Three Ways to Boost Your Productivity in 2023

SSF_I
Apr 18, 2023
5 min read

#wellness #productivity #happiness #health #habits #routines

We are almost through April, it seems like just yesterday that 2023 was just beginning. This is probably a great time to look back on your goals for this year and see how you're doing. Checking in now will allow you to reflect on how the year has gone so far, while still giving you enough time to change some stuff up if you need to. This is also a good time to make any new goals that you might have for this year. Now that we have an idea of how this year is going, we have a better idea of what we are able to accomplish. In this blog post, I am going to be discussing three different ways to boost your productivity to achieve your goals. Everyone's goals are different and some of these might not work for you specifically, but I hope you will be able to take at least something from this that is helpful to you. Boosting your productivity is a great way to accomplish your goals, and also complete those tasks that you really don't want to do. Let's jump right in! :)

Focus on one task to skyrocket your productivity

Numerous studies have found that multitasking hampers productivity. When your brain constantly has to switch back and forth between tasks it makes it very difficult for you to actually focus. This causes you to slow down on all the tasks that you are trying to perform. This is devastating when you are trying to get hard work done. When you are trying to study, write, or accomplish something, and you are checking emails or your phone at the same time, it drastically impacts how well you are going to do. If you instead just focus on one task at a time and put away distractions, you will see a major impact on your results and what you are able to accomplish in that period of time. A trick I use is to set aside work time and break time. While I am doing focused work, I will put away my phone, close other browsers, and set a timer for focused work. Turning off notifications and other distractions will skyrocket your productivity, and you will be amazed at what you can do. Your brain also needs breaks so after a period of focused work (this time can vary depending on the person, try starting with like 25 or so minutes), take a 5 or 10-minute break where you get up and move around. This is the time to go on your phone or check emails. Then when you come back to work, put away the distractions and get down to what you actually want to accomplish. This seems hard but it is actually worth it in the end, and you will have more time to do other things that you won't have been able to get done before.

2. Organization and Reminders

It is almost impossible for a person to remember everything when it comes to a work or school setting. With meetings, projects, assignments, and other things that pop up, it is overwhelming to try and keep everything straight. For these reasons, it is best to make it easier on yourself and set reminders or organize your calendar. Writing everything down on paper or on the computer/phone allows for easy access to see what you have to do that day, or who you need to meet with. Having a to-do list allows you to visualize what you have to get done and allows you to decide what the most important things are for that day. It is best to accomplish the most important task first so that these ones get done and are out of the way. When you also have a defined list and goals, you can always go back to this and review what you need to do. Go back to your goals and things you need to accomplish, and start making actionable steps toward them. If these things are not well defined, it is impossible to stay organized and achieve your goals. Stay organized and automate things by setting reminders and helping yourself out so you don't forget important things. Being well organized and knowing what is going on allows you to better schedule work time in and gives you better peace of mind. Give this a try today.

3. Developing Both Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

When it comes to motivation, there are two types: intrinsic & extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is driven by external rewards. For example, if you received a raise or promotion at work or a good grade on a test. This type of motivation encourages people based on their results and what they receive based on those results. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is found within. This type of motivation is driven by people being satisfied with the work, or enjoying the challenging nature of what they are doing. They enjoy the process and doing the work, so they continue to give their best regardless of any external rewards or praise. In our jobs we always want to have strong intrinsic motivation, if you don't like your job this is going to be really hard if you can't get behind what you are doing. If you are passionate about your job and truly enjoy it, you will be able to be more focused and productive and be a better team member. Similarly, if you are more focused and driven to do the work, you will also boost your extrinsic motivation as you will improve in your job and start to see these external measures of success. When you are able to see the measurable results, it is a lot easier to continue the work because you know that you are improving. Both of these two types of motivation are linked and are both crucial for increasing your motivation and ability to perform at your peak.

Of course, there are many other ways to increase productivity and allow you to get more work done. These are just the ones that I've been thinking about and wanted to focus on today. I hope that you can give some of these ideas a try and just consider some of the things that I talked about. I hope that it can help you in some way. I wish you all the best and hope you all have a wonderful week! If you need anything, please feel free to reach out. Thanks for reading! :)