How to be more productive? 13 tips that will boost your productivity!

How is your routine going on? Do you feel productive or just busy? Unlike being always busy, productivity is about a series of mindsets and behaviors focused on reaching the best of our abilities.

Nowadays, there is huge pressure to push yourself as hard as possible, to always do your best, but we need to be careful not to harm the other areas of life in the middle of this path.

We all know that our time and available resources are limited, so it is very important to use some techniques to manage and enhance our capabilities.

At first, it may seem difficult, but by adopting the tips in this article in your daily life, you will certainly be able to increase productivity and also improve your quality of life.

Are you curious to know more about all of this? So here are the best productivity tips on how to be more productive!

1. Change your mindset

You want to be more productive, don’t you? So the first thing you need to focus on is having the right mindset for it. High performers have a solid foundation in thoughts and how they influence actions throughout the day.

We can also notice that, normally, productivity is associated with those who achieve the best results. This means that these people can focus on goals and work hard towards achieving them.

This may not be achieved right away, but it is clear that with the other tips in this article the other characteristics can be worked on over time.

2. Self-knowledge

Now that you already know the right mindset to be more productive, we can follow on to the self-knowledge part.

It is about how you face the different moments of your day and knowing each one is the best for each task, according to your Circadian rhythm. Find out what your peak productivity period is and leave the most difficult tasks to be done at this time.

In a company, it is also very interesting doing a performance evaluation for each employee and delegating tasks according to their abilities. We have a spreadsheet especially for that, and you can download it for free!

How to do a performance evaluation by competence?

The performance evaluation can be defined as the identification and measurement of the actions that the employees of an organization carry out during a certain period. The performance evaluation aims to diagnose and analyze the individual and group performance of employees, promoting personal and professional growth as well as better performance. In addition, it provides human resource management with information for making decisions about salaries, bonuses, promotions, layoffs, training and career planning, providing the growth and development of the person being evaluated.

Do not waste time and download your excel spreadsheet right now.

3. Have a routine

Having an organized agenda is the key to increasing your productivity. Take the final 15 minutes of your day to organize tomorrow's plans. It's important to list everything you need to do and then prioritize activities.

Once you set your plans for tomorrow, you can sleep much better and wake up focused on what you need to do.

This is an exercise that you can do on a daily basis and that will definitely have a positive impact on your routine.

4. Set a morning routine

This is more than proven: high productive people have very well-defined morning routines. They usually start the day early and only start working effectively 2 or 3 hours after waking up.

This includes a daily practice of physical exercises such as stretching, going to the gym, or running, for example. Starting the day like this, you improve circulation, brain oxygenation and still have time to focus on all the activities throughout your day.

Spare your mind from what you do in the same way every day. Simply by adopting this practice, you can save time that would be spent during the day and still will be able to make more assertive decisions while working.

If you want more energy and time to execute everything you've planned, start early!

5. Focus on priorities 

At this point, it is necessary to know the difference between urgent and important. Many people end their routine by focusing on specific issues during the day, while some important tasks are left aside.

To analyze, you can use the Pareto Diagram, which tells us that 20% of our actions generate 80% of the results. To analyze your main activities and find out which ones have the biggest impact on your routine, so you'll be able to be more productive.

6. Group similar activities

It is very common for successful entrepreneurs to group similar activities on certain days of the week. For example, they use Mondays for strategic meetings, Tuesdays to supervise activities, Wednesdays for project management, until the week is complete.

This way, it is possible to keep your focus on just one activity during the day, to increase the efficiency and productivity of the week.

7.  Organize your workplace

Nothing is more essential to keep focused than organizing your workplace. Clean your table, leaving only what is necessary, avoid objects that can steal your attention, such as your smartphone.

If you need to improve the organization of your workspace, start by doing this chore every day! It will definitely improve your productivity.

8. Time management

We have already talked about how having an agenda is the first step to being more productive and, in the same way, time management is the greatest asset in anyone's life.

There are two ways of working, the first is when you focus on a single project, within a certain deadline, and dedicate yourself fully until it's over.

The second mode is when you organize different activities in your schedule and work according to that schedule until you complete the task. Of course, some tasks will require more effort than others, however, if all the schedules are planned, it is possible to achieve the objective.

9. Avoid distractions

This tip is well known, but many people don't put it into practice. If you are doing something important, that should be your only focus. Don't keep social media open, or your cell phone with sound or vibrating.

You can have short breaks and set aside times during the day to check emails, for example. The point is to preview your inbox at predetermined times, not every five minutes.

10. Respect your deadlines

We, humans, tend to stay in our comfort zone and complete our tasks only at the last minute. That is why many people miss their deadlines at work or cannot change bad habits.

What we can say to help you is: if you are your own workforce, manage your time. Eliminate procrastinating thoughts as soon as they come to your mind!

Every time you think you can put off a task for later, think about what's getting in the way of your productivity, like indisposition, difficulty, and even laziness. Shift your focus to the end goal and then break it down into small tasks that, if accomplished, will keep you motivated and make you more productive.

11. Work your emotional intelligence

Imagine that you are working, but you keep thinking about an important contract that you will only sign the next day. This worry can be a great villain for your productivity.

The meaning of the word "worry" is related to using part of your mind with anticipated thoughts, in a way that can disturb your focus.

However, by working on your emotional intelligence, you learn how to deal with this kind of thought and how to stay focused on the present moment.

12. Learn how to say no

Sometimes it's necessary to say "no" to focus on your routine and productivity. However, for many people, denying a request is very difficult because in doing so, they are afraid that people will turn them down.

If you learn to value your own routine and time, the people around will understand and even respect you for that. As Steve Jobs once said, "Focus is about saying 'no'."

13. Use productivity tools

Productivity tools are related to organizational gain, tracking your time, and also helping people to be more productive. Let's list some of them that can and will help you be more productive.

Strides App / HabitBull

These two routine managers where you can create goals, add your positive habits as well as your negative ones, and track your progress.

They help keep your weekly activities under control, making your routine easier. It is worth remembering that good habits are built over time, so try to propose to use them for at least a month in your routine.

Trello

Thought Trello was going to be off the list? You were wrong! It is a great application that helps in managing routine and activities, individually or collectively.

With Trello, you can create boards, checklists, cards and define members for each activity. It can be used to manage teams and projects and is available for Android and iOS.

Evernote / Google Keep

These two applications are giants in functionality, but the goals are similar: to store information, notes, images, and everything else that is important not to be forgotten.

In addition, they have integration with several other platforms, which helps in use. Instead of getting lost without knowing where each of the files is, leave everything relevant in the applications and access it from anywhere. Both are available for Android and iOS.

Did you know that ensuring the productivity of a team is the role of a leader?

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Do you know the importance of self-knowledge in shaping a true leader? Knowing your options and weaknesses is fundamental for you to be ahead of a team and be prepared for the most adverse situations.