Isn’t it ironic that we are often reminded best of how precious our time is when we manage it the worst? Like when you’ve worked long days for months, but your quarterly presentation still isn’t ready for tomorrow’s meeting. Or you missed your child’s final championship game due to scheduling conflicts. Regardless of the scenario, we all want to learn how to be more productive for the sake of ourselves and others.
Yet, it isn’t so easy considering everything that requires our attention. Cue mass emails and texts, never-ending projects, family events—the list goes on! So how do you get enough done to feel better about your work and about how you’re spending your time?
We have a handful of time-tested tips to increase your productivity. But first, let’s get on the same page about what exactly productivity means in the first place. Then we’ll lay out some insights on how to measure productivity and how you can boost your efficiency.
What Is Productivity?
At its core, productivity is the measure of your efficiency to complete tasks and achieve goals within a certain time frame. It’s the ratio of your output (e.g. tasks completed) over what resources it took to complete them—like time and effort.
Being a productive person—in contrast with being busy—is maximizing your output while minimizing your input. Think of someone who you consider to be productive. You probably think of how much work they can do in such little time. They use their time (an input) well to create impressive outputs (e.g. completed tasks).
When you start thinking of productivity this way, you begin to see all your actions as either adding to your efficiency or reducing it. It transforms your entire work process.
How To Measure Productivity
Measuring productivity is intuitive: compare what it took to do something to what you did. The most common metrics for measuring our efficiency include:
- How much time it took to complete a task
- The quality of the project completed
- How often projects are completed in a given period
But, you can only measure how productive you are if you have goals or benchmarks in place—you need something to measure against. For example, I use a time-tracking app to see how long it takes me to complete projects in my freelance business. If I spend less time on a project than I did before, and the quality is the same, I’m more productive.
In a business context, my measurement of productivity is my effective hourly rate.
But that’s only one aspect of productivity. Employees are routinely measured for efficiency through performance reviews, for example. Employers want to know how well an employee is using their time and may use productivity software to track certain metrics. These could include how often a team member completes assignments or how many sales they bring in per week.
There are myriad ways to measure productivity depending on your context—don’t get caught up in trying to find the perfect system of measurement. Measuring your efficiency helps individuals and groups identify their strengths and weaknesses. By doing so, they learn exactly where they can improve.
How To Increase Productivity
Increasing productivity can be done in many ways, but the most common is to focus on using your time better altogether. This way, you can fit in both personal and professional activities.
By having a less demanding schedule so you’re working less but doing just as much—or more—you’ll have more energy to devote to things that are important to you.
One way to increase your efficiency at home and at work is by using productivity tools. This can be as simple as using a paper journal or a complex software program that measures your time spent on multiple projects.
Finding your peak productivity might not seem easy at first, so we’ve laid out some of the most common—and easy to implement—tips for increasing your efficiency.
Build Your Time Management Skills
Getting better at planning your time and strategizing your days is key to becoming more productive. The better you become at time management, the less time it takes to get more done.
A key pillar of time management is learning what to allocate your time to. That’s harder said than done, especially when it feels like there are a thousand different things you could be doing at any moment. Setting clear priorities and goals to help you stay on track is crucial.
The Eisenhower Box (or Eisenhower Matrix) helps you organize your priorities. By doing so you can focus on high-output management rather than deciding what to do next.
Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, was one of the most productive men to ever walk the Earth. He came up with a time management strategy to decide on which tasks to do and when by separating them into four different categories.
- Urgent and important tasks that need to be done immediately (do now)
- Tasks that are important but don’t need to be done immediately (schedule for later)
- Tasks that seem urgent but are not important (delegate to someone else)
- Tasks that are not urgent nor important (eliminate)
Remember that it’s important to break up tasks into small steps so you don’t overwhelm yourself.
Create A To-Do List
We’re all familiar with writing the things we need to get done on paper. However, creating a to-do list for productivity requires a completely different approach.
Productivity legend and author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, David Allen, understands why people might have an aversion to listing all of the tasks they need to complete. “Looking at them creates as much stress as they might have relieved in the first place,” he writes.
Allen’s approach is to be as specific as possible when creating a task list by eliminating any decision making—that should be written down as part of the list. Instead of writing “organize team meeting” you should include steps on how to do that, organized by urgency and importance.
But it’s not enough to simply have a list, you need to review it from time-to-time, and update it as tasks are completed. And, if your priorities change, your list needs to follow suit.
Use the Ivy Lee Method Approach
Focusing on what needs done can quickly overwhelm you—it can feel like hundreds of tasks require your attention every day. How do you decide what needs to be done first?
Ivy Lee, a productivity consultant from the early 1900s, came up with a simple framework now known as the Ivy Lee Method. Lee’s approach is summed up in six steps:
- At the end of your work day, note the six most critical tasks that need to be completed tomorrow. Only six.
- Rank those tasks by their importance, listing the most important task at the top of the list.
- The following day, only concentrate on the first task on the list until it is done.
- Move on to the next task, working on it alone until it is done, repeating this approach until all the tasks are completed.
- Repeat this list every business day.
Lee’s approach can help anyone reduce their overwhelm and stress, and increase their productivity, by helping them realize what tasks actually matter—not just the ones that seem like they do.
