11 Tips for Increasing Productivity

11 Tips for Increasing Productivity

With so many distractions and things competing for our attention, staying focused and accomplishing everything we need to get done can be challenging.

However, implementing some simple tips and strategies can dramatically boost your productivity levels and get more done in less time.

This comprehensive guide covers the best research-backed methods for increasing productivity across all areas of life.

Read on to transform the way you work and unlock your full potential.

What Does It Mean to Be Productive?

Before diving into the tips, let's define what productivity means. At its core, productivity is about achieving the results and outputs you intend most efficiently. It's about working smarter, not harder or longer. Some fundamental principles of high productivity include:

• You are focusing on essential tasks – Prioritising the 20% of tasks that generate 80% of your desired results.
• Minimising distractions and interruptions – Creating extended periods of uninterrupted time to focus.
• You are working within your peak hours – doing demanding cognitive tasks when you have the most energy and alertness.
• Leveraging systems and tools – Implementing processes and technology to reduce wasted effort.
• Tracking meaningful metrics – Measuring productivity by results achieved rather than just activity or hours worked.

Boosting productivity is not about cramming more work into less time. It's about aligning your efforts with your goals to extract the maximum value from your time and energy.

Assess Your Unique Productivity Style

Before implementing broad productivity tips, it helps to understand your innate work style. Everyone is wired differently – some people naturally thrive in organised routines while others work spontaneously and more creatively.

Identify Whether You Are a Manager or Creator

Managers gravitate towards structure, planning, lists, and systematically checking off tasks. Creators prefer brainstorming ideas, playing with concepts, and letting inspiration guide their workflow. Which tendency do you lean towards?

Determine If You Are a Morning or Night Owl

Some people peak early and can tackle challenging projects first thing in the morning. Night owls come alive in the evening and do their best work under deadline pressure. Are your most productive hours in the morning or afternoon/evening?

Recognise Your Internal vs External Work Orientation

External processors develop ideas by talking them out and bouncing ideas off others. Internal processors need space for solitary reflection before sharing nascent concepts. Do you think best aloud or alone with your thoughts?

Understanding your innate style empowers you to shape your environment and habits to allow you to thrive. Now, let's explore concrete tactics to boost productivity tailored to different work preferences.

Set Up Your Physical Workspace for Success

Your physical environment has an immense impact on your productivity. Poor lighting, uncomfortable chairs, clutter and noise can drain mental stamina. Thoughtfully designing your office or workspace maximises your time to sustain focused attention.

Ensure Proper Lighting Based on the Time of Day

Leverage daylight when possible, positioning your desk near windows. Install intensity-adjustable lights. Bright light energises morning productivity. Use a warmer glow for lower afternoon/evening arousal.

Select an Ergonomic Chair to Avoid Discomfort

Avoid chairs that restrict blood flow or cause back, neck, or shoulder pain. Test chairs that:

• Support the natural curve of your spine
• Allow adjustable height and tilt for proper alignment
• Offer adjustable armrests and lumbar support

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Declutter Your Workspace Surfaces

Physical clutter competes for mental resources, draining focus:

• File or store paper piles and items not actively in use
• Minimise desktop accessories and tchotchkes
• Use vertical storage to clear surfaces – shelves, drawers, racks, and wall systems

An organised, comfortable, well-lit workspace fuels productivity without distraction or physical strain.

Set Up Digital Systems and Tools to Boost Efficiency

Technology offers game-changing productivity opportunities – automating tedious tasks, centralising information access, facilitating collaboration and more. Audit your current tech setup. Identify manual processes to systematise and gaps in your digital infrastructure.

