How to Best Increase Productivity

Increasing productivity is a tall order, no doubt. Especially if you’re just starting out, having less hands to share the burden can truly bite. Fortunately, whether you’re growing a business or wanting to achieve more in the workplace, there are effective ways and means to get the job done. Bringing you outstanding results, in the process.

However, it’s easy to lose your way in your search towards greater productivity. For instance, you may choose to get on the high road and contemplate on the best methods - like a Tibetan monk. But it may take you ages to arrive at practices that have already been in use for years. Same thing if you’re an internet-savvy professional - devouring information on a daily basis. Take a stand. It’s about time you separate the unpredictability of theory from things that actually work.

Below are timely productivity tips. Combine them with tried-and-tested tools provided and you have a potent potion that should pull your productivity a notch higher - way higher. Now, all you have to do is give them a shot to realize the wisdom behind.

1.    Maintain a place to take down notes.

Note-taking can easily be misconstrued as trivial. But it stands at the heart and soul of greater productivity. As
Albert Einstein famously quips, “I write so I free my mind.”
Don’t get caught up in the jungle of the details, write the essentials. Only then can you truly enable your mind to reach its best working potential: to come up with solutions.
In this regard, your smartphone - Android or what-not - or your i-tablet (complete with an iPad mini keyboard) could be your best ally. Put on Google Keep, Zoho Notebook or Evernote.

2. Shorten your To-Do list.

Five would be a good number on a daily basis; more than that and your to-do list would border into the insurmountable. When your energy is focused on too many things, you end up tired, unable to finish anything.

3. Learn to type faster.

Many a-budding entrepreneur have spent hours finding their way on a keyboard - wasting precious time in the process. Get over it.  Improve your typing skills. There are a lot of free typing software available (e.g., keybr.com). A few minutes each day is all you need and you’d be on your way in no time. Beep! Beep!

4. Maximize on the hi-tech.

Why spend so much time fiddling through numbers for instance when a free iPad app can do it in record time?
Don’t let the routine take your precious hours away - hours that you could spend on other more important matters like business development or sales for example. Instead, use apps like Shoebox to do your receipts.

5. For time-driven projects, employ a tickler file.

You can’t overemphasize a tickler file. It may not be super hi-tech but the organization by tasks is heaven-sent. And using them is a cinch, just make sure you put your projects under the right file.

6. Store inspiration well.

At times, articles may catch your interest but your hands are full. The solution is to store them for later. Making a habit of doing away with inspiration could be disastrous.  All enterprise - tech giants or start-ups - started as an idea in its infancy. So buckle up. Apps like Pocket or Instapaper for instant storage could be your best bet towards that million-dollar break.

7. Take time to evaluate your performance.

Stop. Take a bird’s eye view on the things that you do on a daily basis. Evaluate areas of strengths and weakness and come up with solutions to get things better. Do this once a week, and you’ll see the wonders of continuous improvement unfold before your very eyes.