We’ve all done it – worked through the day, running around like a chicken with its head cut off, doing everything, but at the same time, having nothing to show for it at the end of the day. Needless to say, this is possibly the most unproductive way to spend your day, and as a CEO, you’re digging yourself deeper into the hole of nothingness and despair.
The good news is, there are simple tips that we’ve discovered at DeskTime on how to improve your daily productivity. We work on ways of increasing employee productivity on a daily basis, and we are ready to share some insider tips.
1) Set daily priorities
Ask yourself “What needs to be done today for this day to be successful?” And plan your day around that. Don’t let maniacal email checking, cartridge orders, and spontaneous interruptions take over. You’ll get to them later, the world won’t end. Make sure that the one important thing every day gets done, so that at the end of the day, not only do you have something to show for what you’ve been doing, but you’ll also feel better about it yourself.
2) Schedule repetitive tasks
There are some time-sucking traps that are easy to fall into, like chronic email checking and social media updating/monitoring. Set aside several times a day to check and respond to emails. Same for social media – set some time aside every day, during which time you’ll update your social media platforms, check out what people are saying about you on Twitter, and respond adequately. Constantly going back to your Facebook page to see if anyone has commented on your post will quickly dwindle away your time.
3) Track your time
One thing we’ve noticed is that you can’t manage what you can’t measure. If you know how you’re spending your time, if you know your top time-wasters, then you can make a conscious decision to avoid them. There are several tools out there that will track your time – you just have to find the right one for you.
4) Drink water
Swap your morning coffee with a tall glass of water. It is, after all, the elixir of life. Not only does it have an incredible amount of health benefits, but it will also give you sustained energy throughout the day, compared to the roller coaster of energy that you get from coffee. This will let you get through the day with an equal amount of high energy to focus on all of your tasks.
5) Keep positive
Don’t forget the importance of positive reinforcement. A good mood will go so far in terms of productivity. For this reason, you shouldn’t categorically ban Facebook or YouTube. Keep the people around you happy, and there’s a higher likelihood that they’ll want to do good work for you.
Start with these five basic steps, and you’ll be on your way towards building a more productive work environment.
This guest post is from Julia Gifford. She is the CEO of Desk Time.
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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I agree with time tracking increasing productivity and improving time utilization. We use Replicon's employee time tracking software.