19 SECRETS TO BOOST YOUR PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY

You can be the most dexterous worker but your vile can suddenly run out of the precious elixir of productivity. It is in times like these where you need to halt and refuel. It is indispensable as there is a constant need to replenish and boost yourself to sustain and progress.

Being productive is an interplay of time management and sincere attempts, curated and customized by you to suit your way of working. But there are some universally applicable and widely practiced secrets of being productive.
This article gives you 19 such extremely useful tips to amplify your productivity.

1. Form Lists
Lists are your friends. Grab a notebook, a listing app, or befriend a smart virtual assistant like Siri or Alexa to take down all your daily tasks. Clarity and visibility are the major benefits of creating such a to-do-list. Jotting down tasks in a list format allows you to keep track and gain the distinctness of all tasks. It gives you the luxury of being mentally equipped, alongside allowing you a head start every day. The idea is to maintain a list and keep it simple with realistic goals. While you maintain a to-do-list, we suggest you leave some extra space to create a not-to-do list (See 6).

2. Time Your Tasks
After preparing a to-do-list, the next natural step is to time your tasks. Prioritize tasks as per their urgency and list them in a descending fashion, keeping the ones that consume maximum hours at the top. This way you could primarily finish the most hectic tasks, and give yourself plenty of room to execute other simpler ones. Such an approach is referred to as the famous Brian Tracy's ‘Eat that frog’ technique.
Scheduling and timing your tasks in the aforementioned style will leave no room for procrastination. Moreover, it will give you a motivational pump by having conquered your most dreaded task in your to-do-list.

3. Utilize Your Commute **
The time you use for commuting to your workplace can be judiciously utilized. When people while away time this time on social media or playing games, you can use it to your advantage. Read, listen to podcasts, learn a new language, or pick up new skills on interactive learning platforms like **Kool Stories. This networking platform allows you to exchange skills and make the most of your time. A healthy habit of all productive people is that they use every available resource and manage it well.

*4. Schedule Timely Breaks *
It is pointless to sit at your desk, hours on end, without taking a break from all your lined up activities. It may seem counterproductive but studies have shown that assimilating short breaks improves attention. They suggest that extended hours of work can lead to a drop in the brain's focus, thereby interfering with overall performance. Shorts breaks are the resolve. Walk around your bay or engage with a refreshing conversation with a colleague for those crisp, energizing breaks.

5. Find Your Stimulation
You can experience a drop in your productivity levels when those motivational resources are either drained or remain untapped. Regular introspection is needed to replenish all of that lost energy or motivation. Find the most rejuvenating form of recreation and stick to it. Sometimes creating a soothing or pleasant work environment can also do wonders. A charming view or a well-arranged work desk will bring a splash of freshness in your otherwise mundane work-life.

6. A Not-to-do List
While you jot down all those daily essentials on a to-do-list, uncap that marker to create a not-to-do list as well. The items in this list are pretty evident - all those activities that hamper your productivity. Having a not-to-do list within your sight will enable you to ditch every unhealthy, unproductive habit and fruitless task.
Sit down with yourself and analyze all things you could have done better or look for simplifications that could save time and lead to efficient habits.

7. Single task vs Multitasking
While multitasking may seem like a fancy special skill to acquire, studies at Stanford University have found multitasking to lower productivity and lead to a decline in IQ levels. Another promising study by the University of Sussex in the UK indicates that multitasking negatively impacts your brain by physically damaging it. These harmful blows of the multitasking stem from balancing several tasks, dividing attention and limiting focus. They impede memory and further contribute to stress and burnout.

*8. Plan Ahead *
Productivity is a play of sincere efforts combined with efficient planning. A power play of these two elements is your ultimate weapon against laxity and procrastination. Planning your day is a healthy practice that lets you channel your energy into achieving goals most flexibly and conveniently. Careful planning leads to better management with much clarity on approaching deadlines. The best ways to begin planning is by-
● Creating a to-do-list
● Using handwritten notes
● Allocating reminders on apps like Google Calendar regarding all-important upcoming, events, calls, meetings, launches, deadlines, etc.

9. Stay Organized
Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. - Albert Einstein.

This famous saying by Einstein indicates the power of being organized in the most challenging times.
Staying organized is a virtue that you need to imbue in your physical setting. Similarly, these organization skills will be reflected and helpful while you schedule, plan, or execute any task.

10. Eliminate Distractions
To win at the game of productivity, your biggest rivals are distractions. Distraction comes in all forms and through all mediums. Noisy or chatty co-workers can be major physical distractions. While frequent notifications, engaging in games, or social media browsing constitute electronic distractions. Your goal should be to identify all such sources that accumulate to sidetrack your mind, write them on your not-to-do list and eliminate them.

11. Adopt a Proactive Approach
A proactive approach allows you to be dynamic and in charge of situations and tasks. Such an approach can be strategically suffused right from the start when you intend on planning for the day ahead. Authority and total control are the key benefits of having a proactive outlook.

12. Avoid Unproductive Meetings
Not only are those frequent unproductive meetings the biggest distractions but are also major time and energy drainers. They interrupt and break your workflow. Therefore you should be mindful when choosing the meetings to attend or look for alternatives to attend via email, phone, or through the Web.

*13. Reward Yourself *
While hard work is necessary, there should also be plenty of room where you recognize your accomplishments, and cherish all that you have achieved. Rewards and recognition are therefore a major productivity booster.

14. Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is vital to improve overall body functionality. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) suggests that 7 to 9 hours of sleep is mandatory for the operation of a healthy body and mind. A sleep-deprived mind is less productive and more susceptible to make errors. Therefore, a well-rested state of mind is the harbinger of creativity, improved memory functions, and reduced stress levels. Moreover, they allow you to focus better and improve your decision-making abilities as well.

15. Exercise Regularly
Having an exercise regime not only boosts those cheer-inducing endorphins but are great energy enhancers too. Find the time and incorporate any form of recreational exercise to your routine. Realizing the significance of exercising, companies have started including outdoor activities or gym facilities. Thus, it is equally important to get moving.
Pick up any form of workout like yoga, pilates, CrossFit or simply integrate a walk in your schedule. Stick to this and you will be able to trace a difference in your overall functionality.

16. Don't Get Hung up on Perfection
The habits to tweak things and modify them to perfection can be the reason for delayed deliveries and work piles at your station. Consequently, these delayed deliveries and deferment will lead to underperformance, accounting for stress. The best strategy would be to complete tasks and tick them off your checklist. Understand that perfectionism is a delusion and cannot always be achieved in reality.

17. End Procrastination
This is the unhealthiest work habit. Postponing work to do it later will stockpile and add to your existing burden of stress and responsibilities. Pick your tasks wisely, pin them on your timeline for the day, and start right at it.

*18. Review Your Week *
After completing a week’s work, it is wise to sit back, contemplate, and analyze. This way you can recognize your accomplishments, any shortcomings, or the challenges you faced. Learning from your highs and lows is a major contributor to your productivity.

*19. Learn to Say No *
As much as you would like to complete all your tasks for the day, it is equally important to make mindful commitments. A jam-packed calendar will only increase hassle and won’t allow you to work to the best of your potential. Learn to politely say “no” to postpone or decline tasks that require more effort or time.

SOURCE BY: https://www.socialposts.org/2020/08/19-secrets-to-boost-your-personal-productivity.html