Were you often unable to manage your workday? It begins very well with a heavy to – do list and the general impression of winning all. You are slowly losing control, starting to slow down, and focusing on what other gossips about behind you at the cooler water. All of a sudden, you fall into a lazy mind you can’t shake.
Know how your workday can be recovered and taken advantage of with the following life changes:
Eat Right
What you feed your body is so important. Ever noticed that after a heavy-carb lunch you automatically want to sleep and can’t focus on the letters on your screen? Likewise, if you’re feeling hungry, you’ll find it super difficult to concentration on the task at hand. Snacking during the day can help you feel better, but you should choose healthy snacks to avoid crashing later in the day.
Stay Hydrated
Even though choosing the right food is important, staying hydrated is even more so. Many people don’t realise that even mild dehydration can cause difficulty in concentration and performing mental tasks.
You must drink at least six to eight large glasses of water a day and cut back on caffeine. For many of us coffee is a must throughout a work day, but if you drink too much in the morning, you will notice that you crash in the afternoon. Manage your intake throughout the day and try consuming a few cups of green tea (which also has caffeine in it), instead.
Limit Distractions
If you’re a person who easily distracted, by the music blasting from the car passing by, or a phone ringing and an interesting conversation going on at another pod. By making small changes, you can block out these distractions and improve your productivity.
Start using techniques to block out sound by solely focusing on the work that you are doing; you can reach a level where you are so engrossed that the rest just becomes background noise. Give yourself a five-minute break to join in on conversations and then get back into your working zone.
Take Regular Breaks
When you are feeling mentally fatigued, take a short break; you can go and make yourself a cup of tea, catch up with a colleague, or simply take your eyes off your screen to relax.
Taking breaks can sound counterintuitive, but it’s really the key to better productivity. Studies referenced on the Entrepreneur, show the ‘perfect’ formula is to work for 52 minutes and break for 17. You don’t have to set timers and become a stickler about the schedule – just get up and move, or move on to another task for a few minutes to “reset” the brain and come back to the original task refreshed.
Be Organised
Being organised will make you more productive at work and in life. Create a long-term to-do list of tasks you want to achieve and accomplish, and keep that pinned on your cubicle.
Every evening before you leave work, create a to-do list for the next day and prioritise the tasks that must be completed first (you can use numbers, or highlighting – anything that works for you). When you’ve accomplished the task tick or cross it off so you can visually see the progress you’re making.
Don’t Multi-Task
This will come as a surprise to you, but apparently, multi-tasking actually makes you less productive shocker? Research conducted by Stanford University shows that ‘productivity can be reduced by as much as 40 percent by the mental blocks created when people switch tasks and lowers your IQ.’ Start tackling one task at a time from now on.
Diverge from Social Media Distractions
Social media is such an important part of our lives and is one of the biggest time-killer/distractions. While you’re at work resist the temptation of scrolling through your Instagram feed. Yes, I said it! You can set yourself two minutes to click on your Social Media (if your office permits it) after you’ve accomplished a big task.
Some workers may need to go so far as to install anti-distraction programs like StayFocusd and Freedom, which block access to the most addictive parts of the internet for specified periods.
Attend Training Seminars
When you have the opportunity, sign up for training seminars that are offered; a day away from the office in a new environment will refresh your mind and make you feel more motivated.
Do the Boring Stuff First
Devote an hour in the morning to the monotonous tasks you’ve been avoiding for weeks now, that huge pile of filing on your desk isn’t going to magically disappear.
If you leave these tasks until the end of the day, you won’t be doing yourself any favours. Quite the contrary, you’ll only make things worse for yourself, especially considering the fact that our productivity levels generally run dry after 3pm.
Focus on the End Result
Sometimes, however hard we try, we just hit a slump and feel fed-up. When you get to this point think of why you are doing your job, what you love about it, and where you want to progress to. Usually, the vision of larger responsibilities and a higher salary and title will give you the little kick that you need.
