How Productive Are You?

The first step in any productivity improvement plan is to get organized. Think about how to arrange your physical space so that it helps, rather than hurts, your performance. Messy desks and drawers affect your productivity because you spend valuable time searching through piles of documents, instead of doing high-value activities. Learning how to be organized    is an art, and you need to work on it every day. From organizing email    to organizing your files   , there are many great systems that can help you order your working environment.

Organization also involves self-awareness, and becoming aware of how you spend your time is essential for improving productivity. An Activity Log    shows you exactly where you use your time well and where you waste time handling low-priority work, interruptions and distractions. Activity logs also uncover whether you rely on multitasking   : doing more than one thing at a time actually decreases productivity.

Self-awareness also helps you to understand when you do your best work. Some people do their best work early in the morning, and others aren't fully productive until the afternoon or evening. Understanding your work pattern preferences will help you schedule important priority tasks for the times of day when you perform the best. Our article Is This a "Morning Task"?    explores this in more detail.

The next part of improving productivity is related to your attitude and approach to your work. Self-motivation   is very important if you want to maximize your productivity. Learn what motivates you to do your best work - and then create the best environment possible so that you to do so. Also, when you create an environment that supports productivity, you can get in flow   . This is a state that allows you to focus intensely on your work to achieve incredible results.

To get into this high-productivity zone, you must also minimize or eliminate disruptions. Have a plan for managing interruptions   , managing your stress, and improving your concentration   . As you take positive steps to control your time and schedule, you'll likely reduce your stress, which will allow you to experience more positive energy. This is essential for getting "in flow", so that your whole productivity plan supports and improves itself once you get started.

Your mindset is fundamentally important for increasing productivity and improving overall time management. Think positively, and take small actions to improve your performance. This will give you the motivation and inspiration that you need to continue moving forward with your plan. Start now by adopting a positive perspective   , and by believing that you can, indeed, be productive and accomplish your goals.

Being productive is not a lone sport. To be truly productive in a work setting, you must rely on your team to help you. That's why work teams are the preferred way to reach goals - together, you can achieve much more than with the single efforts of individuals.

To use the power of teamwork, you must know how to delegate effectively. Delegating isn't simply having others do your work – successful delegation   ensures that the right person performs the task, regardless of who is ultimately responsible for getting it done. When people are able to work on their high-priority tasks, then everybody - and your organization - wins. If you spend too much time doing work that other people could do, and you have no time to make progress on your own key objectives, then you need to reevaluate who should be doing what on a regular basis.

Delegating effectively means providing sufficient support and resources so that another person can complete the job well. It doesn't mean micromanaging   the process and checking every 10 minutes that things are being done right (in other words, "your way"). To delegate successfully, learn how to let go and trust people to do what must be done. When you do this on a regular basis and build a team of people who all help one another as needed, your productivity levels will increase radically.

Your productivity will also increase when you master how to identify and use information quickly. Emails, memos, trade magazines, published studies, status reports, operating statistics, financial results - these are just some of the information categories that you may receive on a regular basis. If you try to read each of these in detail, it might take a day or more each week!

So, look at strategies for overcoming information overload   . You must approach information with a critical mind. What do you need to know? What type of information will a particular document provide? How will you use this information to improve the way that you work? Your answers to questions like these will help you determine the level of detail you need from each document. You may simply be able to ignore some items, or quickly skim topics and headings of others. Use these and other active reading strategies   to help you reduce the time that you spend dealing with information and documentation.

If you must read a lot of information in detail, learn how to speed read   . Our article on the subject reviews several ways to read material quickly, and you can practice speed reading on your own. If you process and integrate information quickly and effectively, it will help you work more productively.

Finally, to increase your productivity, improve the way that you and your team work.

Improving organizational systems not only helps you accomplish more - it can also help your organization leverage   its assets effectively, to achieve its objectives and be more successful. Consider continuous improvement through practices like Kaizen   and other techniques like Kanban   and Job Analysis   . These will encourage you to look at everyday tasks, processes and practices, and review how you can do things better. Also, learn from lean manufacturing   approaches, and ask "How can we do what we do with less waste?"

Whether it's reducing bottlenecks   in a process or running meetings   more effectively, anything that contributes to a more efficient work environment will ultimately make you more productive.