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Discover time-tested tactics that push your productivity to overdrive with minimal effort.
Productivity tips and strategies are a dime a dozen today. Yet you still find yourself grinding for hours and wondering if more effective strategies exist. Maybe you're frustrated over conventional guidelines that don't seem to work or motivate you anymore.
If that's you, have we got good news!
Small tweaks in your existing schedules and targeted adjustments to your approach can transform the way you get stuff done. Before you know it, you're checking off tasks on your list and whipping up extra time for leisure.
Here are 7 insightful ways you can put more value in your hours and spend fewer hours at work.
1. Optimize Your Environment:
In her book The Power of Place, author Winifred Gallagher discusses how the environment at large and your immediate surroundings, in particular, influence the quality of your work. Books like Marie Kondo’s Joy at Work and Leigh Stringer’s The Healthy Workplace all support similar ideas.
Findings in these books reveal that moderate background chatter, desk arrangements, color psychology, and natural lighting all helped people focus better.
Start by creating a dedicated workspace that's clean, organized, and free from distractions (or with just the right amount of ambient sounds). Remove unnecessary clutter, set up proper lighting, and decorate mood boards with your preferred colors.
Optimized environments will encourage better concentration and steady focus on your tasks.
2. Prioritize: The Eisenhower Edge
Want a faster way to prioritize your tasks based on urgency, deadlines, or deliverables?
Use the Eisenhower Matrix, a simple yet powerful tool that organizes work into four quadrants to determine immediate urgency or put a pin on tasks that you can delay momentarily.
Easily identify and omit nonessential tasks posing as important work. Got subordinates or assistants who can handle simpler tasks? Great! The matrix can help you spot urgent but uncomplicated roles that you can delegate to save time.
Turn your attention to items that fall under the urgent and important category, and reschedule or reassign the remaining tasks.
3. Master Your Time: Block by Block
Time management remains the cornerstone of productivity. And very few strategies work as well as time-blocking.
Set aside ‘blocks’ of time (minutes, hours, etc.) to every task at hand. Turn your undivided attention and focus on the relevant task during each block.
Learn to say no to interruptions during these blocks regardless of how important they may seem. Assign an upcoming block for urgent matters that appear mid-work.
Adopt strategies like the Pomodoro Technique, where you work for a focused period of time (e.g., 25 minutes) followed by a short break (e.g., 5 minutes). This cycle sustains your energy and concentration more efficiently than slogging for hours at a stretch.
Time-blocking allows you to schedule your day into manageable chunks and prevent accumulation of tasks that overwhelm even the most industrious hustler.
4. Include Digital Detoxes in your Schedule
Extended periods of sitting in front of a computer or digital screen may cause Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). CVS is, essentially, a fancy name given to the eye strain and fatigue you experience from looking at a screen for too long.
However, ignoring this strain may lead to long-term effects to your vision. In the short run, it reduces your ability to dig into tasks because it may blur your vision or muddle your mind.
The golden 20-20-20 rule remains an excellent fix to this particular pickle. If you’re unfamiliar with this rule, it advises you to stop screen time every 20 minutes, and look at something 20 feet or so away for about 20 seconds.
The figures aren’t hard and fast rules, as long as you remember you understand the intention. Take regular breaks from the screen and divert your attention and sight to something else further away. Apps like Eye Care allow you to set reminders for digital breaks during your work sessions.
Consider using eye lubricants if you can get in touch with an eye specialist and get the proper prescription.
5. Fan the Flame with Positive Reinforcement
Keep the productivity spark alive by rewarding yourself for completing important tasks or maintaining a streak.
Famed behaviorist B.F. Skinner conducted rudimentary experiments on rats back in 1948 concluding that pleasant consequences encouraged repetition in behavior. Ironically, to escape the proverbial rat race and enjoy more free time, the same principle may help us complete work more efficiently.
Psychologist Jennifer Guttman argues that positive reinforcement on yourself creates a positive feedback loop. You find a greater sense of accomplishment for tasks completed and you’re more likely to repeat the same productive behavior under similar circumstances.
Set buffer slots in your time blocks or extend Pomodoro breaks to accommodate these small rewards.
Reinforcement can be anything from indulging in a quick snack, enjoying a few extra minutes of relaxation, or outrightly taking rest of the day off if it’s a huge milestone for the project.
6. Supercharge Energy Levels with the Right Diet
How much does food influence your productivity?
According to this 2012 management study, there’s a 66% higher risk of losing productivity over poor dietary choices. Imagine two-thirds of your day wasted because you indulged some pastries and sugary cereals in the morning.
Of course, other factors like fitness levels, medical conditions, etc. would factor in. But the effect your meals have on your focus and grit throughout the day is undeniable.
Include protein in your breakfast to replenish the glycogen used over the night. Choose complex carbs for meals, including whole grains, oats, or any type of legumes. Healthy fats like fish or olive oil also serve as fuel for your brain.
Heavy meals lead to glucose spikes and hunger pangs have the opposite effect. Inconsistent glucose levels make it harder to concentrate, wear you out faster, and effect energy levels gravely. Plan multiple smaller meals and space them out across the day for consistent energy and glucose moderation.
Finally, don’t forget the golden rule of hydration. Water is truly your best friend on a work day.
7. Find Your Productivity Rhythm with Music
Athletes are known to use music for hyping up pre-game and getting into the zone. We all agree that the right tunes can lift our mood and induce a more positive emotional state.
That’s all well and good. But is music on the job really a good idea?
Research suggests that the right songs can reduce mind-wandering and increase focus on the task at hand. There’s also reliable evidence implying that attention spans may improve with some background music.
Of course, there are variations and conditions that apply to these scientific experiments. For instance, the nature of playlists used, age-group of participants, and type of work are not uniform across all these tests.
While we don’t agree that all music works for everyone, there’s enough reason to consider this unconventional approach to productivity. One thing is for sure. Ambient music can drown out other distractive noises and help you focus on simple tasks.
So, the next time you’re knee-deep in a project, consider whipping out a soft playlist that will lift your spirits and potentially help you focus better.
Closing Note
Every productivity ‘hack’ out there does not work for everyone. However, strategies like decluttering your work space, setting time blocks, and maintaining a healthy diet, all remain proven ways to get more done in less time.
Consider applying these tips to your schedule and witness your work day pass by like a breeze.
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