We all have weeks where our productivity feels a little lethargic and we have others where our focus is on fire and we feel as though we’re hammering through our to do lists at lightning pace.
But just how do we make ourselves more productive more consistently?
We’ve spoken to some experts, read up on the research and share our 7 tips to increase your productivity.
1. Sleep!
It might sound counterintuitive to suggest that sleeping is how you’re going to get more work done. But it’s true. Studies have found that those getting 5 to 6 hours of sleep each night are around 19% less productive than those who clock up between 7 and 8 hours.
We get it. It’s not always practical to get an early night and for those of you with children who don’t sleep through consistently, it’s not easy. But wherever possible, making sure you get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep at night could see you working more productively the following morning.
2. Cut the Booze
Alcohol, particularly drunk to excess, can affect your focus for days. We asked Clinical Practitioner and Pharmacist, Sakib Mohammed, for his take on how alcohol might affect your productivity. He told us:
“The NHS recommends we drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week spread over at least 3 days. That’s about 6 glasses of wine – medium sized glasses, or 6 pints of beer with an abv of 4%. That’s how to drink in moderation and reduce the changes of long term health issues caused by alcohol.
However, even in low quantity, alcohol can affect your sleep negatively, which in turn affects your focus the next day. If you’ve ever been out on a weekend and had a heavy drinking session, you’ve probably experienced foggy, unfocussed feelings at work on the following Monday, maybe even running into Tuesday too.
The booze really can affect focus, productivity and your wellbeing at home and work.
1 in 8 people in the UK are now teetotal. Completely teetotal. They’ll be increasing their chances of higher focus, better sleep and increased energy levels.
So certainly if you are drinking heavily, cutting back could help your productivity and sleep. And if you find you struggle to focus even after a glass or two of wine the night before, then there’s potentially a case for cutting it out altogether.”
3. Try to Work Your Most Productive Hours
This is one our team has tried and loved for a long time – adapting your working schedule where possible to accommodate your most productive hours.
One of our own team, Stacey MacNaught, swears by this method. She told us:
“It’s not always possible, I know. But for me, I found that I worked really well in the mornings up to around lunchtime and then again in the evenings. I experience a bit of a lull in an afternoon and my focus wanes a bit.
So ideally, for me, I like to work on heavier documentation and the like at these productive hours. I also like to get away from my desk in my least focussed hours if I can – not always feasible. But if I can’t adapt a full day around these working hours, then I time my day so I’m doing tasks with output like documents, copy, audits, reports and so on, during my most focussed hours. And then my afternoons will be when I schedule calls and things like that. It just means I’m capitalising on my best working hours for the things that need the most focussed working mentality.”
4. Try Working Pomodoro
We’ve written about this one before. The Pomodoro Technique, in a nutshell, is about working in highly focussed short stints.
So you set a timer for 25 minutes and during that time you do nothing but work. No screens, no distractions, no chatting. At the end of that 25 minute period you can take a 5 minute break, so you can pick up those messages, grab a drink and get away from the screen for a few minutes before then repeating the 25 minute process.
Our team has found this really effective when carrying out tasks like writing copy.
5. Stay Hydrated
Even mild dehydration can have a negative impact on your cognitive performance according to studies.
And if your cognitive performance is impaired, you’ll undoubtedly find it more challenging to focus and solve your work problems!
So keep that water bottle topped up and on your desk!
6. Take a 30 Minute Walk
We’ve heard it before – exercise helps you focus better.
But actually, exercise in the form of an outdoor walk (even a slow stroll if you’re not feeling so energetic) can be really beneficial to your productivity.
An extensive study of 2,000 employees and 1,000 managers found that just 29 minutes spent outside resulted in a 45% increase in productivity.
That’s not bad going, is it? So maybe your lunch break should be spent outside.
May need an umbrella here in the UK though!
7. Quit Multi tasking
It’s a myth. We cannot multi tasks. If you are trying to do several tasks at once you’re doing them all more slowly than if you focussed on one at a time.
So get your to do list written down and work on those tasks one at a time!
Your Productivity Tips?
Of course, not everything works for everyone! So if you’ve got a brilliant tip for getting more done than we’ve missed, get in touch!
