Productivity remains an important facet of getting things done… Here are 10 more practical tips to help you get more done and to get it done better…
Meetings…
1. Have meetings where everyone is stood up – everyone stays awake, engages more and the meeting will be shorter with greater productivity
2. Never book a meeting for longer than say 60 mins max and stick to it. most meetings result in a lot of repetition, so save that time… meetings are time vampires. work gets done in the time available anyhow
3. Do it now. it’s never the right time to start a new project/idea, so just get on with it NOW or it will remain a dream – build it into your goals and then break it down into chunks. These chunks need to appear on your next daily to do list
4. Multi-tasking has never existed, it’s a fiction so stop pretending that you are any good at it. You may be good at flitting between different tasks at best. focusing on one thing at a time will get you further. Then as soon as that task is accomplished move to something else and repeat… This is the way to maximise productivity.
Goal Setting…
5. List long term and short term goals ie. things you want to achieve beyond the usual hum drum daily stuff. Now write your weekly or daily to do lists. Ask yourself if your daily/weekly lists are contributing to your goals. if not, how can you adapt them so that they are? Every to do list should have at least one inclusion of something that will get you nearer your goals.
6. Build an “interruptions window” into your day – it’s inevitable that unexpected issues will arise to knock us out of any well set rhythm. Try to group these interruptions on a separate list and deal with them in during a dedicated 30 mins “interruptions window” just after lunch.
7. Have more face to face conversations and telephone conversations than email. You hear the other person’s vocal tone, stengthen relationships in a way that email cannot and this way you don’t build up a stockpile of emails you have to write, read and then write again which feels like work. Often one real conversation can do the job of a 6 email tennis rally
Just Do It…
8. Just do it – acknowledge any resistance you may have towards certain tasks, situations and people. say to yourself “No, I really don’t want to do this because….” Then, do it anyway. The trick is to not delay and have a whole pointless debate in our heads.
9. Idling time is actually very valuable and a great source of creativity. Just be consciously aware of when you are idling and when you are getting stuff done. Strange to think of this as yielding productivity but don’t underestimate conscious idling time.
10. Clear out clutter – in your office, files etc. keep only that which is absolutely essential. this frees up physical and mental space. Just seeing heaps of old stuff sitting around strangely puts the brakes on progress and productivity.
Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.
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