It happens to us all, we find ourselves looking forward to the coveted weekend every Monday morning instead of focusing on the dreary work we have in front of us. Productivity levels sink to the bottom of a sea of to-do that you’re drowning under with no lifesaver in sight. While we can’t give you the perfect office life, these tips will help you swim to the top and survive your massive workload.
- Set A Timed Schedule For Your Tasks
Your brain is an amazing, smart muscle, but, with everything it can do like store your favorite memories and tell you how to walk, it sucks at multi-tasking. To avoid having your brain go into overload, give an amount of minutes or hours for each task and stick to it. For instance, if you have multiple reports do on your to-do list, work on each one for only 30 minutes – 1 hour. The feeling of being overwhelmed causes us to become unproductive and ultimately feel like we’re getting nowhere with our work. Instead, breaking up your list will make you feel like you’re achieving more and forces you to stay focused. Also, include any breaks, even 5 – 10 minute between tasks, so you feel refreshed. By the time the weekend hits, your to-do list will have vanished.
2. Have An Office Buddy
Not just for lunch or to gossip about the latest Game of Thrones season, but to hold you accountable for your work. Now you may think, “my boss does that already,” but think about it like this: your boss is like your teacher giving you an assignment. Did you always do your homework on time or did you procrastinate? Work is just like that. We start putting off our “to-do’s” because we created the habit that we can pull an all nighter and can get it done without a problem. Instead of stressing out about deadlines, make your friend hold you accountable to stick to your schedule and vice versa. Make small bets about who’s buying lunch or not having coffee in the morning (Yikes!). Your productivity will increase sufficiently once you have your first day without your daily dose of caffeine.
3. Prioritize Your Day
If there is anything I know best, it’s that EVERYTHING is important. Reports, planning, buying, designing and every little thing that comes up in between becomes the top hierarchy. Here’s the issue with that, when you keep adding to the top, everything slowly descends until your to-do list becomes a list of incomplete tasks. You’ll start forgetting things and decrease your overall work drive because you have too much to do. Instead, realize not everything is urgent and it’s okay to say “no” or let your co-worker know (in a polite way!) that they can do it themselves. Once you start being able to do this, you’ll notice your list start dwindling down and that some things that presume to be so urgent, are not that urgent after all.
