Stay positive and get productive!
Do you find it hard to stay positive, focused and alert at work?
The below tips can help so your hard spent hours in the office keep you feeling upbeat, organized and productive!
1. Your Commute/ morning rituals
Do you have a long or short commute to work? Whether you do or don’t, start your day doing something you enjoy, like listening to your favorite music in the car, reading, writing or doing some exercise.
2. Arrive Early
Arrive to work at least 10-20 minutes early so you can focus on what tasks require your attention, and how best to structure your day. This even gives you some time to make a cup of coffee/tea to get rid of that morning drowsiness.
3. Emails
Some of us rely on emails every day, and checking them/replying is absolutely necessary. If you don’t however, try to steer clear as they can distract you from your task at hand.
Stop! Naturally the first thing we do upon sitting at our desks is check emails. Unless absolutely necessary focus on completing a task first, leaving the checking of your emails to assigned times throughout the day. Avoid opening new emails as soon as they pop up as it will only distract you from your current activity.
4. Planning
Effective scheduling of the day will help achieve your goals. Begin each day by writing a set of objective you wish to complete, in order of priority. Feel free to schedule a couple of breaks in there to make everything seem less daunting.
5. Time usage
Scheduling will also help plan your time effectively, allowing you to realise if you are making the most of your time. It’s important to focus efforts on what matters most, and leave additional tasks for when time allows.
6. Pace Yourself
If the tasks are piling up then the worst thing you can do is begin to rush through work. There is a higher chance that you will make errors and deliver below-par work that inevitably will require amending. Pace yourself and concentrate on completing the task in hand to a high standard.
7. Break Time
Taking breaks is proven to increase your productivity as they allow you to mentally recover and re-focus on the task in hand. If possible, try to move away from your workstation and into a comfort zone.
8. Attitude
While professionalism is important in the workplace it doesn’t mean that you have to be serious all the time. Infuse positive emotions with your work and colleagues and enjoy the contagious nature that it brings throughout the office environment.
9. Negativity
Okay, we all have those co-workers that no matter what seem to suffer from a never ending irrational sense of negativity. However, usually people are negative for a reason and whether this is professional or personal it is important to remain compassionate. Rather than being influenced by negativity, ensure that your positivity influences the other person.
10. Conflicts
Office politics unfortunately can affect the best of us, but until divisions are removed it’s impossible for a business to take huge strides forward. Don’t get caught up in ‘being right and proving others wrong’, focus on what is needed to move away from the conflict and towards making progress.
11. Holiday Days
Use holiday days wisely and don’t be afraid to mix it up by engaging in activities that you wouldn’t usually do. Unless it’s essential then remove work from your thoughts entirely. Give yourself time to recharge and reap the benefits once you return to work in an upbeat, positive mindset.
12. Share Results & Support Others
It’s important to feel valued at work and sharing achievements with colleagues allows them to understand the importance of your role. Likewise, be supportive of others achievements and realise that every success promotes the business that you are part off.
13. Collaboration
Make sure you collaborate with others to achieve mutual goals and influence the business with greater results. Never be afraid to ask for help and realise that in doing so you are learning skills and improving your own work.
14. The Boring Jobs
Every so often we are faced with a mind numbing task that preferably we would choose to avoid doing. Instead, bite the bullet and face the task head on. Avoiding the task will see you using your time less productively and can cause issues with other co-workers who are waiting on completion of the activity. Unless you have an office intern of course, then wave them over in a friendly manner and share the great news about their next task!
15. Meetings
Meetings can be a huge time consuming activity and simultaneously the least productive. It’s suggested that walking meetings help focus on the tasks in hand, and conclude with real and achievable objectives that can be undertaken. If you are asked questions during meetings that you are unsure off, never be afraid to go away and give an answer later. Incorrect information can lead to incorrect decisions.
16. Criticism
From time to time others will criticise your work either formally or informally. Rather than rejecting these opinions or taking them personally, understand what is being said and use as a base to improve your own work.
17. Changing Environments
As we all know, businesses face change at an ever rapid rate and those who do not keep up will fall behind and suffer the consequences. Make sure you are open and adaptable, and if you are a senior colleague use your experience to guide you rather then to resist change.
18. Health & Wellbeing
Exercise is proven to reduce stress and the resulting feel good factor can boost productivity by leaving you with a healthy and focused mindset. So next time you have a spare evening or weekend, get up and get active! Personally, I go running and go to yoga- it helps me de-stress and feel amazing throughout the work day!