Productivity

A couple of MIT scientists conducted a study on what made people more productive than others. Based on the findings of a survey of almost 20,000 individuals made on six continents, they discovered that highly productive people share simple yet noteworthy habits. It’s no surprise what these are and there’s nothing new about them. Here’s an eye-opener – Longer working hours don’t mean more productivity. So, if you’ve been wondering what makes people more productive, here are the top three. List your priorities for the next day What do you hope to accomplish tomorrow? That’s right – before you turn in for the night, you need to make a list of your priorities for the next day. It’s essential to write these down because it’s so easy to forget what needs to be done on a busy day. Something new will likely crop up and demand your attention. But you’ve got to stick to your priorities or you’ll end up accomplishing far less. Our tip: Attend to urgent matters but if you can delegate or assign these to others, then do so. You have activities lined up each day and there are time-saving tricks that can help you. If you’re making calls or going to talk to people, determine beforehand what you hope to achieve. If you need to write a letter or memo, identify the message you wish to convey and make an outline. And, if your colleagues suddenly need to talk to you, designate a time when you will be available. Manage your information intake. Whether you get a few or dozens of messages each day, these can quickly bog you down. Thankfully, smartphones today have a priority mode, which will only allow messages and calls from specific individuals. This can come in handy if you need relative peace for other tasks or remain undisturbed during a meeting. Check your phone settings for this useful feature. For e-mails, look at the subject and sender first before opening each. Read those that are important and skip those that don’t need immediate action or reply. In many instances, you can again delegate to colleagues or subordinates the task of responding back. If social media has a role in your job or business, you have a compulsion to check for any new message or posting. Our tip: If it’s something urgent, you’re not going to learn about it on social media. So, check on these during your breaks only. Manage your meetings. There are no data to support the fact that longer meetings are more productive. In fact, the study recommends that meetings should be one and a half-hour long at the most. It’s wise if the agenda is set, preferably a day or hours before the meeting begins. Stick to what’s to be discussed, though allow some time for other matters. Conclude each meeting by summarizing, assigning tasks and even creating the agenda for the next session. To Wrap Up You should try developing these excellent habits. If you continue to practice these until they’re automatic, you’ll find yourself more productive than before.