Productivity is defined as “the quality or state of being productive” by Marriem Webster. We all seek various forms of motivation, be it from productivity apps to productivity quotes. However, no matter how we motivate ourselves we are always looking for the latest productivity tips to improve our productivity. An astonishing statistic about productivity is that in an average 8-hour workday, an average worker is only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes!

We look toward many tools to help us overcome productivity challenges and further our careers. Here I share with you 8 productivity tips that are researched and proven to help you become more productive in the workplace.

1) Do The Important Tasks First

The first of our productivity tips is taken from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. As an Engineer, you will have many tasks in front of you, and it is often a question of what should I do first? 

Assessing tasks and understanding what ones are the most important will help you become more productive and effective. You generally have a greater level of concentration and effort early in the day. Hence, completing the most important task first allows you to provide the best effort to that task.

Completing the most important task first, set a positive tone for the day, which will help with other tasks.

2) Take Regular Breaks

It is easy to become fatigued and uninterested from working for a long time. When this occurs, commonly the quality of your work drops. Taking regular breaks prevents this, and as a result, your productivity increases!

The length of the break is personal preference and what suits each individual. The frequency of breaks can vary from a 10-minute break after 30 minutes of work to an hour break after 2-3 hours of work. My personal preference was the latter.

However, many people find the Pomodoro technique to be the most effective (one of the best productivity tips). The Pomodoro technique involves setting a timer (Pomodoro) to 25 minutes. Work on a task until the timer finishes, and then take a 5-minute break. Repeat the process, and every four ‘pomodoros’, take a 10-minute break.

Experiment with different periods of working and break and find what works best for you.

3) Remove Distractions

In modern society, one of the biggest distractions is your mobile phone. How can you stop going on your mobile phone when working? Put it away somewhere.

Placing your phone in a different location to where you are working will help prevent you from procrastinating. Where it is placed does not have to be far. I place my phone in my draw while I work at my desk. It isn’t far, but it is in a location where I cannot reach it from where I was sitting.
Others may find that it needs to be put somewhere else, such as locked away somewhere. Like many productivity tips, find what works best for you.

The distraction may not be just your phone, it may be noise. In this instance, either try to work during a quiet period or work in a library. Whatever the distraction, the productivity tip still applies. Remove the distraction.

4) Find Your Most Productive Time of The Day

Everyone has a different time which they are most productive. Some people are night owls, and others are early risers. Understanding what type of person you are and when you are most productive will help you plan your work.

If you are an early riser, you are likely most productive in the morning. For this reason, it is important to try and complete tasks/work when you are full of energy. On the other hand, if you are a night owl, you may be more productive at the late hours of the day.
There is no better time to work. The best time is what allows you to have maximum energy and concentration to maximise the work period.

Once you have found your most productive time of the day, plan your day around it to maximise it. This might mean rescheduling daily tasks such as meetings and going to the gym.

5) Set Daily Goals

It is in human nature to feel a sense of achievement when we complete a task, we set ourselves. It is even more satisfying when we can see it visually. For example, highlight tasks from a list green when they are completed. The visual representation provides a sense of achievement and allows you to see what you have achieved.

Many times you can undertake lots of work, but when it’s finished, you feel like you have not accomplished anything. A visual aid such as highlighting a list will help you see what you have completed and provide a sense of achievement.

When setting tasks/goals they must be achievable and realistic. Failing to achieve a goal leaves a negative impact on your motivation and morale – even if it is unrealistic. Therefore, you mustn’t set yourself up for failure and set achievable goals.

Setting goals also provide additional internal motivation to get a task done. Going one step further, giving yourself a deadline for that goal improves your drive further.

6) Plan The Night Before

Planning your day the night before reduces the number of decisions you need to make the following day. Making numerous decisions can harm your productivity because we have a limited amount of willpower and decision-making abilities. Planning your day helps you retain mental energy for the tasks you encounter.

Mark Zuckerburg said in an open Q&A session “I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community. … I feel like I’m not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life.” This routine and planning allows Zuckerburg to apply the majority of his mental resources to important tasks.

7) Break Tasks Down Into Chunks

You can increase your productivity by breaking large tasks into small, more manageable chunks. The reason for this is because our brains tend to be overwhelmed by large, complex projects leading to a tendency to procrastinate, according to researcher Janet Polivy. 

We are unable to control the size of the project we work on but we don’t have to make a large project complicated. Increasing your productivity on large projects is achieved by breaking the large tasks into smaller ones. 

The smaller tasks will remove your brains natural stress point and help you be more productive. Incorporating the chunking method with the Pomodoro technique will multiply for productivity. 

8) Don’t Waste Time On Emails

How many times have you been distracted by an email appearing on your computer? All the time, I bet? You are working on a task, and you see an email has arrived in your inbox. What’s the first thing you do? Check what it’s about and get distracted.

Checking your emails gets your brain out of sync and the rhythm of the task you were completing at hand. To overcome this, assign periods of days where you check your emails. This reduces the time you spend checking emails and allow more time to work on tasks and make you more productive.

• Other Productivity Posts:
• 5 Ways To Keep A Good New Year’s Resolution in 2022

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