We live in a culture that expects us to be as efficient and productive as possible. Since there are only so many hours in a day, and way too many things to accomplish, the most common solution used by professionals all over the world is cutting back on sleep. Indeed, giving up one third of our time to inactivity seems counterproductive. However, not doing that is what makes millions of people lose or weaken their ability to stay productive and eventually turns into sleep deprivation. This article is dedicated to exploring this correlation between sleep and productivity.
Prioritizing your work life might not seem very easy, when everything you have to do feels important. Taking things as they come, without having a strategy, usually throws you into chaos, where you running a race against time day after day. Eventually, this continuous fight is likely to lead to burnout and dramatically affect your life.
Here are 7 “safety measures” that will hopefully help you fight the chaos and reclaim your productivity.
1. State your core values
Write down the most important things in your life – those that you wouldn’t give up for anything, no matter what.
A simple way to do that is by designing a chart of the most important areas of your life:
personal time
family time
career
school
Next, you should write down your top three priorities for each area.
Once you do that, make sure to invest 80% of your time and most of your efforts into accomplishing the items on your chart. The rest of the time should be allocated to completing other tasks that need to be done.
2. Organize your schedule to reflect your values
Simple and intuitive, your schedule should be focused around your non-negotiable core values.
The amount of time you assign to each of your tasks reflects your true priorities. Very often people dedicate more time to less important tasks, losing sight of what truly matters. Avoid taking on menial tasks and learn to delegate those assignments that don’t necessarily require your expertise.
3. Schedule each day efficiently
One of the easiest strategies for efficient scheduling is the 1-3-5 method. This means that your daily schedule will feature one very important task; three tasks of medium importance; and five little things.
Filling your calendar chaotically usually leads to unbalanced situations when you have accomplished tens of small things, leaving to the end of the week the most important tasks. That will make you frustrated and unhappy, putting you in situations when you have to give up on some areas of your life for the sake of the others. Usually, you end up sacrificing personal life in favor of your work. Yet, achieving a healthy work-life balance is the only way to live a happy and fulfilled life.
4. Identify urgent tasks
I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent. – Eisenhower
Eisenhower inspired productivity experts to create what is called The Eisenhower Matrix for prioritizing tasks. The matrix uses the urgency and importance values to make your work life easier, as shown below.
Both at work and in everyday y life, each generation has something unique to offer. However, the culture gap between generations can make things uncomfortable at times, leaving people feeling less welcome. So how do we create a work culture that brings people together instead of tearing them apart? This is the core of my article, so I encourage you to read forward and find out.
New York Times Bestselling author Sheryl Sandberg defines leadership in the most creative and truthful way. “Leadership”, says Sandberg, “is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.”
According to Sandberg, a great leader becomes such an inspiration for others that the teachings they spread will continue to have a lasting impact, even after they’re gone. Guiding employees in a way that transcends job duties and rigid responsibilities stands at the core of great leadership.
Innovation and communication are two intertwined concepts. Innovation cannot happen without communication. Communication without innovation would be severely impaired. Just think of all the technological innovations that led to the communication means we use today. From letters and the telegraph to mobile phones and the internet.
Brainstorming is key to teamwork. You can’t make team decisions without brainstorming ideas first. Also, in the absence of brainstorming sessions, solving problems would be a lot less effective. Yet, effective brainstorming is not an easy thing to do. That’s why I want to help you. Here are 8 different techniques that modern entrepreneurs and their prolific teams use to make your brainstorming sessions more effective.
Fear of failure is what holds most people back from trying new things. Ironically, fear is also a guaranteed way to fail – refraining from even trying. Because when you give it a go and try something new, two outcomes become possible. You either achieve the success you were looking for, or you fail and learn something from it, increasing your chances to succeed next time. So, let’s discuss some possible lessons that you can learn from failure, and how the CEOs of some of the most powerful companies relate to it.
Being able to meet your goals takes willpower and perseverance. But, most important than anything, it requires you to have a clear image of what you are really expecting from your personal and professional life.
Work changes occur all the time, in every company committed to making progress. However, one of the biggest obstacles that managers need to overcome along the way is people’s resistance to change. Managers often take it as a given, thinking it’s human nature. Even though there is some truth in that, it’s in their power to implement change in a way that would make it easier for everyone to get on board.
