Keeping productive during the workday can be difficult, especially with the many distractions, it is easy to lose sight of tasks that need completing throughout the day. Your motivation can increase and often decrease during your workday, and it happens because of many factors. However, when you are highly motivated, you are more productive during your day, which means better quality of work. How to get motivated to regain your focus and interest in your work duties by:
- Write down things that drain your motivation throughout the day, which could include difficult colleagues, no room for growth, routine tasks, and an overwhelming workload. Create a plan to address any roadblocks of your motivation.
- Keep your future goals in mind to help keep you motivated and on task.
- Start every day with a positive thought or goal to keep you in the right mindset.
- Catch yourself when you start to let negativity slip in during your workday.
- Learn breathing exercises to help reduce stress when dealing with work tasks.
Here are five tips to assist you in keeping your workday productive:
1. Take Breaks
Make sure you are taking your breaks throughout the workday. To be productive throughout your day, you need to take breaks to clear your head and refresh away from your desk and computer. Taking breaks after a period of intense productivity helps you come back and concentrate on the next tasks for an hour or so. You actually get more accomplished throughout your workday and avoid falling into unproductivity and low motivation.
2. Organize Emails
Organize your emails first thing in the morning to help with your productivity. Categorize emails into most important, follow-up, and not necessary. Block off time throughout your day that is spent solely on responding and reading emails. Let your co-workers and people looking for you know that you only respond to your emails at certain times of the day. This way, if its an emergency, they can contact your another way.
3. Stay on Task
Trying to do several tasks at a time can hurt productivity in your workday. If you try doing too many things, you’ll end up not doing anything well. Concentrate on completing one task at a time, on keeping the quality in your work. However, when you have a break, such as your downloading large files that take a while, you can start other tasks if you are multitasking efficiently. Tackle smaller tasks, such as answering emails, while waiting for other jobs to finish.
4. Schedule Time Wisely
Schedule your time wisely to ensure you have time to yourself to complete tasks. Block of two to three hours without any meetings so you can work unbothered and productively while getting jobs done. Take into consideration when you are more productive, for example, if you need more time in afternoons to focus, block off time then to let you concentrate uninterrupted.
5. Do the Least Fun Tasks First
Start your day by completing tasks that you dislike first. Taking care of the mundane, bad parts of your day lets you move on. Getting the hated jobs out of the way, leaves you to have a more productive rest of your day because you don’t have those horrible tasks hanging over your head all day long.
Final Thought
It is common to lose productivity and motivation throughout the workday. You can you’re your productivity by incorporating the five tips above into your day. Remember to take breaks, organize emails, stay on task, schedule time wisely, and do your least favorite jobs first to stay motivated and efficient throughout the day. Some of the tips might take more commitment, but they all will help with keeping your motivation to get your job done during the day.
