5 Productivity Resources
Productivity is an amazing resource, and for those who know how to do it well, everyone can attest to getting more and better work done. These five tools and techniques will help you not only start to be productive put keep you there.
1. Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique stems from the Italian word for Tomato, pomodoro. The entire program starts with a kitchen timer, the one used when this technique developed looks like a tomato. This technique isn’t simply about seeing time as a constraint, but rather to see time as a multivariate resource. By being able to allocate, plan, and use the methods to change your perspective as a whole about time, lets you be more able to use time more efficiently.
2. Tackle Tasks One At A Time
Of course time here is your primary commodity. The more you get out of it, the better you use it, time becomes your friend. By multitasking, you reduce the ability to tackle efficiency. Your best bet to allocate time correctly is to take tasks one at a time.
Start by making a list of what is due for the day. Prioritize the tasks at hand, because the more time consuming or more important tasks should be the ones that require your most undivided attention. Once they are out of the way, you can sit back and tackle the tasks that “matter less”.
Use a note pad and write these lists out, scratch them off when done. The visual aspect of knowing what’s done and what is not is psychologically important, especially having a feeling of accomplishment. Chris Brogan and Mashable have both recently advocated not even checking email until later in the day.
3. Reevaluate Your Workspace
Lifehacker has made this a 10 point list. By using a new desk, taking pictures to find clutter spots, and many DIY tools let you find places where productivity is lost. Once you have found where productivity is lost you then have the ability to go back and change what’s necessary to improve.
4. Shut Off
If it’s not being used for your work, shut it off. Get rid of it. Toss it aside. Any other way to say it, think of it. This one goes hand in hand with multitasking. Additional tabs open? Close them.
Cell phone texts? Turn it off.
5. Fina a Good Place To Work
Although, this can kind of go hand in hand with reevaluating your workspace, being able to have the right starting platform for work location is also key. This can mean working from home, coworking, Starbucks, wherever you feel fit the most. Wherever you decide to work from though, be sure to establish good habit patters. Once those are established, your productivity will be linked to your mind. Check out Mashable’s 37 Productivity Tips for Working From Anywhere.
What productivity resources do you use? Leave them in the comments!
Take A Nap
Note: This is my 200th post on GregdeLima.com (I’m throwing a party in my mind!)
When was the last time, during a work day, that you took an honest-to-goodness nap. Whether you went home and took one or sat in the break room for 20-30 minutes and just napped.
While this might go contrary to about 100% of businesses in the U.S., as a college student, like many, I am a firm believer in quality nap time. This 30-minute part of my day is one that increases productivity, mental awareness, and physical stamina. During my time in Spain this was only reinforced by the type of workday they had. Like the American schedule they would begin their workday at 9am and work until 2 or 3pm (most commonly 2). They would then take a two hour break, and come back to work at 4-5pm and work until 6-8pm. That two hour break is the reason that 5 Hour Energy only exists in the U.S.
In that two hour break time workers have time to go home, see their family, eat lunch, take a nap, and come back to work. They are still getting a full day’s work and in fact are more productive because of it. Now I’m not saying sit around your workplace and nap at your desk so you can increase productivity later, but go home, relax, take a load off your shoulders then worry about it when you get back to the office. You’ll have a clearer mind, a more focused mind, and you will be a hell of a lot better for it just because of a 30 minute nap.
Think about it, if you work from home give it a shot.
What do you think? Leave a comment and thanks for reading my 200th blog post!