There never seems to be enough hours in the day, and priorities can change quickly. Being productive isn’t as easy as it sounds. With so many things to juggle and what seems like endless amounts of work to do in a short space of time, managing your time well is crucial.
You may hear people say work harder, but actually it rarely has anything to do with working harder: it’s about working smarter. Look at the tips below to help you increase productivity and make things more manageable.
1. Track and Limit
Even if you’re generally good at gauging how much time you spend doing something, it can help to use a time tracker. These can let you know exactly how much time is spent doing tasks, including emails, phone calls and social media. It can also be helpful to transfer the information from a PDF to Excel and turn it into a graph so you have a visual representation of what your time looks like.
2. Take Regular Breaks
Scheduled breaks can help improve your concentration. This in turn will help with maintaining a steady level of performance no matter what the task is. The Telegraph advises that stretching your legs and clearing your thoughts is recommended not only for productivity but for overall health and wellbeing too.
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3. Be Proactive – Not Reactive
Blocking out periods in your day to do certain tasks has been known to help many. Plan this at the start of each day and stick to it as best as you can.
4. Follow the Two-Minute Rule
Some tasks can be done in literally a minute or two, so get them off your to-do list. If you’ve set up a time tracker where you turn information from a PDF to Excel, it will boost your morale to see the lists and graphs getting smaller. If you’re not a wiz on Excel, head over to https://pdftables.com/, where they can help you with the best shortcuts to save you time.
5. Give Yourself Something Nice to Look At
This can be anything from a relaxing picture to a pot plant – it’s up to you. Being happier in your environment will do wonders.
Give these a try. What have you got to lose: Not time – that’s for sure!