4 Strategies to Increase Productivity
There are strategies that can help you increase productivity. These are handy acronyms and mantras that help you remember what to do to be more productive. It’s remembering and applying these strategies that help you get more done.
WSD Write stuff down
The most productive person is the one who uses a calendar and a list. It’s in capturing this information, writing stuff down, that we know what to do and what is the deadline. Capture tools can be analog or digital, in a notebook, in Evernote or on a dry erase board. Regardless of your tool, wrtie stuff down to be more productive.
Plan your work and work your plan
With your planner and list, set aside a weekly planning time to plan your work and work your plan. When I say plan your work, that’s when you add times and actions to your calendar. It’s more than just meeting dates, it’s work periods. Let’s say you have taxes to complete. You set up 9 – 10 am on Monday through Thursday to work on chunks of your taxes. You work your plan by staying true to the plan you set up. For every task or project you want to complete, you have set a time to do the work. Even if you don’t know how long a task or project will take, you set an amount of time to work on it.
FOCUS Follow One Course Until Successful
There’s compelling research for single focus. With focus, you work on only one task at a time. Your success depends on it.
MITs Most important tasks
There’s lots to do and never enough time to complete all your tasks. That’s why prioritizing is critical. That’s where MITs come into play. Set up your Most Important Tasks each day, week and month so that you prioritize deadlines and importance. Working on an unimportant task can be productive procastination, however delays your success.
These four handy sayings will carry you forward with productivity. If you need a reset for productivity, start with a great night’s sleep, a 5 minute stretch and be ready to hydrate. These essential basics will hold you in good stead!
More productivity tips here!
Love all these acronyms that make the concepts easy to remember. Not only do I need to write things down, but I need to write them down immediately:) I agree that I can only focus on one item at a time, and sometimes I need to make myself go to a place with no distractions (such as the library.) Great tips!
It’s certainly a memory aid for us all! Thanks @Seana!
I do “WSD,” but I never heard of that acronym. I love it! My memory has shifted over the years. And while it’s still pretty darn good, I don’t like to rely only on that. It’s more stressful. Plus if I write it down, I can free up my brain space to be more present with people and activities, instead of worrying about what I might forget. I’m all for WSDing!
Totally agree @Linda! When I Write Stuff Down, my week is much more productive!