Streamline Communication Channels

• Consolidate multiple email accounts into one primary inbox
• Set up collaboration apps like Slack or Teams for team communication
• Use cloud-based project management software for task lists and progress tracking

Automate Repetitive Administrative Tasks

Leverage tools like Zapier and IFTTT to eliminate manual busywork:

• Auto-sort invoices into folders in Google Drive or Dropbox
• Auto-log completed Trello cards to a progress spreadsheet
• Auto-upload phone photos to cloud storage services

Beyond automation tools, specific productivity applications can streamline different aspects of your workflow:

• Note-taking and knowledge management: Notion combines notes, databases, and project tracking in one workspace. Evernote excels at capturing and organising information across devices. Obsidian creates networked thought with linked notes for complex projects.
• Project management: Asana visualises workflows and dependencies. Monday.com offers highly customisable boards for team coordination. ClickUp combines tasks, docs, goals, and chat in a unified platform.
• Focus enhancement: Forest gamifies concentration by growing virtual trees during focused work sessions. Freedom blocks distracting websites and apps across all your devices.
• Scheduling: Calendly eliminates back-and-forth emails when arranging meetings. Doodle simplifies finding meeting times that work for multiple participants.

The key to getting value from these tools lies in thoughtful integration. Choose applications that reduce friction in your specific workflow rather than adopting every shiny new productivity app.

Look for tools that solve your actual pain points and consider how they will work together in your existing digital ecosystem.

Digitally Organise Your Files

Implement a consistent file naming and organisational system across services:

• Prefix file names with client, project, version, and status like “ClientA_Report_Draft1_20230103.”
• Use cloud syncing solutions like Dropbox or OneDrive for universal access
• Tag files with keywords for quick searchability

Take advantage of technology to minimise the energy drained by logistical administration so you can devote focus to high-value priorities.

Systematise Your Morning Routine for a Productive Start

How you spend your mornings sets the trajectory for the rest of your day. A thoughtful morning system eliminates decision fatigue, instills a sense of calm, and ensures that you begin your workday aligned with your priorities.

Wake Up Early Enough to Avoid Rushing

• Light stretching or meditation allows 15-30 minutes to ease into consciousness.
• Multi-task by listening to a podcast or audiobook while getting ready
• Ensure you aren't drained by beginning your commute or work while still groggy

Standardise a Healthy Breakfast Routine

• Prepare make-ahead choices like overnight oats, chia pudding or smoothies
• Opt for balanced nutrition – complex carbs, protein, healthy fats
• Hydrate with a full glass of water immediately upon waking

Review Your Schedule and Goals

• Reorient to your priorities for the day.
• Plan meetings, calls, and productivity blocks into your calendar
• Set 1-3 most important goals to keep at the forefront

Beginning each morning intentionally eliminates mad dashes, stress and decision overload throughout the rest of your day.

Use the “Sandwich Method” to Tackle Dreaded Tasks

We all have work we deeply resist – whether an administrative chore, a creative project or a contentious conversation. Putting off essential but unmotivating tasks strains productivity. Use the sandwich method to plough through your to-do list painlessly.

Start and End with Something You Enjoy

Bookend the dreaded task between two activities you like:

• Returning client calls –> writing a monthly newsletter –> Lunch break phone call with a friend

The human brain rewards forward progress. By sandwiching an unpleasant task between two small pleasures, you leverage momentum to eliminate procrastination.

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Use Mini-Milestones to Stay Motivated

Break larger challenging projects into manageable sub-tasks so you feel a regular sense of accomplishment. Use the sandwich technique on micro-levels too:

• Outline section header
• Draft one paragraph
• Tidy desk drawer
• Draft the second paragraph

The regular small wins keep you energised to persist through otherwise overwhelming initiatives.

Leverage dopamine boosts from activities you enjoy to propel efficiency on those you don't, but still need to complete. The sandwich method makes it easier to bite into the trickier parts of your workload.

The Pomodoro Technique for Productivity

When you're staring down a mountain of work, breaking it into manageable chunks makes all the difference. The Pomodoro Technique, developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, offers a simple yet powerful framework for maintaining focus while avoiding burnout.

How the Pomodoro Technique Works

The basic structure involves 25-minute focused work sessions followed by 5-minute breaks. After completing four work sessions, take a longer 15-30 minute break. This cycle leverages our brain's natural attention span limitations rather than fighting against them.

