When it comes to being productive, some people hold themselves accountable by logging work on productivity apps, while others turn to blogs and books to gain the upper hand with knowledge. But, regardless of how you motivate yourself to get things done in the workplace, we all find ourselves looking for more advice on how to stay on task and focused. That’s why the team at Atlas Hartmann decided to put together our tips and tricks on this very subject!
Create goals every day
How many days have you ended with you looking back and going, “I’m not even sure what I accomplished today.” Of course, every person has to spend time doing some degree of repetitive labor, but each day you spend working should somehow be contributing to your future success.
“Know what significant goals you want to work towards every day. Then, I list a small number of high-value tasks or goals for the day.”
– Rachel Haurwitz
Haurwitz says that she sits down each morning with a blank sheet of paper and asks herself the goals and expectations of the day ahead. Here at Atlas Hartmann, we encourage using a list like this to help keep you on track and motivated since you’ll be able to take the day one task at a time, rather than being overwhelmed with a bunch of unsorted ideas.
Identify your most productive time of day
Everyone has a particular time of day when they tend to get an extra burst of focus and creativity. For some people, that time comes in the morning. For others, it might come after lunch or even during the evening. Can you identify when you feel that extra burst of focus?
“Understand how your brain works and when you are most productive. For me, I’ve gotten rid of lunch meetings to keep my productive time going as long as I can.”
– Rachel Haurwitz
Smith often works through lunch, with no lunch meetings, allowing her to get the most done. She also prioritizes and schedules so that the tasks requiring the most attention and creativity are placed near the start of her day when she has the most significant capacity to work on and complete them.
Set boundaries
Everyone knows the feeling of making your to-do list, sitting down to tackle the day, and then finding yourself answering questions and taking care of random pop-up tasks for hours. Then, all of a sudden, it’s lunchtime, and you’ve picked up and dropped so many different functions that you don’t know where to focus next.
“If you don’t set your schedule, boundaries, and expectations from the start, people are going to take advantage of you. So, it’s important to be mindful of what your boundaries are and how to message them to others.”
-Karen Edgar, Program Manager
Edgar makes sure to set boundaries with her coworkers from the start. Are there specific hours you want to block off for your tasks? Is there a window of time that people should come to you for questions? Ask these questions yourself about setting boundaries and communicating them effectively. Then, reclaim your schedule and focus on the task at hand. In conclusion, all of us here at Atlas Hartmann know that with these productivity tips, you’ll be able to achieve so much more in the same amount of time, so you can feel less stressed and accomplish more than ever before.
