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hey everyone and welcome to top tank
today we're going to learn about 16 tips
to be more productive today now let's
begin number one the productivity
countdown imagine you walk up to your
desk and you find a stack of 50
documents waiting for you to read or
maybe you open your email and find
dozens of messages each one more urgent
than the last when you're staring down a
mountain of work what's the best way for
you to boost your productivity try using
a Productivity countdown just start with
your max workload let's say for example
you're plugging away at those 50
documents every time you read one you
count yourself down by one that way each
little bit of progress pushes you one
step closer towards zero and the closer
you get the more motivated and
productive you'll feel number two aiming
for the middle lazy people aren't the
only ones who struggle with productivity
you have an amazing work ethic yet you
still have a hard time getting anything
done why is that well because you're
spending way too long on each individual
project you're trying to make everything
you do turn out perfect but that's not
only impossible it's also a gigantic
waste of time so how much effort should
you put into your work how do you know
when enough is enough
to gauge your stopping point think about
the minimum amount of work you could do
to finish that project now think about
the absolute maximum your goal should be
to shoot somewhere in the middle that
way you're going above and beyond
without wasting too much of your energy
on one job number three the pre-lunch
burst for most people lunch is their
favorite part of the workday it's your
chance to take a break
decompress and get a nice little boost
of energy but few people realize how big
of a motivator lunch can be think about
that hour right before your lunch starts
you might spend a good chunk of that
hour staring at the clock
hmm counting down the minutes until your
break but instead of letting the clock
decide when you eat why not base your
lunch around your work just tell
yourself that you can go to lunch only
after you've reached a certain goal and
when this kind of reward is on the line
your work flow will jump into overdrive
you'll work faster and maximize your
efficiency and by the time that hours up
you'll feel proud productive and ready
for your break number four find your
peak hours everyone has a certain window
during the day when they're the most
productive for some that's first thing
in the morning you wake up feeling
energetic and ready to jump into your
work for others productivity feels more
natural in the afternoon or maybe you
like the burst of creativity that comes
from working at night whether you're an
early bird or a night owl you should
reserve your hardest goals for your most
productive hours in other words don't
waste your energy or creativity on busy
work save the boring stuff for those
moments when you're feeling lazy and
that way you can tackle the real
challenges when you're performing at
your best
number five plan your time slots are you
the kind of person that constantly
checks their email or maybe you can't
spend five minutes apart from your phone
if you are there's a good chance that
your habits are stopping your
productivity in its tracks luckily
there's an easy solution instead of
obsessing about your emails and messages
just create a few time slots throughout
the day where that's all you do ya set
aside all your other work and focus
solely on responding to emails answering
messages and returning phone calls as
you get in the habit of using time slots
you'll find yourself less and less
worried about checking your phone
because you know you'll see it when your
next time slot rolls around number 6
live an 80/20 lifestyle have you ever
noticed that a small percentage of your
work yields the majority of your profits
in business this is called the 80/20
rule you can almost always expect 80% of
the effects to come from 20% of the
causes okay let's say for example you're
trying to fix errors in a computer
program it's not worth your time to
tackle every single bug that people
encounter that would take way too long
so instead you aim for the top 20%
because that will get rid of 80% of the
problems now if you want to increase
your productivity try to incorporate the
80/20 rule into your lifestyle spend
your time and energy on a few very
productive tasks rather than wasting
hours on something that won't earn you
much of a reward
number 7 learn to delegate you just
can't do everything by yourself if your
boss throws a big project your way you
can't do the research design the
prototype and make the presentation all
on your own not only would it take you
way longer but you'll end up feeling
overwhelmed and burnout to accelerate
your productivity learn how to delegate
there's nothing wrong with admitting you
have too much on your plate it's almost
always a good idea to recruit a
co-worker or even a small team to help
you out that way you can spread the work
get things done much faster and even
incorporate some new perspectives along
the way
number 8 manage your team delegation is
an incredibly useful strategy but
delegating work doesn't automatically
make you more productive there are
plenty of managers who delegate well and
then end up wasting even more their time
that's because they spend hours hovering
over their team members they check in on
their progress every 5 seconds and they
nitpick every move they make delegating
is supposed to save time but when you
hover you're just sabotaging your own
productivity so how should you manage
your team in an effective and productive
way well try using some kind of online
collaboration tools these programs allow
you to quickly take stock of everyone's
progress without soaking up more of your
valuable time
number 9 morning self-care do you cram
as much work as you can into your
morning's if you do it might be hurting
your productivity when you start your
grind right after you wake up you're
more likely to feel lazy and burnt out
in the middle of the day so try to find
a morning routine that balances
productivity and self-care remember that
you want to end your morning feeling
motivated not frustrated or exhausted
number 10 creates accountability most
people work better when they know
someone's counting on them this is a big
problem for freelancers and people who
own their own businesses they struggle
with productivity because well no one's
holding them to deadlines or strict
schedules so if this sounds like you
it's time to create some kind of
accountability find someone who's going
to rely on you like a client or even a
close friend when someone expects you to
perform at your best you'll find
yourself being more productive than ever
number 11
shortcuts aren't productive cutting
corners isn't the same as being
productive while it's true that finding
innovative solutions can save you time
you should never let the quality of your
work
suffer because then you're just being
lazy shortcuts should never be an excuse
to do less work the goal of any
shortcuts should be to streamline your
process or improve your efficiency not
to help you get out of work early
number 12 under 60s your day is filled
with small decisions you pick out your
clothes in the morning and you decide
what to eat for breakfast these trivial
decisions have very little impact on
your day yet you might waste tons of
time making up your mind so whenever
you're facing a small decision just give
yourself one minute one minute that
sense of urgency will make you choose
faster and feel more satisfied with your
decision so cut yourself off at 60
seconds no more because that's all the
time you really need number 13 prune
your commitments sometimes your own
generosity stands in your way you'll
want to help everyone and you want to
say yes to everything but you end up
with so much on your plate that you run
out of time to focus on yourself to give
your productivity a boost try to shave
off at least one commitment every week
if you did 10 favors this week well then
do 9 the next and then eight and then
seven that way you can prioritize your
own responsibilities before handling
someone else's number 14 the sole
decision maker you shouldn't be making
every single decision on your own
it's frustrating to hand the reins off
to someone else but it's stressful and
unproductive to be the only
decision-maker but luckily you can
relieve some of that pressure by relying
on your co-workers you'll get a lot more
work done if you can learn to trust in
their judgment number 15 cherish your
downtime downtime is an important part
of being productive even though you're
not getting work done spending time with
your family keeps you mentally stable it
gives you an opportunity to recharge and
to gear up for another productive day no
one can be proactive and efficient all
the time so don't take your downtime
for granted number 16 in don a high note
when's the best time to stop working
most people try to drain their brain
before they leave for the day but the
most productive people in their day on a
high note
you should stop working when you're
feeling inspired and full of ideas why
well because it gives you direction for
tomorrow from the moment you come into
work you'll know exactly what to do next
instead of feeling hesitant or confused
you can jump right back into the action
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