• Set a timer for 25 minutes and work without interruption
• When the timer rings, take a 5-minute break regardless of where you are
• After four sessions, take a longer break of 15-30 minutes
• Track completed sessions to measure progress

Digital Tools to Implement Pomodoro

While a kitchen timer works perfectly well, dedicated apps can enhance your Pomodoro practice:

• Focus Booster – Tracks sessions and creates productivity reports
• Forest – Gamifies focus time by growing virtual trees during sessions
• Toggl Track – Combines Pomodoro timing with detailed time tracking

Research shows this technique reduces mental fatigue and helps maintain consistent focus throughout the day. The structured intervals prevent the common productivity trap of working until exhaustion. Instead, you refresh your mental energy before it depletes completely.

Optimise Focus Time to Take Advantage of Your Peak Hours

Our mental clarity and energy fluctuate significantly throughout the day. In the early morning, cortisol and adrenaline spikes make us alert and focused. By mid-afternoon, the production of sleep hormones melatonin and adenosine causes drowsiness and brain fog. Your work output follows the same rhythms.

Identify Your Optimal Focus Hours

Track your energy levels across the week. When do you feel clear-headed, creative and engaged? Guard these peak hours from interruptions or distractions. Align this prime productivity time with mission-critical work.

Be Ruthless About Protecting Focus Time

Eliminate external distractions:

• Silence phone notifications
• Close email, Slack, Trello
• Shut the office door or workspace entrance
• Display “Do Not Disturb” sign

You have a finite amount of peak mental energy. Spend this precious non-renewable resource on the endeavour that matters most. Schedule less taxing administrative or busy tasks when focus begins to wane later in the day.

Productivity skyrockets when we align intense effort with peak performance hours to accomplish our most important projects first.

Overcome Procrastination By Shrinking Big Tasks Into Smaller Pieces

Procrastination often stems from feeling overwhelmed by a project's scope, complexity or tedium. We all have an instinct to turn away and distract ourselves when presented with an amorphous giant task with no clear starting point. Fortunately, you can leverage the human urge to complete things by shrinking that big, scary goal into “bite-size” pieces.

Break It Down Until It's Non-Intimidating

Keep asking, “What's the very next step?” until you identify a ridiculously easy increment to begin. Instead of “Write brand strategy presentation,” it becomes:

• Open PowerPoint
• Create a slide master with branding
• Make a title slide with your name and date
• Write section header: “Business Case for Rebranding

When the next step seems laughably simple, resistance dissolves. Momentum builds as you tick off micro-wins. Before you know it, the giant task is in the rearview.

Use The 2-Minute Rule To Blast Through Tedium.

The two-minute rule states that if an item on your to-do list would take two minutes or less, just do it immediately. This approach helps sidestep procrastination by jumping straight into tasks before giving yourself time to make excuses. Use it to breeze through minor administrative items like:

• Responding to simple emails
• Scheduling appointments
• Paying a bill
• Filling out a form

Leveraging tiny increments of progress keeps you active and eliminates excuses for short tasks. Before you know it, you'll be tackling more complex items.

Implement The “No-Device” Rule During Creative Work

We live in an unprecedented era of distraction – social media, email, Slack, text messages, and more compete constantly for our attention. While digital connectivity enables convenience and efficiency, it also frazzles focus, drains mental stamina and hampers deep creative thought.

Define Device-Free “Creation Zones”

Establish device-free spaces, whether tackling an intellectually demanding project, learning a new skill, writing a proposal, or preparing for a speech. Possible options:

• Your office with the door shut
• A quiet coffee shop
• Library study room
• Park bench

With your laptop tucked away and your phone on silent, you create the mental space for original ideas to emerge without interruption.

Schedule Weekly “Off the Grid” Blocks

Carve out longer windows of time explicitly away from digital distraction:

• Friday late afternoon –> Monday morning
• Unplugged weekend days
• Half-day sabbaticals

Step back to gain a fresh perspective. Reinforce your ability to sustain focus without constant task-switching. Return recharged, inspired and reflecting more insightfully on the priorities before you.

To make device-free time more practical, consider implementing these research-backed digital detox strategies:

• Use built-in tools like Apple's Screen Time or Google's Digital Wellbeing to set daily app limits
• Install focused work apps like Freedom or Cold Turkey to block distracting websites and apps during designated periods
• Schedule notification silencing during your peak performance hours
• Implement “tech sunsets” by stopping device use 1-2 hours before bedtime to improve sleep quality

Even brief technology breaks show measurable benefits. Research from the University of Michigan found that taking short breaks from digital devices improves attention span and reduces anxiety. Your brain actually functions better when given periodic respite from the constant stimulation of screens and notifications.

