8 Steps for Increased Productivity.
The Way to Get Started is To Quit Talking & Begin Doing. — Walt Disney
We all want to use our time to the fullest and complete our work with full effort and full focus. We all develop a short attention span as we engage in instant gratification. Daily activities that involve instant gratification include social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and more. These short videos that are engaging releases dopamine, a receptor in your brain that triggers happiness, the more short videos, the more you will crave them. The trends that appear on these platforms will also influence you. Most people will start to develop a short attention span which would affect their productivity in negative ways. That is why this article will help you develop ways to maintain a longer attention span and maximize your time! These steps have allowed me to complete my tasks, effectively and efficiently!
Step 1: Create a Routine.
In order to increase your productivity, you would need to create a routine and stick to that routine. This routine can allow you to develop good habits over a period of time. Creating a routine can allow you to complete a variety of tasks within a day and maximize your time. Your routine should consist of completing important tasks, taking proper breaks and working on long-term goals. Important tasks may include school work and assignments or tasks that have a deadline. Proper breaks are important to any routine, you need to have time for yourself and enjoy a well-deserved break after working hard. Your breaks should not be too short or too long. Working for a prolonged period of time can lead to burnout which we need to avoid, so really short breaks cannot be included. After working for 90 minutes, I take a 30-minute break to enjoy myself. I might go for a walk, vibe to music or read. Using this information, including a proper break into your routine. You should also lay out a plan and be consistent with your routine. Think of the long-term, If you were to follow your routine for 6 months, how much progress would you like to make? If your routine does not fully align with your goals, modify it so that it does! Another great way to be consistent with your routine is to simply make it fun! Your routine should excite you and allow you to learn and allow you to push through certain limits.
Step 2: Prioritization & Goal Setting.
Goals can be achieved and tasks can be completed with proper prioritization and goal setting. As mentioned earlier, have a plan for a routine and have clear objectives and goals. Write those tasks and goals down and think about why you’re doing a certain task and how doing certain tasks allow you to achieve more goals. Proper applications and/or extensions can be downloaded in order to track productivity. Momentum is a free Google Chrome extension that allows you to list tasks in a to-do list and check the weather in your area. Momentum also displays a quote for success on the bottom of its homepage. I would highly suggest downloading this Chrome extension. In order to prioritize work, list everything you currently have and split it up into three categories. These categories include. urgent, less urgent and non-urgent. The urgent category should include tasks with deadlines. The less urgent category should include tasks that have a deadline far from the present day. The non-urgent category should include long-term goals. Working on each of them throughout the day can allow you to get ahead and allow you to make a significant amount of progress within a short period of time. When setting goals and prioritizing, be realistic, would you be able to complete a certain task within a certain amount of time realistically? Ask yourself that question when writing down objectives and goals and give yourself enough time followed by short breaks to avoid burnouts.
Step 3: Treat Your Body Like A Temple
As described in all my other articles, taking care of yourself is crucial to success, increase in productivity and anything you do in life. Taking care of yourself has proven to reduce stress, and anxiety and even minimize anger and frustration. Taking care of yourself includes meeting basic human hygienes such as washing your hands or taking a shower. Taking care of yourself may also include a skin routine, a skin routine would allow you to take good care of your skin and reduce acne and many skin disorders. Taking care of yourself will allow you to be more productive and increase your happiness and would allow being in a much better mood. Taking care of yourself will also increase energy. Taking care of yourself also includes working out and taking care of your physique. Exercise for at least 30 minutes daily and not only will this increase your energy, but this will also keep you motivated and at the end of the day, you would feel accomplished. I started my own skin routine and workouts as well and now I’m in much better shape than I was a year ago. Taking care of my body has also allowed me to feel much happier and much more motivated and consistent with my routine and overall, it has significantly increased my productivity. Your body and mind are in the temple, treat them like one and take proper care of them!
Step 4: Setup Your Work Environment & Clean Your Environment.
A clean and well-organized environment will help you to be more productive and more focused. A clean and organized environment would eliminate all distractions and allow you to be more productive. Your brain will be able to focus more when your environment is clean. A clean environment can save you a lot of time and energy, you would have all the time you need to focus on one particular task without being constantly reminded of cleaning the messy workspace. Once you clean your work environment you should also set up your work environment; it should only consist of the tools you need that would help you complete your task. You can also try choosing your environment such as going outside. Once I started regularly cleaning my work environment, not only did I have a boost of energy and motivation, but I was also able to focus on my goals more and give full focus to each task that would allow me to accomplish my goals.
