We spend an average of 8 hours per day in the office. Still, how much of that time do you spend while completing tasks and working productively?
According to one of the recent studies run by McKinsey Global Institute, only 1/3 of the employees' time in the office is spent fulfilling tasks. And what about the rest of the working hours?
Checking emails dozens of times per day, meeting with co-workers, looking for missing files, and other activities stop up from being more productive at work. How to improve productivity at work? How to fix the situation and make every moment count?
Let's try to find it out.
Using time efficiently is a valuable skill that will be helpful not only at work but at home and in any other activity as well. Adopting and applying the right time-management skills will help you reduce stress, avoid clutter, and save more time for do other, no less important things.
If you are a freelance or full-time web developer, you can start your workflow optimization with a ready-made theme, which will save loads of the precious time on completing more important tasks.
Get Rid of Clutter
Gone are the days when our desks were cluttered with piles of papers and sticky notes that reminded us of the tasks that we had to complete, the meeting that we had to attend, the messages that we had to send, etc.
Due to the technological progress, we can forget about those nasty notes on small pieces of paper that we lost in the most crucial moments, to organize your reminders there's a handy app Google Keep. Today, we can get all this organized in one place, on our desktop and handheld devices, in apps, and other technological innovations, which can sync with one another.
In such a way, you will not miss a thing, and the schedule of upcoming events and to-do list will also stay in handy.
Block Time Wasters
Did you guess what we are going to talk about at this point? How do you commonly spend time when you have a spare minute? More likely than you go to check news feed via your social media profiles. Visiting such "distracting sites" during the working day gets you completely absorbed into clicking through dozens of pages as the precious time passes by.
Unnecessary meetings, interacting with chatty colleagues, writing reports, and other time wasters will never let you concentrate on tasks that are really important.
Delegate
You don't need to handle all tasks that are assigned to your team (provided that you are not the only team member, of course). There are other people who can help you manage the job quicker. In order to plan your workflow productively, consider the duties that you can share with other team members. Set the right priorities, parcel out some responsibilities, and start watching the positive results of your work while giving your team members a chance to grow.
Take Breaks
You may be the busiest person in the world, but you need to clear your mind and take a few breaks during your working day. Make it a habit taking 5 to 10-minute break once in a while. Stand up from your desk and go for a walk.
You can just go up and downstairs several times if you wish. You can spend the break while simply breathing fresh outside the office or talking to a person you enjoy. While stepping away from your daily routine tasks for a while, you can rejuvenate your mind, and get back to work less frazzled and with renewed vigor.
Decline Tasks that are Not Your Priority
Learning to say "no" is not as simple as it may seem.
Pretty often, our colleagues ask us to do the job that is not our priority. Instead of spending time and energy on the tasks that are not in your priority, you can fulfill the job that is more worthy of your time and skills.
Attend Meetings Wisely
A study conducted by Opinion Matters showed that employees spend an average of 4 hours per week attending meetings. Most of them consider this a waste of time, which could be better spent on running the current tasks. One of the most popular mistakes committed by project managers and company owners alike is organizing meetings with extra co-workers "just in case".
But do you need three people from the marketing, five reps from customer care department, and four sales managers present at the meeting? Maybe one representative from each department would be enough?
Before you attend a meeting, create a brief outline of the questions that you need to discuss. In such a way, you won't miss a thing.
Sleep Enough
This is one of the key reasons that affects our productivity negatively. According to a study conducted by the Wall Street Journal, sleep deprivation caused the US economy $60 billion loss per year. An employee who doesn't sleep enough and spends 8 hours in the office will hardly ever be as productive as a well-rested co-worker working for 6 hours.
Work from Home
According to a survey of call center employees held by Stanford Professor Nicholas Bloom, people who work from home are happier than the ones working 9 to 5 in the office. Working from home, people are less likely to quit, they are more productive, and manage to plan their workflow more effectively. The availability of messengers, chat rooms, video calls, and other technological advancement frees us from the necessity to be in one physical place in order to communicate with co-workers.
We can do the same things via modern collaboration tools.
Don't Be Shy to Ask for Help
There is no way of perfection. We keep on learning and mastering new skills during the lifetime. When you start working for a company, everything is new to you. You get accustomed to the working environment, tasks, and people. You keep on learning step-by-step. Having worked in the same place for several years in a row doesn't mean that you know everything. Sometimes you still need help/advice from co-workers. You may be simply overwhelmed with work. So, do not suffer in silence and ask your team for help.
Final Thoughts
These are the most crucial tips to improve productivity at work that we think are relevant to everyone working the web design and development industry. Use these recommendations in your own work and see how much more efficient you will get.
Same as ever before, we would like to learn about your tips on boosting productivity at work.
What keeps you organized and motivated?
Speak up below this publication.