Improving personal productivity at work

Improving personal productivity at work

If you look back on your working day and feel like you achieved nothing, try our 6 easy ways to improve your personal productivity at work.

Do you get to the end of your working day and feel like you have achieved nothing? Is it like you have been going around in circles putting out fires and nothing has been crossed off your to do list? It may be time to have a good hard look at your own personal productivity and make some improvements.

Here are 6 easy ways to improve your personal productivity.

1. When are you at your best?

Understand when during the day you are at your most productive and schedule the big tasks then.

For many people this is first thing in the morning. Be mindful of this productive window and schedule the big priority tasks first. Avoid meetings at this time if you can.

2. Email is not your job

So many of us spend hours at our desks firing off and answering emails. Consider though whether email is a sensible use of your time. Can a question be responded to quickly or discussed on the telephone? Challenge yourself to use email sparingly.

Try turning off your email alerts and you will be amazed at your ability to focus without distractions.

Make use of email templates. Do you answer the same question via email again and again? Most email programs will allow you to set up a template to send to a recipient when required. Fill out the frequently answered information and allow room to personalise these as required.

3. Know when to take a break

There is a well-known decline in productivity the longer you spend at your desk. Get up and go for a walk or have a stretch.

4. The 80/20 rule

Figure out your own 80/20 rule. 20% of your output generates 80% of your results according to Pareto’s law. What exactly is your 20%? What tasks during the rest of your day can you stop doing? What tasks can you outsource or delegate?

5. Batch tasks

In your working day, there will be activities that get repeated. When you pull a group of similar activities together you can complete them more efficiently. This might mean doing everything that uses the same program at the same time. It may mean batching your phone calls. It might mean scheduling some time to get your report writing and editing done at once.

6. In the evening prepare for the next day and use AI tools to help you

Before you finish for the day, consider what you have achieved. Have a good think about what needs to be done, such as reading or preparation for upcoming meetings or appointments or preparing a to-do list. This approach creates thinking and strategising time.

Be sure to incorporate AI tools to help with these processes. Handy adoption of AI tools can include:

• Proactive Calendar Management: AI tools automatically rearrange your agenda to protect focus time, adapt to your peak energy levels, and slot in meetings without disrupting your workflow.
• Intelligent Task Scheduling: Instead of staring at a daunting to-do list, AI examines your deadlines and breaks down projects into manageable, time-blocked chunks on your calendar.
• Contextual Meeting Preparation: AI can compile summaries of previous meetings, draft necessary reports, and pull relevant files from integrated apps so you arrive prepared.
• Information Retrieval: AI assistants scan your notes, emails, and past documents to instantly retrieve needed information, preventing you from wasting time searching.

There you have our tips to improve your personal productivity. Implement your favourite one and see if your working day improves. Good luck!