In what best ways can you maintain a productive lifestyle – whether at work, home, or in other areas? We will be recommending tips for improving productivity in Nigeria as you read along. And truth be told – a productive life is a balance between your abilities and weaknesses, between your high and low points. You need to recognize when you are able to give your best, and situations that sap your energy.
You may find yourself losing productivity and not be able to achieve much, when your mind is occupied with too many things. Again, you lose productivity when you take on several tasks, especially without planning on the best use of your time. Rather than allow excess chores to demoralize you, you can learn to better organize yourself. Make good use of the following tips for improving productivity in Nigeria as a worker, homemaker, entrepreneur, student, or the like.
Start Your Day with Set Goals
A good way to declutter your brain is to actually set out to execute a few useful tasks for the day. Start the day with a clear mental picture of the goals you wish to achieve; and they should be few enough to manage easily. In fact, it is better to write them down. Pen down a To-do List you can carry around with you; and edit it if necessary.
Besides this, your goals should be realistic and achievable. Do not overburden yourself with tasks that are either too difficult, or impossible to achieve. Neither choose to do tasks that are too few or too simple to engage your mind productively. The latter case will only lead to boredom and lack of creativity. Be fair to yourself.
Start With the Hardest Chores/Tasks
Again, it is advisable that you start with the hardest tasks (or the most critical/important ones). That is, give priority points to each task. As such, the hardest or heaviest tasks have higher priority, and go straight to the top of the list. By the time you are through with the harder tasks, you may feel somewhat tired. It becomes easier to rest, recover, and spend less energy handling the remaining tasks.
Energize Your Mornings: Here’s How
If you start your day on the right footing, your mornings should energize you to think and act productively for many hours. For instance, start the day feeling fresh. How can you achieve that? It’s simple.
To begin with, getting enough sleep or rest is indispensable. Your body totally needs it. But not too much sleep anyway; this would be counter-productive. You should have at least 6 to 9 hours of quality bed rest every night (if you follow standard medical recommendations). For the best sleep/rest experience, you should adopt a good, relaxing sleep posture and in a well-ventilated room. You might take a warm or cold shower before bed rest to further relax your nerves.
You can also adopt a morning routine such as simple physical exercises, a cup of tea, deep breathing exercises, and the like. It should not take more than a few minutes (perhaps 10 minutes at most). But making it a regular routine or morning ritual would boost your morale and energize you for the day. This simple hack is one of the tested and proven tips for improving productivity on a daily basis.
Go Further: Set Periodic and Realistic Goals
You must identify your purpose in life, and set goals to achieve that purpose. Discover yourself, and avoid following the crowd. A life without purpose can follow any direction without achieving anything. Nothing kills like a purposeless life.
So – finding your purpose will help you to identify the goals you wish to achieve per time. Your goals should be tailored towards your overall purpose in life. This means your goal-setting should be done periodically, and reviewed time and again to know if you are making progress. Set realistic and achievable goals for the day, week, month, year and beyond. Your daily and weekly goals should be channeled towards achieving your bigger, long-term goals.
And if you do not achieve some of these goals – appreciate what you have done so far. And pat yourself on the back. Then re-strategize and continue. NEVER GIVE UP.
Reduce Multitasking to the Barest Minimum
Some job offers will specifically require that you should be able to multitask. But in reality, your mind can only focus effectively on one thing at a time. Don’t cheat Nature, and don’t overstretch your boundaries. Reorder your tasks from the most important ones to the simpler ones, and handle them one at a time. You can practice ticking off each task on your To-do List as you move through them each day. You will find out that you have achieved far more by ordering your tasks, than by attempting to do several things at once.
Say NO to Procrastination
Delaying important tasks till later can quickly become a habit. So work consciously to avoid this mentality. As they say, procrastination is the killer of time.
Create Time Blocks
Apportion specific lengths of time for each task you want to achieve for the day. This is called ‘time blocking’. You can create a time block suitable for each job. Standard time blocks last from between 60 and 90 minutes per task (after which you should pause and rest awhile). This is one of the very effective tips for improving productivity. It allows you to be conscious of how much time (and energy) you are committing to each task, and not overstretch yourself.
Shut Out Distractions
Know for sure that a million and one things are all around you, that are potential sources of distractions. People talking or making calls; music and all kinds of sounds; even notifications on your smartphone or computer. But you must know how to minimize them. Better still, learn to shut them out. Move away from the noise, and close your door (or window) if necessary. Turn off notifications on your phone. Or put your phone in Silent or Airplane mode. Try any other hack that works for you, but learn to focus on the job.
Know Yourself
Let your abilities and limits help you to identify the optimal ways of doing work. You can start by identifying those moments of the day when you typically receive an energy boost. For some folks, they feel more energized in the morning. For others, it could be early or later afternoons; or probably after they re-fuel by having a meal or snack.
Again, no matter how good you are at carrying out certain tasks, it is good to know when to stop and rest. Don’t over-stretch yourself. And other people may seek your intervention or help from time to time. But recognize when you have reached the limit of donating your time and energy. You should recognize your own break-point.
Once you have reached the limit of your energy or endurance, learn to say NO, and set boundaries. Your doing so will preserve you from getting burnt out, worn out, sick, or quickly lose productivity.
You Need Moments of Rest
While you are hard at work, you tend to slow down gradually in-between chores. Before your body screams ‘STOP’, give yourself a break. Take a pause and relax. Stretch your muscles, take a short stroll, have a quick nap, get some tea or coffee for a few minutes. You will return refreshed and willing to continue. A seemingly small hack but a defuser of stress. It is one of the useful tips for improving productivity.
Learn to Reward Yourself
Your body and mind will cooperate with you the most, when you learn to reward yourself for achieving your goals. You can start with a little ‘something’ for completing the day’s tasks (a snack, a sweet, or something directly proportional to what you achieved). You may also plan towards giving yourself bigger rewards. Good examples include going to the cinemas, having a good meal at a restaurant, planning a holiday trip, or buying that cute fashion accessory. Something to pamper yourself.
Final Words
As pointed out earlier, the best way to preserve yourself is to create a balance between your strengths and weaknesses. It takes practice, but learn to swing gracefully between your high points and low points. Thus, you can boost your productivity and refresh yourself time and again, after committing yourself to work. It is a never-ending cycle.