Step 5: The “Sprints” Method.
I learned the “Sprints” method on YouTube as a way to increase my productivity. At first, I doubted this would even affect my productivity in positive ways, but thankfully it did and ever since last year (the year I implemented the “Sprints” method into my life) I have been able to complete various tasks within a short period of time. The “Sprints” method consists of four, 45-minute work sessions. During these work sessions, you would put full attention to the task you are completing. Once you are finished a 45-minute sprint, you would immediately take a break. I usually do four, 50-minute sprints with a 30-minute break in between each 50-minute sprint so that I have some time to enjoy and relax. Once the break is over, I get right back to the grind! The “sprints” method has completely changed my life. As a matter of fact, I have been able to complete many tasks within a short period of time and I’ve even had the ability to complete certain tasks before the due date. You can do as many 45-or 50-minute sprints as you like. If your attention span is low, you can even do 20-minute sprints. Just split these sprints up evenly and distribute them among your daily schedule. You can do as many as you want. As a matter of fact, you would be able to find your limits and push them as you move forward. For example, let’s say you do two 20-minute sprints and after those sprints, you still feel more energy within you, you can save that energy and do an additional 20-minute sprint the next day. Not only are you testing out what works best for you, but you are also finding your limits and pushing them.
Step 6: Reward Yourself!
In order to be more motivated to finish work, you can reward yourself! Rewarding yourself is important due to the fact that rewarding yourself is related to positive emotions that are evoked by the brain when completing a certain task and gaining a reward from it. In other words, by rewarding yourself for completing certain tasks that make you more productive, rewarding yourself is important since it would evoke positive emotions and release dopamine, the receptor for pleasure. The more pleasurable is it to attain these rewards, the more you would want to be more productive and get tasks done. You can reward yourself by maybe giving yourself some extra minutes for your break or ordering food. Whatever it may be that you consider a reward, you can have it once you are completed certain tasks.
Step 7: Diet and Hydration
As mentioned in some of my previous articles, diet and hydration are important. Drink lots of water and eat healthily! It’s easier said than done, however, you can track and be conscious about what you consume. The best way I track my diet is to download an app and log the food that I consume regularly. Depending on your age, you are supposed to consume a certain amount of calories per day and you can track it with certain apps. You can look at the food guide of your country to get an idea of how many calories you should consume per day, or you can download an app such as Nutrionix Track that is available for Android and IOS. Nuitruionix Track allows you to track the number of calories you consume a day. In terms of diet, you should avoid a lot of junk food. Your snacks should consist of vegetables and fruits. While you are studying or completing required assignments, take some time to drink lots of water and eat vegetables and fruits. Not only can eating healthy boost your positivity, it can also motivate you and contribute to you being more productive. Drinking lots of water is important, there have been many studies and research completed determining the importance that drinking water has on you. When waking up in the morning, you should drink some water immediately. I usually have a glass of water sitting right beside my bed, so that when I wake up I can immediately hydrate myself since I have been sleeping for long hours without water.
Step 8: Sleep!
As a teenager, sleep isn’t always my main priority, however, sleep has become a huge part of my life, I usually aim for 6 to 7 hours of sleep each night! I understand that this may not be the right amount of sleep that a teen should get however, due to school and other extracurricular, I do not have a choice but to gain 6 or 7 hours of sleep. I used to stay up pretty late and sleep around 2 or 3 AM. Its when I started reading articles and doing research about sleep that I found out that sleep plays an important role in storing information, growth and productivity in general. Sleep not only allows you to grow more, sleep also helps with storing and retaining information for the long term. Having a good sleep schedule and diet would not only allow you to be more productive but would also allow you to retain more information. I started tracking my sleep using an app called Sleep Cycle, Sleep cycle has allowed me to gain accurate information such as the sleep quality and records all information within journals. I usually aim for 7 hours of sleep which is important for the body to grow and it also allows me to feel more energized in the morning!
Conclusion
These 8 steps should allow you to boost your productivity. These steps can not only give you more energy, but these steps would also allow your mind to be more positive. Eventually, these little steps may lead to huge success when one is consistent with these steps. I hope this genuinely helps everyone reading this! Feel free to share this article with your friends who have bad work habits!
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