5 Ways to increase your productivity exponentially
All of us are always working hard, trying to get that increase in paycheck, or to contribute more to your organisation, or simply to quickly get the job done so that you have more leisure time. However, not all of us may be working smart, and here are 5 ways that could help you increase your productivity.
1. Wake up early, and sleep even earlier
In order to have sufficient rest, we should sleep early and rise early. Most successful people sleep at 10pm and wake up at 5am. While everyone has 24 hours a day, people who wake up at 5am are more productive because when it is early in the morning, you are fresh, energised, ready to take on the most difficult task, compared to say 1pm, when you have just taken your lunch and suffering from food coma.
Having adequate rest also allows you to be able to concentrate more at the task at hand as your brain has enough rest to repair itself such that you would be sharper and more alert the next day.
2. Focus at the task at hand
Advancements in technology which has made the usage of social media platforms such as Whatsapp as well as communication apps like Gmail more prevalent. All these apps serve as distractions for us, making us check our smartphones for notifications from time to time, breaking our concentration such that our thought flow is disrupted, and any momentum gained is lost, resulting in productivity loss.
Moreover, contrary to popular belief, multi-tasking is not a good thing to do if you want to increase productivity (in my opinion, at least) because multi-tasking diverges your focus across different tasks, such that you are not able to maximise your 100% focus and effort on any task.While multi-tasking is preferable if you are doing repetitive, low-skilled job that values quantity over quality because you can get more things done within a short span of time, it is counter-productive if you are doing high-skilled job that requires brain power.
3. Know why you are doing what you are doing
Knowing the purpose of what you are doing is important since it gives you motivation and a direction towards your end goal or vision. As such, you will have a higher sense of purpose and like to do what you are doing, such that the line between work and play is blurred. Most entrepreneurs who chase after money without having a clear goal often end up failing or even if they succeed, feel empty for their business may not be in line with their beliefs and values. For more detailed information, please refer to my previous article at:
4. Break up your end goal into smaller, achievable goals and start doing
When we focus on our end goal which, perhaps, is to earn a million dollars, or start a Multi National Company, or to solve world hunger, our brain often fails to comprehend such a large project, resulting in high levels of stress such that we end up procrastinating instead of starting work.
However, when we break our end goals into smaller, achievable goals, we trick our minds into thinking the tasks are easier complete. For example, instead of planning to finish revising the entire syllabus of Biology in one week, you can plan to revise Chapter 1 on Monday, Chapter 2 on Tuesday, so on and so forth. While this method may not seem effective at first, it actually incentives you to take action due to the perceived ease at which the task can be completed.
Once you take action and achieve the first mini objective, you will feel satisfied and rewarded, gaining momentum to take on another goal, one after another, ultimately reaching your end goal without you realising it.
5. Exercise
Physical activities not only reduce stress by producing endorphins, but also allows you to feel more motivated to concentrate at what should be done. Everyone prefers different types of sports. Some like to hit the gym while others would rather do callisthenics; some prefer fast-paced pilates while others like to relax doing yoga; some tend to cycle more but others go hiking for dozens of kilometres. Ultimately, different sports train different muscle groups and are catered to different body types. You just need to find the type of exercise that best suits your body and interest, then find a few workout buddies.
