We’ve all been there – you have a full week of work ahead, plus several crucial reports due by Friday, and all you can do is think about how much work you have. You feel stuck and cold beads of sweat run down your spine as you feel the anxiety grow in your mind.
We may have exaggerated a bit, but this is a real problem (often labeled as procrastination) and can have a negative impact on your productivity. It’s also not something you can control without understanding its source.
But there is good news on the horizon! We can avoid feeling pressured and lost when the workload increases by being organized and cultivating discipline. True, it’s not the magic secret everyone was hoping for, but it is a true and tested way that will get you out of many ditches.
And to prove our point, here are a few steps you can take to improve both your professional and personal lives.
Learn to Prioritize
If you have 10 tasks on your To-Do list at the start of the day, you may not be able to bring them all to completion. In this case, have a critical look at the list and identify the top three tasks that are a must. Set realistic deadlines for each and check if you’ll have time for any other tasks that day. If not, either push them for a later date or delegate them to someone else (if this is an option).
On a different note, if you have a task you dread but must do, work on it first. We have more willpower and motivation in the morning.
Consider Taking a Specialist Time Management Course
Have you ever wondered, “how do the big guys do it”? How can celebrities and CEOs who run three companies at a time manage to find the time to do everything they want to do? After all, there are only 24 hours in the day!
Besides the fact that the so-called big guys have an entire team to help them, they know how to manage their time. But time management is not a natural talent, and only a few chosen ones pose – they also had to learn.
If you take a time management course, you’ll learn to use your time effectively and how to break down a big project into chunks to avoid the dread and despair we mentioned at the beginning.
Organize Your Environment
While some people believe there is some sort of order to chaos, most people find organized environments are best for their productivity. Even if you work from home, you should have a dedicated space for work that doesn’t interact with the rest of the house-related activities.
Make sure all the tools you need for work are within your reach, and use an app (or a plugin) to block distracting apps during the time you are in the office. Do the same with distracting websites so you can’t access them on your laptop or PC.
Plus, there are studies that show it helps to dress for success (again, even if you work from home). When you dress for the part you want, you trick your brain into being more active and ready for battle.
Don’t Forget to Take Breaks!
In order to stay productive throughout the day, you need breaks. Specialists recommend at least 10 minutes of break for every 50 minutes of work, but everyone has their own rhythm. So, find yours and learn to integrate breaks into your schedule even when things seem crazy busy.
We can’t work at 100% all the time, and if you ignore your brain’s request for a pause, you may end up making mistakes. Not to mention that you’ll feel depleted by the end of the day, and your creativity will drop.
