How to have a Productive Day at Work

In this post, you’ll learn how to have a productive day whether you work from the office or home.

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Feeling stressed out by the number of things you need to accomplish within a small period?

The struggle to complete tasks on time is something most of us deal with on a daily basis.

Some don’t bother to act upon it and continue to live with it, while others take a step forward and look for solutions. Since you’re here I’m sure you’re the latter.

So, want to finish your tasks in half the time, and get your life back? I’ve got you covered with an ultimate guide to improve your personal productivity at work.

Here are 18 sanity-saving tips to have a productive day at work:

1. Set your ultimate goal

Set your goal before you even begin working. Decide what exactly you want to achieve ultimately out of the work that you’re going to do. Be clear about it in your head.

If you’ve too many goals, pick out the one that is urgent or is going to affect you the most at the moment.

2. Set up your desk

Arrange everything and set up your desk before you start tackling your tasks. Keep things at hand, like any tools, papers, notepad, water bottle, or anything that you know you'll need while you work. Also, set the ideal room temperature.

So that once you start your task, you don’t have to lose focus elsewhere or get distracted by small things. Therefore, it’s better to get these things ready beforehand.

Neat and clean surroundings do impact your overall workplace productivity leading to more positive vibes.

3. Jot down your goals and ideas on paper

Make a habit of jotting down your goals and ideas on paper. Trust me, writing on paper does make a huge difference.

4. Create a list to reach your goal

Now that you know your ultimate goal, create a list of tasks, events, or activities that you need to carry out to reach that goal. It’ll act as a pathway for you.

5. Transform the list into an actionable plan

It’s time to transform the list that you created, into a plan, i.e., by organizing it in a hierarchy of things to do.

You’re going to prioritize the tasks you need to complete first, second, third, and so on.

6. Plan each day beforehand

Planning out your day will only take a few minutes. But it will save you a lot of time which would be otherwise wasted due to lack of clarity.

So whenever you work, try to do it with a list in front of you. You’ll be surprised to know how your productivity can increase just by doing this little thing at the beginning.

7. One thing at a time

Feeling overburdened by a complicated task?

The key to overcoming such tasks is to take one step at a time. In this case, follow a simplified process -

Create a list of all the steps you need to go through to complete that task.
Now that you’ve simplified your to-do list, get started and do one thing at a time.
Jump to the next step only when you’re done with one. In this way go through all the steps.

Congratulations! You’ve accomplished the most complicated task in a simplified manner.

Another added advantage of this process is that it’ll help you reduce stress.

8. Avoid distracting minor tasks (while working)

While working on a certain project, you may come across an old project (work done earlier) and realize that it requires some changes. If you're a perfectionist, I'm sure you deal with situations like this every other day.

However, the solution is easy:

Simply make a note of it and return to your current task.
When you're finished with your to-do list, you can get back to it.

Since it can divert your attention away from your current task, it is better to avoid such tasks for the time being.

9. Incorporate the 80/20 rule for best results

What is the 80/20 rule?

The 80/20 rule claims that 80% of outcomes are the result of 20% of inputs or causes for any set of activities.

So, how exactly does the 80/20 rule work?

Well, it is used to determine the causes which are likely the most productive and then focus primarily on them.

Basically, here you’re going to prioritize that 20% of activities that will give you the best outcomes. Although this does not mean you ignore the rest of the activities.

Every task is important. You just need to figure out the ones that give you the maximum value and spend more time on those than others.

10. Take feedback from others

Get feedback from your co-workers, seniors, spouse, or anyone whose opinion you respect. Taking input from others will help you analyze your work in more depth and perform even better. This way you can keep learning and improving throughout your career.

11. Set Deadlines for yourself

Well, a client providing you with a deadline is one thing. But have you tried setting one for yourself?

For instance, do you remember the night before the final submission date during school days? How you could only complete the assignments at the last minute. That’s the kind of target you need to set for yourself to get your work done earlier.

Next time when you start working on a project or task try doing this -

Calculate the amount of time you’ll need to complete every part of the project or task
Set deadlines - target date and time for each and every activity.
Stick to it no matter what. Also, try to beat your own time limit.

You’ll be surprised how faster you can get your work done by doing this. Therefore, setting deadlines is super important otherwise, you’ll end up procrastinating.

12. Focus on important task first

When you know your priorities at work, you can focus on the more important task first. And it’s always better if you could complete a task in one attempt.

Accordingly, you can delay a not-so-important task unless you’re done with a comparatively far more important one.

13. Always be optimistic

Learn to control your thoughts and beliefs. Make sure to store only positive thoughts in your head and delete the negative ones. Easier said than done, right?

“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”

— Buddha

All you need to learn is to accept yourself entirely, take responsibility for things that happen to you instead of blaming others. Instead of looking back, try to focus in the forward direction, where you’re and what you want to do now.

14. Make effective use of technology in the workplace

As there are many benefits of disconnecting from technology, try digital detox once in a while.

After you unplug from technology for some time, you’ll feel mentally recharged. As a result, it will help you be more efficient at work.

On the contrary, technology can also help you be more efficient, so learn to make effective use of technology.

How?

Turn off notifications of the apps which are not urgent to you at the moment.
Use apps that help in your personal development and well-being – like alarm clock apps, fitness and health trackers, organization apps, etc.
Check, reply or send emails and messages at specific intervals during the day. So that you’re not disturbed in between your tasks.

Although using technology to amuse you once in a while won’t hurt your progress either, as long as you stay within limits. The point is not to be a slave to it.

“Remember, technology is a great servant but a terrible master.”

— Stephen Covey

15. Avoid procrastination

Procrastination is simply the act of delaying tasks. Instead of doing the work that needs to be done, you do something more pleasurable but unimportant.

As a result, you end up wasting your precious time. Along with personal productivity, procrastination also lowers team productivity.

Therefore, it is necessary to overcome the habit of procrastination and laziness.

16. Practice productive procrastination

Apart from the negative outcomes of procrastination, it can also be productive at times. Well, how?

To summarize, procrastinators fall into two major categories:

who delays an important task to do nothing
who delays an important task to do something less important

In this case, the latter is a productive procrastinator.

Basically, productive procrastination is the practice of putting off tasks to get work done rather than wasting time (of course, more productively). Although it is essential to understand when and how to engage in productive procrastination.

For more information, check out this detailed guide on how to practice productive procrastination.

17. Incorporate the plan into your routine

Incorporate the plan (that you created by following the steps outlined above) into your everyday routine and do something daily that gets you closer to your ultimate goal. At this time your speed doesn’t matter as long as you’re consistent.

RELATED POST: How to Make a Daily Schedule for Yourself

18. Save more time for bigger tasks

Last but not the least, now that you’ve learned to schedule and manage your time well. Try to save more time for the most important and bigger tasks. So that you’ll be able to give some extra attention to the things that matter more.