How can you increase your productivity at work?
The interesting thing about productivity is that it’s something that almost everyone wants. Productivity is motivation in action. Generally speaking, people like to feel motivated and alive. After all, it’s much better to feel energized rather than tired, motivated rather than discouraged, and excited rather than feeling that there is nothing worth doing.
Besides tying in with motivation and purpose, productivity brings its own rewards, too. It can make you richer as you contribute more to the social good through your diligence and effort.
If motivation and productivity and all the other good things fulfill our natural teleological urges as human beings, why is it sometimes difficult to achieve the right mindset?
There is usually one reason for not feeling good about your work: you have lost touch with why you are doing it. Your work has become routine and you have lost track of your goals.
Consequently, the best ways to get motivated and productive is by reigniting your sense of purpose.
Here are 5 steps, some of them unusual, to help you get your sense of purpose and direction back:
Step #1: Revisit your goals
Whether or not you are in business for yourself or you work for someone, you’re doing it because you have specific goals in mind. These goals usually extend beyond paying for a roof above your head and to put food on your table. Goals that excite you are “thrive” goals, not “survive” goals.
If you have lost touch with your goals, now is a good time to list all the things you want to be, do, and have. These usually fall into the categories of health, wealth, love, and happiness.
Step #2: Visibly express your goals
Once you’ve created or revamped your goals list, then put it out in front of you. This can be in the form of a statement or image: a statement that you’ve written out on a note card on your desk or some image hung on the wall that symbolically expresses your goal. You might even create a vision board of all your goals. The basic idea here is to fire up your will and desire every time you see your goal statement or images.
Step #3: Compete with your previous performance
By keeping records of your work, you can compete with yourself. For instance: if you’re selling something, you can compete against your previous sales figures; if you’re building something, say a website, you could compete with your previous design; or if you’re organizing a project, you could compete on the speed or efficiency that it gets done compared to previous projects. With just a little imagination, then, you can come up with a baseline performance metric that you can then try to improve.
Step #4: Stand up on the job
Sometimes you may not be performing at your best because the work is repetitive and you begin to feel sleepy and bored halfway through it. This feeling of indifference can also occur even if your work is interesting but you are working after a heavy lunch. So, one way to wake up is to stand up. The alternative to sitting at your desk is to get a standing desk. In fact, even Leonardo Da Vinci is known to have used a standing desk.
There are numerous advantages to standing when you’re working, even if you’re writing or using a computer. You will feel better because your legs won’t hurt as much, your back will not ache, and you will have an improved posture. A height adjustable desk will allow you to set your work materials in a comfortable way in front of you.
Step #5: Plan your work and work your plan
Often when work is chaotic, you can begin to lose your sense of purpose. You are conflicted and confused about what to do or when to do it. While it is important to prioritize your work before the start of your working day, it’s even better if you spend the last half hour of your working day planning for the next day.
This has five advantages:
· First, you have a clear idea of what needs to get done.
· Second, you don’t feel frustrated at not accomplishing everything you set out to do because you have given yourself the next day to get it done. It’s a way to finish the day strong.
· Third, you might get ideas on how to do the work better when you’re reflecting on it during the evening or in the middle of the night.
· Fourth, when you get to work the next day, you have a clear idea of what to begin.
· Fifth, by planning ahead, especially a day ahead, you establish a pattern for your work that puts everything you do into clear focus.
Find Your Vision Again
So, a loss of productivity can often simply be the result of losing track of your goals and the meaning behind why you’re working in the first place. In other words, it’s a loss of interest. While insufficient motivation and productivity can be due to ill health, fatigue, setbacks in life, or psychological issues, it is often be just a loss of your overarching vision.