Whether you are working from home or the office, putting in lots of hours to work daily may have a negative impact on your productivity. However, it is important for employees to keep contributing to their company, both for their betterment as well as for the employer’s. Hence, every working individual should ensure that they make the most of their time at the office by working productively. According to Inc., employees can choose one of two ways to enhance their output at work, i.eThey can either choose to put in extra hours of work, or they can opt to work smartly in a limited number of hours to fulfill their output requirement.
Most working employees will prefer opting for the second option since it is the optimal choice, primarily because it does not involve putting in more hours at work. Being productive at your workspace does not necessarily mean working tirelessly for endless hours. Improving productivity at work is more about implementing and following the right tactics and strategies that result in our work output being more impactful. This article will shed light on some effective tips and tricks following which every working individual can enhance their productivity at work. Let us dive right into it:
- Create Timelines
A timeline portrays a list of events in a chronological manner of a specific project along a straight line. It allows individuals to look at and understand temporal linkages. Most timelines are presented using interactive graphic elements like pictures, formatted text, etc. This helps the audience understand all the events in a project in a clear and detailed manner. If you manage many projects at work, creating timelines can help you manage and organize concepts, events and other vital information.
There are numerous ways following which you can create project timelines to assess or put forth work-related tasks. For starters, you can use dedicated applications on your Mac or Windows PC to create and manage timelines. macOS users can use the native Pages utility or opt for a more advanced software like Aeon Timeline to work with timelines. Similarly, Windows users can use Microsoft Word to create timelines. Working with timelines not only helps employees to present their workflow to others in a seamless manner but also facilitates them to work more productively.
- Block Distracting Websites
The arch-nemesis of productivity is distraction. Hence, if you wish to work more productively and efficiently, eliminating distractions is one of the best ways to do it. For instance, if your work involves surfing the Internet a lot, it would be best if you block certain websites which often distract you. All major browsers allow users to block websites including Chrome and Safari. If you are wondering how to block a website on Chrome, there are numerous ways following which you can easily do the job. For starters, you can use a third-party app like Focus to block multiple websites within a few clicks. Besides this, you can also download website-blocking extensions on Chrome to get the job done easily. On the other hand, if you use Safari as your daily driver for browsing the Internet, you can use its native “Block Websites” option to block distracting websites such as online gaming portals, social media platforms, etc.
- Take Short Breaks
As mentioned previously, working tirelessly for hours does not refer to working productively. In fact, if you work continuously without taking breaks, it may have a negative impact on your productivity. Working continuously can clog your mind and, as a result, prevent you from getting meaningful work done. Hence, if you are a working employee, you should make it a habit to take at least 5 minutes of break after working continuously for an hour. Doing so will help you in getting some much-needed relaxation. Moreover, when you start working again after the break, you will be able to work in a more mindful and productive manner. Furthermore, it will facilitate you to contribute more to the tasks at hand.
- Turn on the DND Mode on All Your Personal Devices
The most distracting things that can seriously affect a working individual’s productivity are constant alerts and notifications. Every time a notification pops up on any device, it distracts individuals from the task they were working on and instigates them to check it. A surefire way to ensure you do not get distracted while working is to turn on the “Do Not Disturb” mode on all personal devices, including your smartphone, tablet, personal laptop, etc. Doing so will enable you to work with top-notch focus and thereby help you meet task or project deadlines
Although working rigorously for hours at the workplace can get super tiring and exhaustive, following the aforementioned tips while working can significantly help working individuals to enhance their productivity at work.
