How I increased my productivity and stay focused – tips from the master of procrastination

The blog post of one of my classmates regarding 8 tips for effective time management inspired me to write something on productivity on my own. End of last year I’ve started to track every activity at work. I started with it, because I realized how much of my limited time I spent on useless tasks every single day. And this is what I’ve changed to stay more focused and to increase my productivity.

Start the day right

• First things first: I always start my day with coffee combined with a nice chat with my colleagues. This gives me the opportunity to stay up to date in an informal way.

Mails

• I stopped checking my mailbox every time I get a new mail and I also stopped answering mails right away. I’ve set specific time frames to check, answer and prioritize my mails.
• Build categories: Divide the mails into subcategories and answer them in one go.
• Zero inbox by the end of the day. This doesn’t mean that every mail has to be answered, but each mail gets a deadline for editing or answering the issue.

Meetings

• Reduce meetings: I’ve spent most of my working days in meetings. So I reduced the amount of meetings and only attend at meetings, if they are really necessary.

Organization

• A bullet journal for work helps me to stay focused and keep an eye on things that are planned further ahead. This helps me to see what’s planned on a monthly, weekly and daily basis.
• By the end of the day I start to plan the first steps for the next morning. This to-do list helps me to reset mentally.
• I also block certain times in my calendar for specific topics and concentrate only on these issues.
• I don’t even try to be perfect. I focus on getting things done!

Teamwork & Delegation

• Learn to delegate tasks and topics to your team members.
• Aks for help.
• Learn to say No.

Other articles related to this topic

These articles from my fellow students are also interesting to read:

• The daily struggle
• Selbstmanagement – was tun wenn die Zeit nicht reicht