Many of us are consistently facing a world requiring more output with less input.
In order to keep pace with the constraints placed on you every single day, productivity must be maximized and results consistently increased.
In this article discover 12 effective ways to impact your productivity on a daily basis.
1.
By failing to plan you are planning to fail.
Invest in your future productivity by implementing a rigid calendar system.
Determine what works best for you, visual color schemes, detailed narratives, or a combination, and begin to chart your daily and weekly calendar accordingly.
Plan as much as possible in advance and stick to the allotted days and times.
Minimize disruptions and only tackle unplanned events if absolutely necessary, or when your next slot of unassigned time comes available.
2.
Set intentions.
Sit down and determine what it is you are attempting to accomplish and why.
The more personal the reason why the more likely you are to succeed at the task.
Look at finding ways of tying every task back to the underlying mission in your life.
Your chances of success increase dramatically if you are certain of the underlying reason for getting up and going to work each day.
3.
Focus on results.
Apply the 80-20 rule consistently.
The Pareto principle named after Vilfredo Pareto states that 80 percent of your results are a direct result of the top 20 percent of what you do.
Focus on identifying the 20 percent of things you do on a daily basis that lead to your biggest results.
Attempt to eliminate as much of the other 80 percent of nonessential or unproductive activities and you will be well on your way to experiencing rapid results.
4.
Schedule crucial tasks in advance.
Successful people plan time for each of the critical tasks required for success.
Don't leave your schedule open and hope the important things required will be accomplished each day.
Instead look forward each day and plan the most important items you want to accomplish throughout the week in advance.
This ensures you will always have time for the critical tasks ultimately leading you to success.
5.
Adapt as needed.
Build time in your schedule for distractions, interruptions, and unforeseen events.
If you don't allow for unplanned events in your daily schedule you will ultimately end up running behind and could potentially disrupt the entire system.
It has often been suggested that 50 percent of your time be directly allocated to the most critical tasks of the day while the remaining time be used to tackle any unexpected work thrown at you.
6.
Know when you are most productive.
Understand when you are most productive and capitalize on it.
Whether you are a morning, midday, or night person, plan your schedule accordingly and make sure you are utilizing those hours while working on the 20 percent of tasks leading to your biggest results.
This will ensure you realize maximum results with minimal effort on a consistent basis.
7.
Be effective and efficient.
Determine first and foremost what the right thing to do in each situation is (effectiveness), and follow it up by determining the correct way to complete the task (efficiency).
By blending the combination of effectiveness and efficiency you will always produce maximum results.
8.
Reduce urgent tasks and replace with long-term planning.
The urgent daily tasks associated with much of the 80% of ineffective results produced should be eliminated as quickly as possible.
Focus on eliminating urgent activities and begin to plan ahead in all areas.
The further ahead you get in each area the less likely urgent distractions will interfere with your daily time management system.
9.
Remove nonessential tasks immediately.
Delegate or simply remove any nonessential responsibilities and tasks immediately.
Oftentimes you may be completing tasks on a daily basis out of habit with no real reason or result being produced.
Challenge the system and ensure every activity you engage in produces positive results on a daily basis.
10.
Stop trying to be perfect.
Consistent mediocrity is better than incomplete perfection.
Stop trying to get everything perfect and focus on getting consistent results quickly.
Adjustments can be made once the initial task has been completed.
It is more important to experience results from consistent mediocrity than to continue to wait for the perfect opportunity at the perfect moment.
You may end up waiting your entire life for something that was never bound to happen.
11.
Chunk your day.
Instead of feeling discouraged by large blocks of time working on difficult projects, chunk the project up in to smaller tasks and take consistent breaks throughout the day.
You will find each break brings renewed focus and results will show up much sooner.
12.
Just say "No.
" Understand what is most important to achieving your desired results and simply say "No" if someone asks you to do something in conflict with those results.
Simplifying your daily tasks will yield significantly more than continuing to allow others to consume your day.
By implementing these 12 tips into your daily professional and personal life I know your results will increase dramatically.
Start by adopting one or two and as you are able to master them begin to add other habits until all 12 become a daily part of your routine.
You will be amazed by your newly discovered effectiveness and efficiency.