The Blueprint to Being More Productive

The Blueprint to Being More Productive

Earlier this week, we discussed the skills you need to become more productive. However, you can also become more productive through good planning. Planning to be productive is about reviewing the way you work, and being honest about how much you’re achieving.

In some circumstances, productivity is a skill you can learn. In many cases, you can also become more productive simply through assessing your existing style of working, and creating a blueprint that will provide you with a better work / life balance.

You can start by charting your existing day to day schedules. Think about how many hours you’re working, how much you’re trying to do during those hours, and what you actually accomplish. Ask yourself, are you achieving the goals you’ve set out in the time that you have available?

If you’re trying to achieve too much, the chances are that you’re not as productive as you could be. Look at reducing your expectations for daily accomplishments, so that you can focus on achieving realistic day to day targets.

If you’re achieving all of your goals too easily, and have time to spare, think about carefully selecting additional goals that you can realistically meet, to ensure you’re maximising your daily working time.

When analysing your schedule, you should also try to identify where you may be wasting time. Do you find you’re spending too much time on telephone meetings, or too much time researching? Avoid spending too much time on tasks that may pull you away from progressing towards reaching your daily targets.

There’s rarely a right answer when it comes to analysing your schedule and adjusting it to become more productive. The only person who can genuinely tell what makes you more productive is you. That extra responsibility means it’s important to be honest with yourself when reviewing your day to day schedules.

When analysing your style of working, seriously ask yourself if you have the right balance between work and relaxation, and adjust your schedule on a regular basis to make sure that you have enough time to rest, and enough time to focus on achieving those all important business goals.