Mon, 07 Aug 2023
8 Useful Tips to Boost Your Productivity
to do things, research has increasingly shown that it may not be optimal. In fact, studies have shown that taking frequent breaks, breaking up tasks into smaller chunks, and so on, can boost your productivity by a healthy margin – helping you get work done faster.
Boosting productivity is even more critical in the post-COVID world, where many of us work remotely from home or in a hybrid-remote setting. We all know that working from home comes with its own set of challenges, and maintaining your productivity when surrounded by distractions (and maybe family members and kids) can be pretty tricky.
So, what’s the secret? Well, there’s no secret; but a combination of small changes can help boost your Productivity like never before.
Here are 8 valuable tips to help you remain productive during your work hours:
Work Smart: Set SMART Goals
Setting goals might seem like an obvious tip, but the wrong goal will backfire quickly. On the other hand, picking the right ones can alter your mindset and productivity for the day. So, what do the ‘right’ goals look like?
They’re called SMART goals, i.e., Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Based Goals (SMART). Personalized and well-defined goals prevent you from simply drifting through tasks and keep you focused. Studies show that setting these types of goals helped improve productivity and performance by up to 25%!
It’s not just about setting high, or worse still, impossible, targets; it’s about making them realistic and relevant to you. When you set a goal that challenges you but is still within your reach, it suddenly becomes an exciting milestone to work towards. Now, to truly boost your productivity, tie it to an achievable deadline and watch the magic happen!
Frequent Short Breaks: Take a Breather Now and Then
Taking regular breaks might seem counterproductive to productivity, but it truly works. Think about it: you can quickly burn out or lose focus when working continuously. Instead, try something like the Pomodoro Technique, where you work in focused bursts of 25 minutes before taking a 5-minute break. Rinse-and-repeat throughout your day.
Don’t worry; taking breaks won’t make you fall behind. They invigorate you instead – enhancing your focus and creativity when you do get to work. So, step away for a moment the next time you feel stuck or tired. Grab a coffee, stretch, or just lean back and relax. When you return, you’ll likely find yourself far more productive. That said, make sure you avoid the temptation to extend these breaks!
Do it Now: Stick to The 2-Minute Rule
Letting tasks pile up is one of the most common ways people find themselves overwhelmed at the end of a busy week. The 2-minute rule is a productivity tip that helps you tackle your tasks one step at a time by ensuring smaller tasks aren’t left for ‘later.’
According to this rule, if any task will take 2 minutes or less to complete, don’t delay it. Do it right away! In addition to clearing up your day slowly and steadily, you’ll save a ton of mental energy by not having to remember all those tiny tasks. Whether it’s responding to an email, jotting down something important, or even just tidying up, make sure you don’t leave any ‘2-minute’ tasks for later.
Create a Dedicated Workspace
Creating a dedicated workspace is especially important in a home-office setting. Now that many of us work from home or in a hybrid remote model, it’s important not to lose focus even when at home (surrounded by distractions). A dedicated workspace helps put you into the ‘work’ mindset when you sit down – ensuring you get into gear to get work done.
However, building an ideal setup involves considering a few factors. Not only do you need to maximize productivity, but you also need to ensure you don’t compromise your posture, health, and eyesight when working. You can find more detailed information about creating dedicated workspaces at home on our Spark Your Productivity page.
Eliminate and Minimize Distractions
With social media apps constantly vying for our attention with a flood of notifications, it’s safe to say that distractions are a real problem today. We’ve all been there. We sit down to work completely focused, SMART goals in mind, and then…PING! That’s it. Once you pick up your phone to check, it’s over.
However, phones are just one type of distraction. It could be anything – from constant email alerts to chatty family members/colleagues. Identifying your primary source of distractions and minimizing them during your productive time is paramount if you want to get work done. Eliminating things that interrupt your flow will ensure you’re more productive and can reach your goals faster – leaving you more time for leisure!
Maintain a Clutter-Free and Wire-Free Workspace
Something as simple as clearing up your workspace and ridding it of clutter can significantly impact your psyche when you sit down to work. However, if you need to accommodate a work laptop, your own desktop, and maybe even a gaming console, you have no choice but to bear with wires everywhere…or do you?
A monitor with a built-in KVM switch (like MSI’s Modern MD272P Business Monitor) reduces the number of input devices, and hence the number of wires, you need to control all your devices. It allows you to plug your peripherals into your monitor directly to control devices connected to that monitor! In addition to the productivity boost you get from a clutter-free workspace, you can also enjoy a minimal work setup that looks pleasing to the eye when you sit down to work.
Get Your Hardware to Focus on What You Need
Waiting ages for a large document or Excel sheet to open or getting anything done doesn’t really scream productivity, does it? Although upgrading your hardware to a more modern system will improve your experience by leaps and bounds, sometimes, even that isn’t enough.
Just like you’re more productive and faster when focusing on a single task, your PC also benefits from focus. Applications like MSI Center have built-in tools to help your system focus on the task at hand – freeing up resources to maximize performance for whatever you’re trying to do. It means less time spent waiting around for things to open and/or complete, and more time spent being productive!
Spark Your Productivity
It’s important to have a dedicated space where you can collect your thoughts and get down to work. We recognize the effort needed to set up such a space, and the importance of setting it all up just right. You can find tips to set up your own workspace on the MSI Spark Your Productivity page, where we share best practices to keep in mind during the process!
