Boost Your Personal Productivity

It’s not just the idea but the execution that leads to success. So your personal productivity is a major part of the equation.

But what happens when you cease being productive? How do productive people work through their creative blocks and energy crashes to get so much work done? Here are some suggestions to boost your personal productivity.

Know When to Take a Break.

The most productive people know when to take a step back and take a break. Working at maximum productivity for hours at a time is exhausting and stressful. Instead, working in short bursts is more effective, writes Kim Roch at Lifehack.org. Setting a timer and working until it goes off then taking a 10 minute break, might be helpful in keeping you on track.

Don’t Multitask.

Despite what you might think, jumping between tasks isn’t the most effective way to work. A 2010 study by researchers at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris found the brain can only handle about two major tasks at time, NPR reports. This means our capacity to multitask may really be quite limited, researchers say. So try to focus on one job (or at most two) at a time and get them done effectively.

Eliminate Unnecessary Distractions.

Whether it be the internet, TV, or anything else, eliminating distractions is key in maintaining productivity. Try taking a deep breath, finding a quiet place to work and focusing on essential tasks first, suggests Leo Babauta.

Create a list of things you need to get done, then focus on the essentials first. Are there any unnecessary tasks that could be eliminated? After getting your mind on track, find a positive, quiet environment, like a coffee shop or other peaceful location where you can work, writes Rau Hsu, also at Lifehacker.org.

Write Things Down.

Creating a short to-do list of two or three important items can help boil things down to the most important tasks and eliminate the overwhelming feeling of looking at a 10-item long list, writes Henrik Edberg of The Positivity Blog. Edberg claims sometimes his to-do list might have only one item, but that one thing might be more important then a huge number of minor to-dos on a much larger list.

Try these suggestions to boost your personal productivity and check back as I will post more suggestions in the coming weeks.