18 Easy Tips To Improve Your Productivity & Efficiency Today

Building productivity is the simplest way to get more done in less time and achieve higher goals. Productivity isn’t just about completing a 6-hour task in 2 hours; it also helps you live a more organized and stress free life. After all, we all know that person who has a million things on his plate but still manages to get everything done on time.

You may be dealing with days when you are swamped with work, have to work extra hours, and sacrifice family time in order to meet deadlines. Being productive can help tremendously in such situations.

So, here are 18 ridiculously simple productivity hacks to save you from all the trouble and only focus on achieving more and setting higher goals. These tips help you to maximize your efficiency, while leaving you enough time to spend with your family, rest, start a side hustle, or learn new things.

1. Make A To-do List

Every morning, take out a notepad and write down all the tasks you have in mind, no matter how long the list goes. Don’t worry about finishing them right now. David Allena, author of Getting Things Done, states how incomplete tasks take up mental energy, each one making you just the tiniest bit more tired, more distracted, and therefore less productive.

2. Set Priorities

You don’t have to complete 20 tasks in a day. After all I’m talking about stress free ways to be productive. So, grab your to do list and circle the three most important tasks that’ll be your primary focus for the day.

Focus on tasks that’ll help you in achieving your long term goals. Don’t make ‘doing laundry’ a priority.

3. Being Busy v/s Being Productive

Being busy means spending time doing things that may or may not be important. For example, if you want to start working out, researching different workout programs for an entire week will not get you anywhere. You’re just being busy, not productive.

You don’t need to read 500 articles on productivity. If you find something good, go ahead and try that out first.

4. Plan Your Days For Productivity

Plan you week on Sundays, so you know what you need to accomplish. Again, be clear about your long-term goals so that you can prioritize the tasks properly. Planning reduces resistance and increases productivity. Once you have a plan, all you need to do is take action.

5. Eat The Frog First

Is there anything you’ve been pushing for days? It keeps hanging over your head, distracting you with guilt. It’s time to get started on that task.

Also, target your most important task first thing in the morning. Crossing it off your to-do list motivates you and increases your productivity for the day.

6. Build Momentum

This is the simplest way to increase your productivity. If you only take one thing from this list, make it this one. When you don’t feel like doing anything, don’t wait for motivation to come to you; instead, start taking action.

You have the most resistance when you’re sitting on your couch, scrolling through your phone. Simply get up and start moving your body; try skipping, push ups, or dancing to get started. This gets your body out of it’s sluggish state and builds momentum to start doing other tasks.

I swear by this mantra,

“Action creates more action, Inaction creates more inaction.”
– Rob Dial

7. Divide Big Tasks Into Small Ones

Your brain gets overwhelmed with big, complicated projects, promoting you to avoid working on them. Try dividing them into smaller, achievable tasks. And start working on them.

8. Batch Your Tasks

Instead of repeating the same task throughout the day, group similar tasks together and schedule them for a specific time. For example, to avoid being distracted every time an email notification pops up, answer all of your emails at night, or schedule all of your meetings on the same day. Reap the benefits of momentum.

9. Multitask Hampers Productivity

Studies have shown that multitasking lowers your IQ. It makes you work slowly and inefficiently. Focus on one task at a time.

10. Take Regular Breaks To Increase Productivity

Regular breaks allow you to recharge and work more efficiently. Work for 30-40 minutes and take 10 minutes break — Use the Pamadora Technique. Get up, stretch, drink some water, and move around. Use tomato-timer.com to remind you.

11. Prepare The Night Before

Before sleeping, go over your plans for the next day. Start preparing for the following day to make things easier for you in the morning. If you have to go to the gym, keep your gym clothes out. Put important documents in your bag for the next day’s meeting. This saves you time in the morning.

12. Find Your Peak Hours For Productivity

Determine . You might be highly productive in the mornings, or may find it easier to work late at night. I also know people who wake up at 3 am to complete as much work as possible before their kids wake up.

13. Have A Cut Off Time

Deadlines give your work a sense of urgency. Set a cut off time in your day after which you can’t work, such as not doing office after 5pm. That is why people are most productive in the week preceding a vacation or on the last night before an exam.

14. Declutter

A cluttered space leads to a cluttered mind, making it hard for you to focus. Remember when your room was a mess and you spent half your time looking for things instead of working? Clear your space to increase your efficiency.

Related Post : How to Declutter Your Mind

15. Remove Distractions To Increase Productivity

Focusing on your tasks and avoiding distractions is actual work in this digital age. Turn off your phones, turn off notifications, email alerts, disconnect from social media, close your doors, and get to work.

16. Create A Productive Atmosphere

Create an atmosphere that allows you to focus. Go to the library. Plug in your earphones and play focus music. Listen to the music with no lyrics. Here are a few suggestions,

study, music, library, productive, productivity

17. Delegate

You don’t have to do all the tasks yourself. If you want to be more productive, start delegating tasks to others that don’t necessarily need to be done by you. Ask someone to do it for you or pay for a hired help. For example, if you want to declutter your office, hire someone to do it for you and utilize that time productively.

18. Build Productive Habits

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”
– Aristotle

Nobody has unlimited willpower. Building habits reduces your dependency on will power. When you develop productive habits, you automatically begin working in accordance with these habits without having to put in conscious effort. So, the energy consumed by our brain while making decisions reduces.

What Helps You To Increase Productivity?

Share the productivity hacks that have helped you the most. Try a few things from this list, don’t try to change a lot. Create a routine around them. See what works for you and let me know in the comments below.

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