Increase Productivity in the Workplace: 23 Great Ways (Part 1)

From the outset, I would like to make it clear that my goal in writing about work productivity is not to help you stuff more things into an already busy schedule. My goal is to help you save time, so that you’re less stressed and free to focus more on tasks that energize you. Work can be demanding and challenging. Sometimes you have so much to do that you are not sure where to start. On top of that, tight deadlines and conflicting demands often make it hard to prioritize. In such situations how do you work effectively and efficiently? How can you increase productivity in the workplace so that you can have more time for what matters to you?

If you want to increase productivity you have to consider both the person and the environment. You yourself have the greatest impact on productivity. The decisions that you make, how you structure your work etc. – all these things determine how productive you will be. In addition, there are things that you can adjust in your environment to help you be more productive. Ultimately you want your environment to work for you, not against you.

Here are some tips to help you enhance your productivity at work.

1. Make a Schedule to Increase Productivity in the Workplace

Make a Schedule

Having a schedule is key if you want to stay organized and on top of things. During this time write down your to-dos and arrange them from highest to lowest priority. This will help you to make a schedule that is more condusive to achieving your goals and enhancing work productivity, because you prioritize the things that will bring you the most results.

In addition, determine when and for how long you want to work on each task. Aim to be realistic when considering how much time you need to finish a particular task. Many tend to overestimate what can be accomplished in shorter periods of time and underestimated what can be accomplished in the long-term.

On Monday I consider what I want to achieve that week and write it down. Then based on this list, I decide what I need to get done each day to reach my weekly goals. Throughout the week I adjust this list as necessary. I tend to focus on three or four major tasks a day and try to get the most importants tasks done first thing in the morning. By trial and error you will get a feel for what is doable in a day.

Fill in the Gaps

Finishing your tasks based on priority is helpful, however it is important to stay flexible. For example, if you have 15 minutes between meetings, you could get a small task done that is not necessarily high up on your priority list. Instead of trying to start something more complex and stop before you really get started, enjoy a quick win by tackling something small.

Time Block

Another strategy I use is to allocate a certain amount of time for each task and move on to the next when the time is up. It’s often better to have a viable result rather than a perfect or ideal result. Keep it moving! Nowadays I try not to plan too tightly. The reason for this is I account for unintended interruptions, extra assignments, or times when I help my colleagues.

Habit Stack

We all want to work on tasks that feel engaging, but the reality is every job has boring work that you just need to get done. One way to push through a boring task is to build a habit of getting it done. The great thing about a habit is you don’t have to remember to carry it out. When you do something out of habit, it’s almost effortless and you don’t have to think twice. This approach towards goal achievement is known as habit stacking.

To take advantage of this mechanism, you can pair the boring work with another task. For instance, you always do the undesirable tasks immediately after finishing task A. It’s important to note that this is only effective when you work with exact timings. The tasks must always be done in the order you specify and at the time you specify. In other words, it’s important to define an exact cue. If you decide to complete the tasks “whenever,” you may end up scrambling to get things done and miss a deadline. It’s also helpful if the two tasks are somewhat related. This helps you to maintain your cognitive resources as you move from one task to the next.

I like conducting interviews, but don’t like writing interview reports. I can pair these tasks together by writing the report directly after each interview. With this approach, I always get the summary done and don’t waste time trying to recall information as the details of the interview are fresh in my mind.

2. Take Breaks

3. Minimize Distractions to Increase Productivity in the Workplace

If you allow it, hours of valuable time will be eaten away every day by distractions. Those who don’t guard their time, will often find themselves in a bind that could have been avoided. This means unnecessary stress and anxiety which in turn worsens performance. My basic attitude in this matter is that my time is gold. Having such a realization influences how you deal with your time. For example, if you have a colleague that constantly likes to engage in small talk you’ll find a way to set a healthy boundary. It’s important to have personal connections as trust is built outside of the “meetings” and “work tasks”. However, this should not lead to drops in your productivity.

When faced with a “distraction” you can ask yourself “will this bring me closer to my goal?” If not, it will probably cause me to lose focus and clarity. The point is not to become an egotistical employee, but to craft your environment in such a way that you can remain productive and meet your goals. For example, it is great to help other colleagues – this strongly facilitates a positive work atmosphere. Nevertheless, when taken to an extreme helping others can have a detrimental effect on your own performance.

Checking your phone every five minutes or immediately reading every email as it comes in are things that interrupt your workflow. It is advantageous to put your phone out of sight and have a set time to answer your emails. These are two small examples. There are countless distractions and what is a distraction for one person may not be the same for another. The key is to find out what distractions eat up your time and limit them.

4. Take Advantage of Multitasking

The point is not to try to multitask more. It is better to work in a focused way on one thing after the other. However, we can see our busiest moments in a more positive light. The take away here is you can schedule creative tasks such as brainstorming after a multitasking stint in order to profit from the spill-over effects.

5. Procrastinate Purposefully to Increase Productivity in the Workplace

In general I don’t recommend procrastination. In fact, most of the time it’s better to get your most important tasks done first (also known as eating the frog). By doing this you’re more productive early in the day and are more flexible with the rest of your time.

For me researching candidates is a time-consuming task that is necessary, but not always fun. However, if I procrastinate with research, I can’t conduct interviews and without interviews there are no placements. By “biting the sour apple” (the German equivalent of biting the bullet) and not pushing off undesirable tasks you significantly increase your productivity.

With that said, there’s evidence that procrastination can have positive effects on creativity. The research on this topic does not refer to passive procrastination which is characterized by indecision and a failure to act. It refers to active procrastination which allows for more time to consider solutions and engage in divergent thinking.

Our brain does not like it when tasks are left uncompleted. So if you begin a task but don’t finish it, your brain will keep the information in your short-term memory and rehearse it to keep the information active. This is known as the Zeigarnik effect. Those who purposefully procrastinate start the task, but don’t finish it until later in order to have more time to mull over various possibilities. This is great if you have creative tasks like creating new product features.

Some people work more efficiently and deliver better results when they work under time pressure. This is another scenario in which procrastination can be used purposefully. Only procrastinate when it works to your advantage.

Summary

Especially in demanding work situations it is important to use your time well and remain productive. Otherwise, you will probably get overwhelmed and be more susceptible to the negative effects of long exposure to stress. In this article I covered the first 5 of my top 23 productivity tips:

• Set a schedule
• Take enough breaks
• Minimize distractions
• Take advantage of multitasking
• Procraste purposefully

See my next article for more productivity tips that will have a positive impact on your work life.

Resources

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210416-how-multitasking-fuels-original-thinking

Kim, S., Park, Y., & Headrick, L. (2018, March 29). Daily Micro-Breaks and Job Performance: General Work Engagement as a Cross-Level Moderator. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication

Palvalin, M. (2019). What matters for knowledge work productivity? Employee Relations, 41(1), 209-227.

Parke, M, Weinhardt, J M, Brodsky, A, Tangirala, S and DeVoe, S E (2018) When daily planning improves employee performance: the importance of planning type, engagement, and interruptions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103 (3). pp. 300-312.

Paulo B. Goes & Noyan Ilk & Mingfeng Lin & J. Leon Zhao, 2018. “When More Is Less: Field Evidence on Unintended Consequences of Multitasking,” Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(7), pages 3033-3054, July.

https://professional.dce.harvard.edu/blog/the-perks-of-procrastination/#content

Zhang, S, Liu, P, Feng, T. To do it now or later: The cognitive mechanisms and neural substrates underlying procrastination. WIREs Cogn Sci. 2019; 10:e1492. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1492