Author Mark Twain emphasizes the necessity of only completing the most important task each day as well. “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.”
The phrase “eat that frog” was made more commonplace by productivity consultant Brian Tracy. It emphasizes doing the most important task—even if it’s the most difficult—first thing.
Stay Focused
To keep your attention solely on what you’re working on at hand, minimize distractions as much as you can. For many of us, our phones are a major culprit in removing our focus from our work. Putting your phone in a different room while you work can make a big difference.
Creating a work environment that helps you focus is also key. You can do this by reducing noise from outside environments and creating a neutral-colored space that isn’t distracting. Additionally, try keeping only work-related equipment in the room.
Famed entrepreneur Alex Hormozi works in a windowless room to minimize outside distractions, for example.
Though initially contradictory, staying focused also means taking a break. One study showed that individuals who took even a 10-minute mindfulness pause had increased “attentional resources” when working on tasks than those who did not.
I work at a computer all day at my day job in a law office. Stepping away for five minutes to walk around to give my eyes and mind a break refreshes me to work harder.
One Task At A Time
Multitasking can severely reduce productivity. This is especially true if the tasks we are working on use different thinking processes. Think about trying to solve a math problem and then write an essay at the same time. Ouch.
In fact, one study found that students who tried to do multiple tasks performed worse academically. Those who spent more time multitasking while completing their homework spent more time studying outside of class instead. Any time gained multitasking is often lost switching between tasks or reducing the quality of the work you’re doing.
Rather than try to do as much as you can at once, devote your time and focus to completing one task at a time. You’ll have more brain power to finish that task quickly before moving onto the next.
Delegate Tasks
You cannot do everything. That’s why delegation is a key piece of the productivity puzzle.
Individuals have their strengths and weaknesses, and delegating tasks accordingly leads to efficiency. That can only be done if tasks are delegated to the right employees.
Delegation also allows you to focus on high-priority tasks that best fit your role. For example, a C-suite executive wouldn’t work on basic data entry tasks. This particular task isn’t beneath them, but their skills and expertise don’t align best with the work.
Use The Pomodoro Strategy
The Pomodoro Technique (or Strategy) is a productivity tool used to keep you focused without reducing mental freshness.It’s approach is simple:
- Pick a task or project to work on
- Set a timer for 25 or 30 minutes
- Once the timer sounds, take a two- or three-minute break
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 for four sessions
- After the fourth session, take a longer break to recharge
By working for 25 minutes at a time and taking strategic pauses, you can be more alert for longer periods of time. Taking a break in between sessions doesn’t mean working on a different task—you need to step away from work entirely.
Overcome Perfectionism
Perfection is a productivity killer. Don’t get me wrong, it’s vital to do quality work, but that’s different from perfect work—an unreachable goal.
Perfectionism has been connected to burnout, stress and anxiety. All of these reduce your ability to get things done. Instead, aim for excellence in your work: complete a task while doing your best given the resources that you have. To make this process easier, set clear, concrete goals for each task you work on. You need to know what a finished task looks like.
For example, if you were tasked with writing an office memo, some potential goals for the document could be:
- Explains the topic at hand clearly
- Offers advice and next steps for staff that are understandable
- Uses clear language and is easy to read
Notice how these goals are much more manageable to attain and don’t induce the same type of stress created by aiming for perfection? They also allow for imperfections; though clearly not wanted, they are a necessity of life and business. Learning to accept them helps you work faster without unneeded stress.
Remember: not trying to attain perfection doesn’t mean you aren’t continuously improving either. It just means your end goal is achievable.
Avoid Toxic Productivity
Working hard toward your goals is good, but letting your drive to work and maximize output overtake all aspects of your life is damaging. That’s known as toxic productivity.
It’s documented that overworking leads to little-to-no gains in productivity, even reducing your output. Focusing too much on being as efficient as possible can take a massive toll on your mental health and pull you away from those around you. If all you are doing is thinking of ways to efficiently use your time, are you focused on those around you?
In contrast, healthy productivity is holistic. You take breaks, prioritize self-care while still focusing on your goals–both professional and personal. As Warren Buffet has famously said, “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”
Additionally, setting clear, manageable goals can help you know when you’ve achieved a desired outcome, letting you know when to stop. Think of goals as guardrails against toxic work habits.
Conclusion
From habit stacking to strategic rests and the 1-3-5 rule, trying to be more productive can feel, well, unproductive. There’s a lot of tips, tricks and options to choose from. But remember that becoming more productive is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Any techniques you come across should be implemented into your routines slowly. This way you can get used to them and learn how they work with your schedule.
For instance, try using the Eisenhower Box during one of your less busy days. Trying to prioritize your tasks with a new system when you’re already juggling too much likely won’t motivate you to keep using it.
Productivity should be a means to a fulfilled, enjoyable lifestyle, not simply a tool to turn you into a high output management machine. In an interview with Zapier, David Allen aptly describes his productivity method that sums up this view. “Getting Things Done [Allen’s methodology and book] is not so much about getting things done; it’s about being appropriately engaged with your life so that you can be present with whatever you’re doing.”
Photo courtesy of Studio Romantic/Shutterstock
