A lot of us get to the office and get so confused about what to do next after you sit down at your desk, this isn’t because we are clumsy or disorganized but it is normal for us as humans. So I would be giving about 5 tips to enhance your productivity at work and Also clues to answering the question of what next when you get to the office.
1. Tidy Up Your Workspace
Though this might look very unimportant or Minor to the issue of productivity but this as little as it sounds takes time and a disorganized desk is bad for your every day motivation.
All in the name of been busy your work space at the office looks clumsy filled with pyramids of paperwork which needs sifting, disorganized and misappropriation of tools or supplies and a lot of sticky colored papers with to do list written all over them , at this stage it is necessary for you to tidy up your desk.
So in an attempt to save time and be more productive especially in the morning, I would advise you to tidy up your desk or table every night right before you close at work, so the next day you can be refreshed and ready to go on to the important task of the day.
In corporate organizations we all know cleaning agencies or cleaning staff are instructed to do every cleaning before the official work resumes, because staff have to wait for them to clean, such staff would be disorganized right before they even start working for the day.
Getting to your office and meeting everywhere tidy and orderly gives a sense of responsibility to fuel you for the day.
2. Short Priority List
In an attempt to put your priority together and be precise about it, it is quite human to list out every thing you have to do, even the less important ones .
Nevertheless having an oversight on every actual activity is a very great attempt on getting things done but trying to tick off done activities on a very long or unending list can be choking and overwhelming especially on some days where you get so encumbered with work, days when you get too busy and worked out.
I would advise you to put this particular list aside and attempt to recreate another one but this time it includes only activities that are of more importance and urgency, activities that must be completed on that same day. Another better solution would be cultivating the habit to prioritize your activities for the next day at the close of every work day.
Like getting to your office and meeting a clean workspace , so what next? You check your priority list and considering how short and precise it is, I believe you already know what next. I strongly suggest you shorten your to-do list to not overburden your mind before you even set to work, make it as short as possible and make it look very feasible.
3. Write Shorter eMails
The moment you discover that writing or replying to mails to clients, your manager or your team mates consume too much time, it is advisable to control this and by writing shorter mails to keep control of your time.Watch out for beating around the bush and curb this, try to be precise and direct so you can shorten your texts to writing a sentence or two that carries information of a paragraph. This method checks your timing and reserves it and the time of everyone else once they get an answer that suits their question.
You have to be direct and precise about your responses to mails otherwise it would take up your time and you would end up not doing anything productive for the whole day. Keep it short, direct and precise.
4. Avoid Distractions
Subconsciously as humans we tend to feel too relaxed at a point even under pressure. At a point you might feel too comfortable taking a lot of breaks than work throughout the day for very petty things or things that could be done later like checking our social media platforms, reading the news or football follow ups.
It is advisable to put more effort in curbing these petty diversions. If you have the ability or self control at following your calendar, assign a block of time during work hours majorly for going through your notifications but If you can’t control yourself from abstaining off your phone during work hours then a website blocker which would definitely be company approved can be installed so it can be a form of check and curbing of how much you use the internet at work.
This would restrain you from checking in on non-work websites and allow you to focus more on work. It would even be a zeal if you ask me to make you want to finish up early and use the internet.
Just like the contemporary philosophers believe that the internet and mobile phones have more disadvantages than benefits because recent researches have shown that the internet is very addictive and renders a lot of people unproductive and these type of people are prone to procrastination and at the end of the day can’t meet up with their targets or goals.
5. Working Hour Deadline
This century where connectivity appears to be easy. It is great to let you know that working from home or taking work home is an option most times to make excuses for being lazy while you are in the office and just has you working when you should be spending time with your friends and family or doing what you love to do most.
It would be best advised to ensure you have set limits on when you work and the best option would be to keep work enclosed and set boundaries of no work outside the office.
Definitely there would be exceptions for unforeseen circumstances or occurrences for instance when a client calls with an emergency when it’s past your set time to stop work or when you don’t complete your urgent or important task in time as much as you try to, keep your work at work.
Applying these practices into your work life, you’ll hopefully make this year a great year in your career!