5 simple yet effective tips on how to become more productive

We've already started a new week and recently we’ve noticed that we're feeling a bit unproductive.

Maybe it’s just harder to work as the weather is changing, or social media is making us feel a bit down and distracted when we see others waking up at 5am and being super productive before the working day even starts.

Whatever the reasoning, we don’t want to feel unmotivated and unproductive in our work or personal lives so to counter this, we’ve created a list of 5 top tips to remember when you feel like you’re not getting things done during the day. 

Plan

Plan, plan, plan and then plan some more. Having a list of everything you need to do written in front of you will help to keep you on track. This way you also won’t forget about any little things you need to do too. Being able to tick off all the tasks you get done that day will really motivate you to keep going because there’s nothing more satisfying and rewarding than seeing that you’ve completed everything you had planned.

Take breaks 

It’s important to take breaks during the day to make sure you don’t burn out. Of course, if you keep sitting at your desk and working until your fingers get sore and your eyes get blurry, you will probably finish what you wanted to get done but the quality of the work and of your wellbeing will be compromised. Even if you get up from your desk for 5 minutes every hour or so, or go for a little stroll when you start to feel overloaded with work, this will help to give you a fresh perspective and get you feeling fresh for the next bout of work.

No distractions 

Don’t have any obvious distractions in front of you like your phone or your TV playing loud when you’re trying to work or study. Put your phone or aeroplane mode or limit screen time on certain apps during your working day. We all know what it’s like to look at TikTok for 5 minutes, only to realise you’ve been scrolling your FYP for half an hour! 

Know what environment suits you

We know what kind of an environment suits us best in order to study, work or get some cleaning done, so use this to your advantage. Some people prefer dead silence while others feel background music helps them to focus on the task at hand. If you’re not sure what would suit you best, try it out by doing whatever task it is you need to do for an hour in a quiet environment, then with something like a movie soundtrack playing, a motivational speaker talking or a background video like the virtual fireplace clip on Netflix, and see what motivates you the most to get work done and feel productive. 

Set rewards

Setting up a rewards system for yourself is a simple yet effective way to motivate you to get work done and be productive. It could be something simple like treating yourself to a coffee at lunch if you get a report finished before your break or ordering yourself a takeaway for finally tackling all of your washing. If you think you need a rewards incentive to increase your chance of getting a task done, then set one in place for yourself and get working!