Increase Productivity without Paying a Toll

The sign of our times has two words: Burn out.

We may be working at our desk job for the same number of hours, but many of those hours are spent continuously multi-tasking in a vain attempt to be productive.

In today’s work environment, our work boundaries have disappeared. We no longer stop to smell the roses. Thanks to our high-tech, gadget-prone society, we don’t leave work at the workplace. Now we are connected to our work at home, at play, and while driving.

If you phone clients while driving, reply to emails on your laptop while at meetings, and take lunch breaks in your office, your productivity may be suffering big time.

The shocker, if you’re a multi-tasker, is that you are taking more time (an average of 25% more) to complete a task. This is because your concentration isn’t fully on the main task.

Greater productivity will come by doing two simple actions: set specific time allocations for concentration, and make your work breaks work-free.

As an individual, do these:

1. First things first. In the morning, do the highest priority item first. Try doing this in a private area that’s free from distractions and interruptions. Set aside a defined time frame lasting 60 to 90 minutes.

2. Set a regular time for deeper thinking. Long-term goal setting, strategic planning, or creative musing all come under this heading. Try doing this in a stress-free location.

3. Treat your vacations as “no-work zones.” Fully disconnect from work. Your productivity (and your health) will be the better for it.

For the manager, do these:

1. Set meeting limitations. Meet for 45 minutes, max. Your people can stay focused better than if you met for an hour or more. Plus, at the conclusion of the meeting, they can evaluate the results, and decompress before the next meeting or task. Start each meeting at a specified time, be a stickler about ending in 45 minutes, and, like the movie theaters, don’t tolerate any powered-on mobile devices during the show.

2. Treat your people like humans. They are not email inboxes that reply instantly. Grant them the time to focus on their priorities and not interrupt their productivity.

3. Broaden break-times. Get your workers to take genuine total breaks from work. Consider having onsite exercise programs, massage therapy, or even napping sessions.

Bottom line: Greater productivity will come with focused concentration during specific time allotments, and from breaks that are truly time away from work.