Tag: Increasing Productivity

Do you tend to do the same thing every morning when you wake up?

For some people routines consist of hitting the snooze button a few times, while others may get up and work out right away. Many of us check our phones or read the news to start the day.

Author Laura Vanderkam studied the schedules of high-achievers to see if they started their day in a certain way to give them more productivity.

She found that almost all of them have a morning routine.

Here’s a great round-up (prepared by Eric at Barking Up The Wrong Tree) of what a few experts and high-achievers say is the best way to start your day for maximum productivity.

By starting your day with reacting to what is thrown at you, you end up not having the time or being too tired to achieve your goals and do what is important.

Allow yourself to wake up before succumbing to the demands of others, and before you become too busy to approach your priorities for the day.

Now that you’ve avoided a reactive morning, what should you do in that time before demands are made of you?

---

Choose the Top 3 Things That Matter Today

Cal Newport is a professor, published author, father, and a husband.

He is incredibly productive throughout the day, but manages to complete his tasks by 5:30 every evening. How does he find the time to get everything done?

He separates tasks into two different types of work: Shallow and Deep.

Shallow work is equivalent to emails, meetings, and other types of busy work that don’t demand much from your talents but are required to keep your job.

Deep work pushes your abilities to their limits, improves your skills, and produces valuable results. Deep work is what will get you promoted.

The key is to make deep work your priority and spend most of your productivity on these tasks.

You should be specific about the deep work you plan on getting done. An important key to achieving goals is to set concrete goals instead of vague ones.

Now that you’ve decided the three important things for your day, you’ll need to know when to do them.

---

Use Your Sharpest Hours for Your 3 Goals

It’s scientifically shown that your brain works better for different tasks during different parts of the day.

Dan Ariely, behavioral economist at Duke University and New York Times bestselling author, states that you have about 2.5 hours of peak productivity every day and may be 30 percent more effective during that time. He found that about an hour after waking is when your peak time starts. So, if you wake up at 7:00 a.m., your peak time is from around 8 to 10:30 a.m.

Other studies have shown that your brain is the sharpest for tough tasks two to four hours after waking. Our ability to think clearly and learn varies between 15 and 30 percent over the course of a day. You’ll want to take advantage of the time when you are thinking the clearest and able to learn the most.

Utilize your peak time to work on your three goals, and designate those hours as your “protected time” to avoid being distracted by shallow work and other demands. While the morning hours are the most productive time for most people, you may know that you get the most done at night or in the early afternoon. Whatever your most productive hours are, protect them and do your key tasks during that time.

Having the knowledge of what goals are important and what time you should do them is great, but there’s still the important matter of getting started. How do you get going when you’re not motivated?

---

Develop a Starting Ritual

Finishing things is less of a problem as getting them started in the first place.

New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg gave some advice to those who struggle with procrastination and motivation. Duhigg stated that developing a ritualized response to starting is an excellent way to beat procrastination. Usually, when people talk about struggling with procrastination, they’re referring to the first step to get started. If you can habitualize the first step, it will make getting started much easier.

The habit can be as simple as getting your first cup of coffee or sitting in a spot where you’re typically productive. In fact, your environment can activate habits without your conscious mind noticing. Your subconscious will gradually learn the association between an action and an outcome.

Once a habit is formed, elements from the context of the habit will serve as a cue to start the desired behavior without a particular goal or intention from the conscious mind.

Even if you’re doing everything right and you went through your starting ritual, you might find that you just can’t get started on your tasks. What should you do then?

---

Use the Right Kind of Procrastination

Procrastination can be a good thing if it is the right kind.

The number one thing on your list of goals might terrify you, or not seem particularly inviting. But, you can use the time you’re taking to put off starting that task to get many other things done. If you’re not ready for goal one, start with goal two instead. It’s ok to avoid it for now as long as you aren’t turning to things like Facebook or other non-productive distractions.

You can use avoiding the “scariest” task on your list, as a way to trick yourself into ultimate productivity. Make a list of commitments. At the top, put a couple of daunting tasks - maybe even impossible tasks. Further down the list, include some doable tasks that matter and need to be done. You’ll be more inclined to do these less-daunting tasks as a way to avoid the tasks higher up on the list, and you’ll still be highly productive.

While you may procrastinate on one task, you do so by working on a different one. It’s a principle of behavioral psychology that we are willing to complete an unattractive task as long as it lets us avoid doing something worse.

