Have you ever stopped to think about how much of your working hours you spend doing things that are of no use to your obligations?
When you get to the end of the day and realize that a task has been left behind, know that you could have made better use of your time, and that extra hour you are working on could be better spent with your family or friends.
The villains that take up your time are everywhere, and learning how to avoid them will be the key to your day being much more productive and your productivity increasing considerably.
If you are determined to face these villains, follow these tips to the end, and be willing to put them into practice as soon as possible.
Be careful with the use of your cell phone
On the one hand the cell phone is an important part of your work, and not answering it can cause you future problems. On the other hand, notifications often direct you to personal matters that can be solved later, or even to some superfluous distraction.
This is when you need to use your first weapon: resist the digital temptations. The best thing to do is to deactivate notifications from groups of friends and from social networks that are not related to your work.
Another important thing is to explain your schedule to people close to you who are in the habit of calling or texting you more frequently.
And of course, don’t be the person who will pull random stuff with your friends, family, or post on your social networks during your working hours, this will end up putting you on a dead-end track.
Avoid disorganization
Not setting a monthly, weekly, and even daily schedule can slow down your work a lot.
Having a plan of what you have to produce and how much time you have to do it prevents you from getting lost.
You need to set deadlines for each issue; if you take too much time to accomplish one task you will end up with no time at all to accomplish the others.
So your next weapon is: knowing how to organize your tasks, this way you set rules for yourself and avoid wasting your time.
To do this, have a physical agenda or use digital resources such as apps and Google’s agenda. It is also worth other methods such as making lists and even spreading post-its around your desk.
Avoid procrastinating
It is very common that when we are faced with a more boring or laborious task we put it as the last thing to do.
This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, leaving a painful job for the end of the day or the end of the week is to increase the chances of not doing it and pushing this obligation to the future.
The problem is that in the future it will continue to be a boring task, so why not solve it at once?
Your third weapon is: Prioritize the most difficult obligations, so that you can get rid of them faster and be free to do your other tasks throughout the day or week.
Use the right tools
Some software can make your work much easier and, mainly, more agile.
Not knowing or mastering these tools is something that can hinder your performance and make you lose hours on something that could be solved in seconds.
To solve this problem and save your wasted hours you need weapon number four: study technological solutions that can be your best friends on a daily basis.
If you know these tools exist, but have no practice in using them, invest in a course or ask someone to teach you; you will see that the time you gain with this will be worth the investment.
The quality of your services also counts as a tool in your favor, having a good internet connection can save you from a lot of unnecessary delays.
Learn to turn your brain off
Knowing how to turn off requires a lot of discipline to get around. After all, turning off the mind from external issues and focusing on work is not easy.
Many factors around us can generate a distraction, whether it’s a television on, colleagues chatting, or a worry hammering in our heads.
To get rid of this you need a fifth weapon: to have a calm and organized environment to work in, free from temptations and elements that take your attention away.
If you work at home, avoid places where other people may circulate and be sure that you won’t be interrupted.
If you are in the office, choose moments to interact, arrange a time to have a coffee with your colleagues and thus relax, this way you can catch up on things, but without interrupting each other.
Taking the necessary steps to make your day go much further may seem complicated, but it really depends solely on you and your discipline.
Finding the best ways can take some time, but if you follow all these tips, you will surely get results faster.