As the temperatures climb, you get into a summer routine, and it’s easy to slow down, including in the workplace. There are many reasons for this mythical slump, like families taking vacations while kids are out of school, creating an “out of office” ripple effect through your company. Externally, clients and vendors may be taking more time to respond, further making you less productive.
We live in world that moves at an incredibly fast pace. So many things are happening at the same time, and so many of them require your attention. Distractions are everywhere, and everyone you know asks for your attention at one moment or another. Staying focused in these conditions sounds like mission impossible. However, there are some strategies you can apply to improve your focus and increase your productivity. In this article we are going to discuss some of the most useful ones.
Encouraging competition inside a team can be a risky strategy. On one hand, it motivates individuals to perform at the best of their abilities but, on the other hand, it can give birth to discord and disagreement.
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.
Be more productive to experience life to its fullest. It’s the chant of the decade. For many, however, it’s also an impossible dream. There are limits to what you can achieve. And there are limits to how well you can do it. It used to be that you could stay ahead. Now you need to do your best to keep up.
Productivity right after the holidays is tough and can surely be quite a stretch. The kind of stretch that, in brief, rips through your hard-earned rest. Indeed, it may be hard to get everything back in gear. The absence of work is easy to adapt to, in time.
“Be more productive” is the work chant of the decade. And it’s unlikely to change anytime soon. The future is every bit about boosting productivity. Meanwhile, today has its own challenges. And it’s tougher than ever to stay ahead. Especially considering how quickly things change.
And these things are all related to technology. Indeed, tech has revolutionized the workplace. Granted, the past few decades have brought forth significant change. But we mean disruptive tech. Only two decades ago email on a mobile phone was a stretch. Tech is key, and it’s been transforming the workplace. But the constant is people. And people, unfortunately, can fall behind only to find themselves on the brink of burnout.
Besides, we might have reached an odd plateau. When compared to people, tech is no longer as disruptive as it used to be. At least, not when it comes to tech helping us be more productive. Because at the end the day, it’s the individual that deals with all the challenges. The constant here is the end-user. There’s only so much we can do in a day.
To stay productive despite being tired is an often-recurring challenge. We’ve all been there. For whatever reason, we feel tired yet we have to work. Having to deal with the consequences of not getting enough sleep is one thing. Add to this feeling exhausted, anxious or burned out. Sometimes it is work pressure that does it.
Without reservation, prolonged wakefulness is today’s second-hand smoking. Yes, this has much to do with sleep deprivation. Prolonged wakefulness means that we are not getting enough sleep. In fact, most people sleep far less than they should. And this can have significant impacts on cognitive performance. We also overindulge on coffee, and spend far too many hours sitting on a chair. We procrastinate, misuse breaks, don’t breathe right and have all sorts of productivity issue. Despite all of this, we often find ourselves in an odd situation. We need to stay productive while tired.
Meetings are a buzz killer. Most complaints about office work are about meetings. In fact, meetings seem to be the most dreaded office activity. Potentially, even more disliked than peer reviews and evaluations. Yet, meetings continue to be an apt and necessary way to do work. Otherwise, everyone wouldn’t be so keen on organizing them. Hence, we can only derive that there must be something about meetings that is truly valuable. It’s something that, until now at least, only meetings can provide.
Meetings have been studied, and there are countless publications discussing the matter. What’s so special about meetings? It may have to do with the information exchange. Or it may well be due to the nature of the event. The physical proximity, the sheer presence of teams in the same room. It likely has to do with an interplay of the two.