---

Conclusion

To sum all of this up in some easy-to-follow points, here’s how the experts suggest you gain optimal productivity:

1. Avoid anything that causes you to have to react before you have a chance to wake up completely. Beginning your day by instantly meeting the demands of others doesn’t allow you to figure out what’s important to you for the day.
2. Choose the top things that matter today. You won’t have time to achieve every task you set out to do, so select some tasks that are “deep” work that will make a difference. Set no more than three goals of tasks that will allow you to end the day feeling accomplished.
3. Use your peak productivity hours for those top goals. Typically, this time will be an hour or two after you wake up, but there may be another time for you. Protect those hours to ensure productivity.
4. Create a starting ritual to help you get your day going. Do the thing or go to the place that tells your brain it’s time to get the day started.
5. When you just can’t complete the top task on your list, use positive procrastination. Try doing the second task instead. In fact, set a close-to-impossible goal first, as a decoy, which will make the following goals seem that much easier to complete.

Having focused and productive meetings feels great.

However, not all meetings are productive. Some can be exactly the opposite.

So here are a few have to help you and your team have productive meetings, more often than not.

---

1. Keep it Short

Meetings have the tendency to get off track or trail on into unproductive territory if you keep things going for too long.

Keep meetings to 18 minutes or less.

If there is a time limit placed on the meeting, people are more likely to stay on track and give the meeting their full attention.

There’s a reason why TED talks are often kept to 18 minutes. Beyond that and people start zoning out.

---

2. Use a Timer

This one’s just common sense. No point setting a time limit if you don’t stick to it.

It can be easy to go over time if you don’t have something to keep you accountable and on schedule.

Setting up a timer, and someone to be accountable for paying attention to it, will help you stay on schedule.

---

3. Stand Up

Sitting is unhealthy and standing during your day is good for health.

However, beyond the health benefits, standing-up during meetings makes people more creative, productive, open/receptive and team oriented, according to a study at the Business School of University of Washington.

Since the meeting will be a short 18-minutes, you will have the ability to do so without wearing people out.

You can also consider a walking meeting, which can be quite productive and creative, as per research at Stanford University.

---

4. Cut Out Laptops & Cell Phones

Everyone knows that a meeting can useless unless someone is taking notes to keep everyone aware of what happened.

Additionally, requiring note taking is a great way to make sure staff is actively participating with the meeting.

However, how your employees take notes is important.

Most people will use laptops during meetings; however, the potential for distraction is maximized on these devices and conceptual understanding of participants is lower. This is as per a study at the University of California and Princeton University.

So try going back to the old way of taking notes, with a pencil and notepad.

Speaking of technology, cell phones are another way that meetings can become unfocused.

Having a box to check cellphones in before a meeting, can be a great way to keep people from being distracted, or being interrupted during the meeting. 18 minutes is short enough of a time for most tasks to wait it out.

You also want to keep in mind, that according to research by USC’s Marshall School of Business, your boss and colleagues are annoyed every time you use a cell phone during meetings.

---

5. Don’t Overbook

Meetings are important for keeping people involved/aware of progress and obstacles.

However, having too many people a meeting can be difficult to handle and unproductive.

In a study outlined in the book 5 Steps to Breakthrough Performance in Your Organization, it was found that the ideal number of people, especially in decision-making meetings should be 7. Any additional attendee in the meeting will reduce effectiveness by 10%. More than 17 people will most likely result in no decision at all.

Do you have friends that you simply cannot motivate to decide on a place to eat?

Try this trick: recommend you eat at McDonald’s.

Most people will immediately begin to protest and throw out better recommendations in retaliation to the terrible suggestion.

Applying the McDonald’s theory (coined by Jon Bell) is a great way to get people contribute good/alternative ideas and not fall into a cycle of continuous non-decision-making.

In its essence, the theory allows people to create good ideas to combat bad ones presented to them. While applying this technique works great for having friends decide on a restaurant, it can be applied to business as well with good results.

---

When coming up with an idea for work, or beginning a new project, getting started and taking the first step is often one the hardest things to achieve.

So once you have the first inkling of an idea, do not hesitate about it for days, but just start sketching it out or brainstorming about the idea.

Encourage your employees/teammates to do the same in the workplace.

The next time you’re in a room discussing/brainstorming something during the early phases of a project and find that things are moving slow, just get up and write down any ideas you have in your head.

Even if the idea you begin pursuing is not very good when originally presented, it will help kick start the group into responsive action, where they will add some great or at least better ideas to the discussion. (You might want to mention at some point that you were trying the theory, so it doesn’t look like you come up with bad ideas all the time 🙂 )

You will be surprised at how well this idea works once you put it into action.

Let’s face it, we all get distracted at work. Unfortunately, it’s a reality that is simply unavoidable.

In fact, go ahead and take the time you think you get distracted each day at work, and multiply that number by at least 25: now you might actually have a realistic number for the amount of minutes you spend distracted at your workplace every day.

What makes matters worse is that getting your full concentration back and returning to your previous state on a task, takes around 25 minutes on average. This statistic comes from Gloria Mark, a professional who studies digital distraction at the University of California, Irvine. Don’t just take her word for this phenomenon, however, as many studies from a wide range of backgrounds confirm this information.

