Ever since the dawn of modern time, maximizing output while minimizing waste is crucial for business success. Two concepts that are often used interchangeably but have distinct meanings are efficiency and productivity. Understanding the difference between them and learning how to obtain a balance is essential for achieving optimal performance at work.
Companies all over the world have become obsessed with meetings, so much so that they dedicate several hours each week to sitting in them. In US, on average, employees spend 33 percent of their workweeks in meetings and will attend between 6 to 15 meetings per week. Unfortunately, not all of them are productive. Quite the contrary! Some team meetings often pull employees away from periods of concentration where they can work without disruption.
It has been demonstrated that attention spans are shrinking. People are constantly inundated with short videos, bite-size content, and endless stimuli that prevent them from really focusing on one thing at a time. Even corporate training materials have moved toward digestible content. Though not necessarily a bad thing, it highlights the necessity for companies to accommodate workers who are easily distracted. Similarly, as you tailor your marketing messages for your target audience, you must also modify your communication methods to suit their attention span.
Focus is the main ingredient in productivity. Without it, you won’t be able to complete the tasks on your list in an accurate, efficient manner. As powerful as focus is, it can be hard to sustain. If you’ve noticed an ebb in your attention and concentration levels, there are ways to get back into focus and be more productive.
Constant multitasking has become the norm in every area of life, from consuming content to doing work. This is especially true in the workplace. It’s not uncommon to switch back and forth multiple times between email inboxes, chat channels, video conferences, project management software, and document or spreadsheet files—all within the same 30-minute span. All that swiveling (combined with the occasional scroll on social media) can snowball into a major loss of valuable time at work.
We all strive to get more done, but there’s only so much time in a day, and we only have so much energy. However, there are people around us who seem to have found the holy grail of productivity. They rarely seem tired, never procrastinate, and rarely complain about not having enough time. If you wonder what is the secret of these highly productive people, read on. We put together a list of their habits that will hopefully help you get more done too.
If you’ve spent any amount of time in the workforce, chances are, you’ve already been exposed to the multitasking myth. Juggling with more things at a time on the job leads to success, while monotasking is for losers. Such a culture tends to glorify those who manage to tackle a dozen projects all at once. You know, the hustlers who have their coffee in one hand, their smartphone in the other, an overwhelming slew of tabs open on their computer screen, and notifications buzzing every few minutes. But myths get busted sometimes and now it’s one of those times!
In the past year, more people have started working from home than ever before. The COVID-19 pandemic closed down businesses and many of those still standing strong are now working remotely. While most people are happy to work from the comfort of their own home, it also makes it difficult to separate work from personal life. In US, no less than 7 in 10 remote employees are struggling to achieve a healthy remote work life balance during this pandemic.
Everyone knows how to have a conversation, we all do it every single day, with several people, in different contexts. However, conversations can go terribly wrong in a day and age when everyone argues on every media channel, and society is more divided than it has ever been. To navigate conversations like a pro, you should apply some of the strategies that we are going to discuss in this article, inspired by Celeste Headlee’s TED Talk
Focus at work is under siege. Everything can interrupt your focus. Coworkers asking you out on a break. A nearby call ringing its way into your focus. And most of all, the myriad distractions new tech put on the table. The buzzes, the dings, the rings. The trouble is, if you don’t focus at work, work doesn’t get done by itself. Hence, focus at work matters.
