inspirations & Celebrations.