There’s nothing worse than the clock turning 17:00 and realising your day has been incredibly unproductive. From meetings to the infinite amount of e-mails you were supposed to get through – being unproductive can ruin a day at work. This also means that some jobs can turn from simple small tasks into large and undoable projects simple because your productivity has been all over the place. So what ways can you become more productive? Take a look at the 6 tips below for ways to boost your productivity.

International Award Meeting 2011 with His Royal Highness Prince Edward

1. Back to basics:
This is for those who are absolutely tech obsessed. Something that I feel wastes large amounts of time, is pointless back-and-forward email conversation. People often forget that they can clear up matters with a simple phone call or actual face-to-face conversation – you don’t need to rely on long and useless email conversations to sort out things with colleagues or clients. Instead just give them a quick call.

2. Turn off notifications:
It’s obviously important to check your emails throughout the day – but it’s not productive to be checking them every 10 minutes. Turn off desktop notifications and alerts, as these act as distractions that can chuck productivity out the window. Turn off all unnecessary distractions – they’ll just bring your productivity down!
3. Lists are useful:
To-do lists should be your best friend. If you have a physical list of things you have to do, it makes it clearer what you should be focusing on, whether your to-do list is daily, weekly or monthly (or all of them together!). Having a list to physically tick of tasks makes everything much clearer in your head, meaning you’re not constantly thinking about the next thing you have to do or what you have to remember to do tomorrow.
4. Utilise your commute:
If you spend a large amount of time travelling to and from work, why not use the time to do something productive? You could do something like reply to a few emails, create your daily to-do lists or reading relevant articles or books that are inline with the industry you work in.
5. Eat lunch:
It may seem as though powering through the day without breaks and lunch would mean you do the maximum amount of work you could – but this is the opposite of the truth. If you don’t stop every so often, you’ll become tired, bored, and unmotivated. If you take breaks, you’ll give yourself a mini refresher, an energy boost for the rest of the day.
6. Get up earlier:
This one is all about “mind over mattress”. It’s well known that the most successful people are early risers – with most CEOs waking up around 5am…and sometimes even earlier! The way your spend your morning can make or break your day – so make sure you fill up on a big, healthy breakfast and maybe fit some exercise in – it will make a whole lot of difference to your day.
Via @UndercoverRec