Summer officially starts tomorrow, and if you want to take advantage of the nice weather, it means you need to make the most of your office time. I decided this week's post would be a compilation of productivity tips. And since last week's post was about the new Facebook hashtags, I thought I'd do a search on #productivity in Facebook to get some ideas. Although all of the tips below didn't come from what I found on Facebook, it certainly was a good start.
Feel stuck and unable to focus? Perhaps all you need is a change in location. Work from home, step outside, move to a conference room or take up temporary residence at your local library or coffee shop.
For optimal productivity, make sure your workspace is ergonomically correct (this has been a particular challenge for me lately, since I think my setup is contributing to my neck and shoulder pain).
Just want to get more done, faster? Here is a great series of posts from RocketMatter on keyboard shortcuts:
- For WordPress
- For text editing
- For Twitter
- For Google Chrome
Manage interruptions better - especially impromptu or 'drop by' meetings.
I also liked this list of 12 things the most productive employees do before noon. Some of my favorites:
- Make a to-do list ahead of time (I recommend keeping it short, though - use the Power of Three)
- Ditch the snooze button
- Arrive on time
- Check in with others
- Avoid morning meetings (I find that I'm much more productive if I can get right to work. Once I go to a meeting, it's harder to get going. And if I have a meeting later in the day, I'm forced to get work done before I have to leave).
Manage in a way that makes your employees more productive, including:
- Provide constructive feedback on a regular basis (not just at evaluation time)
- Respect employees as people, not just as workers
- Provide necessary support (of all kinds)
- Model good behavior
Don't be fooled into thinking that emailing represents progress
- Think about the opportunity cost of any task you undertake, particularly email
- Establish benchmarks so that you can measure progress in other ways, especially for large projects
- Remember that your calendar doesn't always represent the entire universe of tasks that need to be completed
For all of you "GTD" fans, check out this post on GTD and mind-mapping for productivity.
And finally, some great advice (another one that I personally struggle with) from Lifehacker about saying "no" - you need time to do your best work, and that means you need to guard your time (and keep some of it obligation-free), rather than letting others set your agenda for you. Prioritizing is one thing, but eliminating things from your schedule (or preventing them from getting there in the first place) can be even more powerful -- so enjoy your downtime this summer!
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