The Secret to Work Productivity

There’s always one who just has their life together. Signing out at 4pm with their neat desk off they trot after finishing all their work yet again. Are they some sort of cyborg machine built to make an example of the rest of us? Whilst this is probably a problem you have already looked to fix, and google has unsurprisingly left you with not a great deal of alternatives, we are going to try and explore the secret to work productivity and see what changes you can make to hopefully get that work done more effectively. As people are having to work from home now with even more distractions about this has become even more of a struggle.

Work When Productive:

In the same vein as tackling the hard tasks first, working when productive is an important thing that many struggle with. If you are now set up in your spare room with an improvised desk and many distractions from children running wild, social media being so close to your fingertips or Phil and Holly discussing the latest cultural news on This Morning in the background, you may find yourself becoming a tad unproductive. To tackle this, you need to try and go with the waves of productivity. It is inevitable you are not going to be wholly productive throughout the day but it’s important to utilize the feeling when it does come. This means when you are being productive you should smash out the work and this means you cover yourself for the times when you find yourself struggling. As procrastination and distractions rise in the household this is certainly something people are going to need to concentrate on when working from home and you need to do everything you can to encourage it, from a good working setup to having comfy office chairs.

Do Something Hard First:

We have all been there. The solid, long and boring piece of work has spent the day being delayed to the very end. Putting it off until you really need to actually do it. Whilst this is a seemingly natural response, it is not effective and is something productive people would not be doing. Instead, as hard as it is you have to face up to this hard piece of work first thing. By doing something hard first you expend a lot of energy facing it and can more easily combat it, leaving your easy work for later in the day. Particularly when you are working from home and things are more relaxed the last thing that you need it to have the dread of impending doom surrounding this one piece of work that you hate doing. Not only does it make the rest of the day easier, it lifts the burden and dread on your mind and makes for a more pleasant day at work.

The Pomodoro Technique:

To try and help with increasing productivity, many have adopted the use of the pomodoro technique. Worldwide, these tomato timers are famously prominent in office workspaces, so why don’t you take this technique home with you? In a bid to encourage healthy work/play balance this technique requires you to put a 25-minute timer on and in return for solid work during this period you have a 5-minute break to recuperate. After doing this 4 times you are then allowed a 15-30mins break where you can slide in lunch and an episode of the Simpsons before getting back to the cycle again. This encouraging of regular breaks and structure into the day can be hugely beneficial for productivity but also means your workday at home is much more of a resemblance to days in the office.

Exercise:

This old chestnut is a cliche but extremely proven. Improvement of mood, concentration and memory are to name but a few benefits regular exercise can provide to make your working day more effective. This doesn’t mean you need to fit a huge deadlifts session into your half hour afternoon break. Instead, focus on raising your heart rate slightly by doing some yoga, walking the dog or going on a light jog. By exercising frequently and throughout the day you will improve not only your physical health but your mental health and be able to apply yourself to your work more effectively.

Wrap-Up:

By encouraging your team and colleagues around you to follow these rules, whilst following them yourself, you will be able to boost that productivity, even when you are working from home. These secrets to productivity are not exactly under lock and key, but they do work effectively and you should certainly try them out if you are struggling to get your head down and get the work done during these uncertain times.