So the next time you face a distraction it is important to remember that the “5 minutes it will take to have conversations on WhatsApp,” will actually be more like 30 minutes of wasted time. If you want to ensure your performance stays in a tip-top position at your job, you must concentrate on managing these distractions actively.

Distractions do not only hurt your productivity and success, however, but also negatively affect your mood. Writing in the New York Times, Gloria Mark states, “Our research has shown that attention distraction can lead to higher stress, a bad mood, and lower productivity.”

Looking more thoroughly at the research Mark undertook can give a better idea of this problem.

In her study, observers were sent to semi-secretly observe workers in various tech and finance companies for a period of three and a half days. During their observation, they logged each worker’s activities and timed the amount of time they spent on every task.

One interesting aspect that was discovered during these studies was how often workers switched tasks while they worked. On average, the workers at these companies switched tasks every three minutes and five seconds!

Often switching was the result of an interruption, which caused them to have to stop their current task and deal with the other matter. More often than not these interruptions were self-inflicted, and could have been avoided through a more concentrated and dedicated approach to their work. Facebook, for example, was one of the biggest threats to their continued ability to concentrate and stay focused.

Speaking on the matter, Mark stated, “People have to shift their cognitive resources, or attentional resources, to a completely different topic. You have to completely shift your thinking, it takes you a while to get into it and it takes you a while to get back and remember where you were.”

Not only does this kill the amount of time you are able to spend concentrated, but it also negatively affects the quality of the work that you actually do.

Some of you out there are surely thinking, “I’m the exception to this.” Well, statistically speaking, you are most likely wrong. Peter Drucker, actually warned readers about this mentally all the way back in 1967 with his book “The Effective Executive.” In it, he explained how thinking you are above common problems actually makes you more susceptible to them.

Here is a great passage that illustrates his main point in “The Effective Executive:”

“There was Mozart, of course. He could, it seems, work on several compositions at the same time, all of them masterpieces. But he is the only known exception. The other prolific composers of the first rank – Bach, for instance, Handel, or Haydn, or Verdi – composed one work at a time. They did not begin the next until they had finished the preceding one, or until they had stopped work on it for the time being and put it away in the drawer. Executives can hardly assume that they are ‘executive Mozarts.’”

So instead of trying to be the rarity of an effective multi-tasker, try setting aside specific blocks of time to work on specific tasks uninterrupted instead. You can also set specific times for distractions and interuptions. If you want to excel in the workplace and not waste valuable time, this is a great strategy.

We’ve all experienced fatigue and lack of motivation.

Maybe it’s mid-afternoon in a comfortable desk chair, and your eyes just barely want to stay open. Or, first thing in the morning when you’re barely awake enough to focus.

Whatever time of day has you feeling fatigued, you can’t let procrastination and lack of energy prevent the completion of important tasks.

Take a look at these suggestions to get motivated when you’re tired.

---

Commit Before You Procrastinate

We often know which tasks we are likely to put off doing, especially when we are tired.

If and when you sense that procrastination might set-in for a task, immediately commit to completing it.

Studies tell us that planning to complete the task profoundly increases the success rate of finishing it.

If you’re hesitant about doing something get in action. Commit to it anyway and create a plan to get it done. Do this prior to getting to your fatigued state.

---

Take a Lesson from Steve Jobs - Find Your Creative Place.

We all love Steve Jobs’ theories about creativity.

One of his most popularly used concepts was holding walking meetings to get the creative juices going.

Another approach is to find a creative place where you can spend time and get in your zone. Doing this when fatigued and lacking focus, can rejuvenate your energy.

---

Clear Your Brain By Walking 15 Minutes

A brisk walk is a great way to clear your brain and self-reflect.

It serves as an opportunity to re-charge your brain and clear your mind of distractions.

Research supports the idea that a brisk walk, especially outdoors, can help your brain to better focus.

If you’re feeling sleepy or unmotivated, take a walk!

---

Close Important Tasks at the Day’s Start and Move On to What’s Next

Leaving tasks hanging is a recipe for distraction.

The Zeigarnik Effect defines what happens when we leave a task unfinished; it intrudes on our thoughts and other tasks.

To avoid this, make yourself close important hanging tasks at the beginning of every day.

If you’re not going to complete it either delegate it to another person or ditch the task entirely. Just don’t leave it hanging, this will negatively affect your productivity in other areas.

---

Always be Someone that Follows Through

Commit to being a person that always follows through.

Research tells us that people who do this and also share/discuss their commitment with others and are more motivated to ensure they stick with their intentions.

Following through is a key component to productivity. When you’re feeling fatigued, remember that you made a commitment to follow through!

---

Lack of motivation and mental fatigue are big barriers to productivity. All of the suggestions above have been proven effective in improving motivation and energy. Don’t let yourself be held back, make the effort to practice doing tasks in ways that will improve your focus and productivity.