Being productive is one of the biggest challenges for many of us on a daily basis. Who can blame us though? We work long days, get flooded with assignments, hit roadblocks, and struggle to work on ourselves all along the way!
Here’s a fun fact to make you feel better about being unmotivated: The average worker is only productive for about THREE hours every day. If we’re being specific, it’s not even three hours; its two hours and 53 minutes. This is me saying don’t beat yourself up if you struggle with productivity because we all do! What I am telling you is that it can be fixed!
After all, we aren’t here to be the “average” person. We are here to GROW into the BEST version of ourselves!
So, if you’re thinking “Geez, I’m one of those average ‘three-hours-a-day’ people” or better yet, you’re thinking “I’m not even a ‘three-hours-a-day’ person,” rest assured because you can change! I used to be one of those people too, until I found some easy and effective ways to get rid of that laziness and distractedness.
Here are five easy ways to increase productivity:
- Get up and Move
- Switch Tasks
- Get Yourself a lil’ Plant (don’t knock it till you try it, seriously)
- Make Post-Work Plans
- Put down the Phone!
Let’s explain a bit more what each of these changes really entails but honestly, they’re so easy that they practically explain themselves!
Get up and Move!
Movement is a great way to increase productivity because it gets the blood flowing in your body again and sends it back up to your brain. Now don’t worry, I’m not talking about a full blown workout in the middle of your work day. You can simply get up and take a walk around the office! Maybe take a stroll into your kitchen to get some tea or a little snack.
Just getting up out of your seat and stretching down to your toes and back up above your head a bit can be the most effective! That’s what I prefer to do because I think stretching is extremely important for many things. Every half-hour or hour, I will get up to bend over to my toes and shimmy left and right a little just to get my blood flowing again and loosen up my body.
Any kind of movement will help you. The goal is to one, give your mind a break from work and two, re-energize your body which WILL re-energize your mind.
The more important thing is not HOW you move, but WHEN you move. A study conducted by the Draugiem Group found that people are most productive when they work for 53 minutes followed by a 17 minute break. Now of course your boss wont be fond of you asking for a 17 minute break every hour. That just won’t fly. But I am noting this to point out that it IS normal to become unproductive throughout the day because most of us aren’t treating ourselves properly! Getting up to stretch or fill up your water every hour will go a very long way. Take care of yourself.
Switch Tasks!
This is similar to getting up and moving to give your mind a little break! Working on one thing for too long can be exhausting and draining. When you plan out your day, you need to be strategic. Whether it be daily responsibilities at work, personal undertakings, school work, etc. you should always plan your day out in a way that allows you to work on multiple things. We don’t work to our fullest when we focus on one daunting task for a whole work day.
Don’t think of it as overloading your day. Think of it as planning out breaks in the day, where you can “break” from one thing to focus on another. Im sure your boss will approve of this break proposal đ
To give you an example of this, I’ll explain how I organize an average day. On a daily basis I almost always have blog tasks I want to accomplish, as well as goals for my acting. I plan my day in accordance to these responsibilities. I’ll plan to edit a blog post in my first hour. Then, I’ll take a break from the blog to maybe rehearse a self-tape. After that, I might work on a Blog Newsletter. Next, Iâll practice a scene I’m doing in an acting class. You get the gist here, right?
This helps us increase our productivity because we know we only need to be focused on this for a little chunk of time. This also keeps us thinking about something new, which helps our creativity and flow.
Get Yourself a Lil’ Plant!
Sometimes the simplest solutions can be the most effective. This is usually because they don’t require much effort but offer the same benefit. So, yes, you can just get a plant. I told you it’s that easy! Youâre probably thinking âWell, this is just silly,â but there is actual proof of this. Studies have shown that people in offices filled with greenery work much more efficiently than those who do not. Plants give people a sense of well-being and sense of responsibility which translates in their other work.
Also, if this actually doesn’t sound easy to you because you have a brown thumb, don’t worry! There are plenty of plants that are nearly impossible to kill. If you’re starting at square one, you can find some easy plants and learn how to care for them here.
Add some greenery to your desk space and you can reap the benefits of a little natural motivation and purer air! This one is the easiest things and also pretty rewarding as you see your lil’ plant grow. Consider it a physical representation of your own growth đ
Make Post-Work Plans!
It is proven that people are more motivated to work on things when they have a strict cut off time AND that cutoff time is enforced by some exciting plans! Now, I’m not expecting anyone to have happy hour plans after every work day with all their friends. Let’s be real, who has the money (and all the friends) for that! No. no.
Something as simple as planning a movie night with your roomie at a certain time will do just fine. Maybe you decide you’re going to get take out at your favorite restaurant for dinner AT 5:00. You might even plan out the fact that you’re going to take a bubble bath tonight and you tell yourself that you will take that bath at 7 o’clock! These are all small things, but what’s important is that itâs something that will get YOU excited for the end of the day. This will keep you more motivated DURING the day.
Similar to taking a stretch break every hour or switching from one thing to the next, making plans after work helps us stay engaged and excited in the moment and we produce better work because of it. It gives us something to look forward to! It’s important that when we work, we know it will come to an end. This keeps us going.
If you’re trying to save money and want some ideas for things to do after a long work day that are equally exciting, decompressing, and affordable, check out this post.
Put Down the Phone!
Yes, yes I know. This one is much easier said than done. But that is also why it can be the most effective if you really take it seriously! In our digitalized, social-media filled world, it is SO easy to waste valuable time sitting on our phones! We even waste time on our phones when we’re TRYING to waste time in other ways.
How often do you find yourself sitting on your couch, finally catching up on a show that you’re weeks behind on. BUZZ, BUZZ… Oops⌠somehow you’ve just missed the past 5 minutes (or likely more) of your show because you ended up in your text messages, then to Facebook, and then to Instagram all in that short time. So, I say againâŚPUT THE PHONE DOWN.
Don’t get me wrong. I fail at this too. Especially when I’m expecting something. I’m waiting on an email response about an audition or project or I’m having issues with friends and just NEED to see when they reply. Consider this an opportunity to practice a little more self-love by embracing the “out of sight, out of mind” philosophy. We rack our brains when we get stuck on something in that way and let it take over our whole train of thought for hours. I can also guarantee you that we are NOT being productive when we are stuck on something external like that!
We already talked about taking breaks every hour. I suggest keeping your phone completely away from you during your hour on work. It gives your mind a break from the rest of your life and allows you to zone in on your task. Then, when that hour is up and you are heading to fill up your water, take a bathroom break, or stretch, you can use that time to check a quick email, Facebook, or text message! Trust me, you will not be missing anything that important. You WILL be so much more productive with your work.
The Take-a-way
The main take-a-way here is to remember not to beat yourself up if you have a distracted work day or if you take hours to officially have the motivation to get out of bed and start your day. As studies have shown us, we are really only productive for a few hours!
With that being said, the other big take-a-way is that you CAN increase productivity a lot with just a few simple changes to your work-day habits! Some of these tips might become very enjoyable too. You might start to find that these are very therapeutic solutions for you, productivity aside. Stretching breaks may actually help your body feel better over time. If you lay off the social media at work, you might find that your mind is much calmer and you are happier because of it. Also, who doesn’t love some desk plants??
So, there you have it. The five easiest ways that you can increase productivity starting today! The more you commit to these five practices, the more productive you’ll be. The more productive you are, the happier and more motivated you will become. Increases in happiness and motivation can increase productivity even more! You see where this is going.
Remember that all the little positive changes you make to your life will affect the other parts of your life positively too!