Productivity is the key in measuring both economic efficiency and growth of companies. And sometimes, incentives or bonuses are not enough to boost employees being more productive. Do you find your workdays getting out of control? The key is to work smarter, not harder. This article will walk you through 7 simple and effective strategies for increasing performance at the workplace.
1. Say “NO” to multitask
There is no doubt that by saying no to multitasking, employees encourage creativity and innovation. Multitasking has been proved “problematic”, therefore. Why? Because multitask people tend to make more mistakes! Indeed, according to Stanford researchers who compared groups of people based on their tendency to multitask and their belief that it helps their performance; heavy multitaskers—those who multitask a lot and feel that it boosts their performance—were worse at multitasking than those who like to do a single thing at a time.
2. Cut down on meetings
Every minute spent in an unproductive meeting is a minute wasted from individual employees’ work and, therefore, essential for creativity and efficiency of organizations. Interruptions such as meetings “break” the flow in a state of which a person can finish a job more quickly and thoroughly. On the other hand, important meetings should be arranged as short as possible (15-30 minutes). Define start and end time and do not exceed.
3. Overcome stress
Surveys have shown that stressed employees have difficulty in finishing tasks on schedule. The key steps in order to overcome stress are:
- Think positively: always keep in mind positive thoughts and do more of what makes you happy
- Talk and discuss: try not to be lonely and discuss as much as possible your thoughts with others
- Take a breath: when you feel pressure, just pause for a moment and take attention on your breathing to feel calm
- Organize your work and spend quality time when off duty (see the 6th tip)
4. Make health a priority
Projects, deadlines and meetings consume our daily lives in an easy way. Haven’t you ever pushed yourself to limits that your body literally cannot handle, losing sleep or eating poorly? Sleeping well and feeling refreshed in the morning can help you to feel alert more naturally. Higher levels of alertness, good nutrition and physical activity can lead to increased productivity, creativity and efficiency.
5. Manage your time following 7 simple steps
- Make time
- Prioritize
- Urgent vs important
- Impact vs effort
- Do not procrastinate
- Set expectations
- Don’t be afraid to say ‘No’
6. Keep your motivation flying high
How? Start by creating a “yes but” list. In this way you can plan your goals and regularly check in to find out the obstacles for not achieving your targets. Always ask yourself questions such as
- How can I have more fun doing this?
- How can I continue moving forward?
- What’s the next best step that I can take?
Believe in yourself and bring new ideas to the table!
7. Meditate
Meditation is a way to recognize and take the right measures to manage stress. Several meditation exercises have been designed to develop mindfulness meditation. This technique can fuel performance by managing distressing emotions such as feeling out of control, jumping from one thought to the next or ruminating on negative thoughts by physically altering brain.
When it comes to businesses – and not individual employees – vission and mission are the things to focus on, in order to help boost productivity. This can be achieved by encouriging the employees being more productive through the steps mentioned above. Some of the Small Businesses UK alumni share their advice on boosting business productivity in the following video
