The Ultimate Productivity Checklist: How To Become More Productive

The Ultimate Productivity Checklist: How to Become More Productive

One thing we all have been guilty of saying from time to time: “There are not enough hours in the day”.

The thing is, there is more than enough time in the day to achieve everything and more than you want to. However, often we are not using our time efficiently or wisely. By making every minute of your day count, you will find you will begin to achieve things you always put off for another day.

So how do you become more productive when we live in such a demanding and busy world? Take a look at our Business Advisors Ultimate Productivity Checklist for some tips on how to get more out of your day.

28% of each day spent on DISTRACTIONS

27% of office workers feel DISORGANIZED

13 hours on average per week CHECKING EMAIL

1. Plan Your Day Before You Start It

Every night take 10-15 minutes to plan out your next day. It is not a massive amount of time, by having a plan to tackle tomorrow you will be able to sleep easier, and you will hit the ground running in the morning knowing exactly what needs to be done.

2. Get Yourself Moving

It may seem counterintuitive, you are trying to be more productive so do you really have time to be hitting the gym? The answer is most definitely yes! By starting your day with a workout, you get your blood pumping, and you get a nice boost of endorphins that will help release stress but also increases energy. It does not need to be a huge workout just make sure to get moving.

3. You Are What You Eat

If you start to the day is grabbing a Macca’s breaky muffin and coffee on the way to the office, do you think your body and brain will be operating at its best? No. Make sure that the foods you are fuelling your body with are setting yourself up for success.

Your BRAIN accounts for 2% of your body weight but consumes 20% of your daily CALORIES

4. Don’t Reach For A Coffee Or Sugar When Feeling Tired

You would be surprised how many of us are constantly dehydrated without realising it. When the body does not get enough water, it will make you feel tired and sluggish. So instead of going for an artificial pick me up, go fill up a water bottle and aim to remember to regularly drink it throughout the day.

5. Do The Most Important And Hardest Tasks

Everyone has their own ways of sorting out their to-do list. Our Business Advisors suggest organising your list based on the importance of the task and then by difficulty. Get the worst of the bunch out the way early in the day which will set the tone for the day as feeling like you have achieved something, rather than worrying about a horrible task upcoming later in the day.

6. Learn To Delegate

This is one mistake our Business Advisors see small business owners making again and again.

• Are you the only person who can be doing this task?
• Is it the best use of your time?

If not, find another person to complete the work. Your time is valuable. Make sure you spend it on tasks that only you can do.

7. Give Yourself Strict Timeframes

Don’t just rely on the actual timeframe of the work, give yourself your own deadlines and work to achieve them. Often work will expand to fill time, so if you know you have a month to complete a task, you will take a month to do it, even if it does not take that long for you to complete. If you are given a project but you feel like it could be done a lot faster than the initial deadline, set yourself a new deadline and get it out the way.

8. Take Regular Breaks

Another tip that sounds like the opposite of what you are trying to achieve. However, if you want to keep yourself working at your most productive, you need to take a break at least once every 90 minutes. By doing so, you give your body a chance to wake up, reset and become refreshed after focusing on one task for an extended period of time.

9. Keep Meetings Focused

There is no bigger time waster in offices than meetings. More often than not you will find hours wasted discussing a singular problem, quite often unsuccessfully. Try to ensure all involved stay focused. If the conversation is not relevant to the aim of the meeting or if it is not going to add anything to the purpose of the meeting, try to move the conversation on to a more productive thought pattern.

10. Don’t Respond To Emails As They Come In

Some people think they are efficient by responding immediately to emails, but this is not the case. What they are actually doing is continuously breaking their concentration. They are constantly switching and changing between a number of different tasks. Assign time throughout the day to check and respond to emails. Now, this does not mean ignore your emails altogether, but if it does not require immediate action leave it until the next time you have allocated to respond to emails.

11. Review Your Previous Work Days For Improvements

Don’t get into a habit of assuming that your current practices are best practices. Always take some time at the end of the day to look at how you spent your day, where you could have improved your time management and what you could do differently for tomorrow.

By making a few changes to the way you think and act you can improve your productivity throughout the day. By being genuinely efficient and productive, you are guaranteed to set yourself up for success in the future.

Not sure if you are making the most out of your time? Get in touch today with our Business Advisors in Perth and we will show you how to become more efficient and productive.

Now that you have more hours in the day, how are you going to use them? Keep an eye out for our article next month and learn How To Make Sure Your Invoices Get Paid.