It’s 2018 and that means a new year with new goals. I bet a lot of you out there have a list of goals or skills that you want to gain this year.
But you already have a daily list of tasks and responsibilities to tackle, so where do you start and more importantly, how do you start when there are so many things you want to learn how to do? Here are some ways you can help improve your productivity and help you tackle your resolutions for 2018.
Plan Ahead
Of course this makes for number one on a list of becoming more productive. If you spend just 10 minutes each day planning ahead, you will find you become vastly more productive.
Make sure to give yourself a chance to complete your tasks for the day however. Choose one or two tasks per day that are essential to complete and then a few tasks that can be easily completed afterwards. Distraction happens easily, but by creating a to do list daily, you will ensure you stay on track.
Delegate Time Blocks
Everyday we are faced with distractions that derail your planning. You can spend ten minutes every day planning ahead but if you haven’t delegated your time and allowed for these interruptions then you won’t get anywhere. Schedule time blocks each day for certain tasks, such as scheduling an hour for meetings, or twenty minutes on emails.
Whatever time frame you need to complete these daily essentials to ensure you don’t fall behind. Breaking up time into segments also allows you some free time, which is vital for your mental health.
Create 25 minute time blocks
This is called the ‘Pomodoro Technique’ whereby you design your daily tasks to fit into 25 minute intervals. If a task takes say an hour to complete, you will be more likely to complete it by breaking them down into this specific time frame of focus. Studies have shown that if you know exactly how long you have to work on a task and it isn’t too long or too short (so you don’t lose interest or have brain blanks), you will be more likely to finish the task.
Take Responsibility
We are all guilty of coming up with excuses as to why we haven’t completed something. Why we didn’t finish that project, why we missed the gym, how an accident happened. Learning to take responsibility and being honest with yourself will make being productive in the future a lot easier.
Acknowledge the true reason why you messed up or missed something and then take action to improve for the next time. Humans aren’t perfect, but it is so much easier to solve a problem if you acknowledge the root of the issue and try to fix it.
Don’t beat yourself up if you fail to be productive on a certain day. Life changes so fast and things come up. Use these steps to help you get back on track and don’t dwell on why you weren’t productive. Use it as motivation to succeed tomorrow!