In our fast-paced world, the demands of work and home can have us feeling like we’re burning the candle at both ends. The to-do list seems never-ending, and we can begin to feel like we’re not accomplishing as much as we should.
While pressures mount, we can often feel like we’re dragging when we need to be productive. Here are some tips for staying productive even on the longest of days!
Get a Good Night’s Sleep
You’ve heard it over and over, but getting a full night’s rest helps you to be ready for your next day’s tasks. Having a good bedtime routine can help facilitate a restful night of sleep.
Healthy adults should strive to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night to reach their peak productivity level. A good night’s sleep will leave you feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day’s tasks. Check out Furniture Standards for reviews on the BEST and latest beds you can find on Amazon!
Start the Day Off On The Right Foot
If you’re one of those people who have a tendency to hit snooze every morning when the alarm wakes you, particularly when you’re in the middle of a string of long days, stop. Resist the urge. Get up as soon as the alarm sounds.
You’ll start your day feeling more refreshed than if you hit snooze multiple times. Those little five to ten minute snippets of added sleep can actually leave you feeling MORE tired and drained rather than rested.
As a matter of fact, it’s a good idea to set your alarm 15 minutes earlier than you typically would. That added 15 minutes can have the benefit of helping you start your day feeling less rushed. In addition to waking with the alarm, eating a good breakfast will help you to start your day feeling energized.
Decide Which Tasks are Most Important
Make a list of which tasks absolutely must be completed before the end of your day. Rank them based upon their importance. Start with the most important task, and work your way through your list systematically. Sometimes setting a time limit can help you diligently stick to the task at hand. Actually setting a timer can help you to remain focused.
Resist the urge to multi-task. Knowing you have multiple tasks to complete can result in the urge to attempt to work on more than one of them at a time. This practice is actually counter-productive. Multi-tasking can have the result of many things being started without anything being finished. It’s a better idea to choose one task and focus on that one task until completion before choosing another task to begin.
Incorporate Small Breaks Within Every Hour of Work
When you have a long to-do list, or a particularly long day ahead, it can be tempting to work through your task list without stopping. For greater productivity, it’s a wise decision to take small breaks for every hour that you work.
Get up and stretch. Walk down the hall and back. Do something active for just a few minutes. The activity will break the monotony of your work leaving you feeling refreshed and renewed. Often small breaks can lead to new ideas to help move your task forward.
Eliminate Unnecessary Distractions
Often, we can find our workplace to be distracting rather than conducive to productivity. Lighting, noise, and clutter can cause distraction. Some of the distractions are beyond our control, like noise from co-workers down the hall, but some of them can be eliminated.
For optimal productivity we should strive to rid our work space of any unnecessary distractions.
The Bottom Line
If you find yourself not able to remain at top notch performance as the day drags on… try these 5 tips and we’re sure you’ll start knocking down that to-do list with more efficiency and ease!