Unfettered space to contemplate and create without digital diversion is essential to nurturing productivity and innovation in the long term. Define and protect digital-free spaces.

Batch Processing Similar Tasks

Context switching kills productivity. Each time your brain jumps between different types of tasks, you pay a cognitive tax. Research from the American Psychological Association shows that switching between different tasks can reduce productivity by up to 40%. Batch processing similar activities minimises this hidden cost.

Group Tasks by Mental Mode

Different activities require different types of thinking. Lumping similar tasks together keeps your brain in a consistent mental state:

• Communication batch – Process all emails, calls, and messages in designated blocks
• Administrative batch – Handle paperwork, invoicing, and data entry together
• Creative batch – Group brainstorming, writing, and design tasks
• Analytical batch – Combine research, data analysis, and strategic planning

Create Themed Days for Intense Batch Processing

Many successful people designate entire days for specific categories of work. This approach works especially well for complex projects that require extended focus:

• Meeting Mondays – Schedule all weekly meetings on a single day
• Writing Wednesdays – Reserve for content creation and documentation
• Finance Fridays – Handle budgeting, invoicing, and expense tracking

Batch processing reduces decision fatigue and helps maintain flow states for longer periods. When your brain stays in one mode, you process information more efficiently and produce higher-quality output with less mental strain.

Conduct A Monthly Time Audit To Ensure Alignment

As the weeks fly by amid the flurry of activity, it's easy to lose perspective on how you spend your time. You assume you're focused on critical goals or projects, but often, the days slip away on semi-urgent tasks of questionable importance. Use monthly time audits to course correct.

Track Your Hours Meticulously For One Week

Download a time tracking app or use a template spreadsheet to document:

• Exact start/stop times for activities
• Categorise tasks by type – calls, meetings, email, documentation, etc.
• Denote priority level: mission critical, moderately important, minor

Don't justify or rationalise what you work on. Just create an objective tally of where your hours go.

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Analyse Areas of Misalignment

Does your time expenditure match state priorities and goals? Look for mismatches, signalling a need to rework processes or schedules. Ask questions like:

• Why am I spending 15+ hours on client billing when I hate it? Can I automate or delegate it?
• I want to grow my YouTube channel, but I spent zero hours filming or editing last week. Why?
• Just 3 hours went towards new product development, even though it's supposedly my organisation's top priority. How do I fix this disconnect?

Regular check-ins ensure you remain conscious of how you spend your days. Course-correct influences are sabotaging your productivity.

Fine-Tune Energy Management By Tracking Ultradian Rhythms

We all intuitively know that our focus, motivation and alertness fluctuate throughout the day. However, a hidden driver of productivity is hidden inside our natural circadian cycles. Every 90-120 minutes, the brain alternates between higher and lower activity states – ultradian rhythms. Align work with this pulse, and you unlock more efficient effort.

Plot Your Energy Waves

Download an app like HoursTracker and log your perceived energy levels every 20 minutes. Look for recurring peaks and valleys. At the transition points, jot quick notes about what you feel. After a week, begin spotting your unique patterns.

Ride Your Ultradian Wave By Time Blocking

Look at upcoming projects, use the time-blocking method, and split them into 90-minute chunks of effort. Align creative sessions requiring intense focus with your energy peaks. Schedule more tactical tasks during valleys. Overlay this rhythm atop your usual morning/afternoon division for next-level time blocking.

You may hit a slump every hour and a half, but it only lasts 20 minutes! By anticipating the fluctuations, you avoid frustration and use bio breaks effectively to recharge for the next ultra surge.

Set Consistent Sleep Standards to Fuel Performance

Sleep is profoundly undervalued in our hustle culture, yet nothing impacts daily productivity more than how rested your brain and body feel. Neglecting sufficient, high-quality sleep leads to mental fog, emotional volatility, lack of motivation and weakening resilience. Committing to healthy sleep habits pays exponential dividends in the long term.

Keep a Consistent Rest Schedule

• Establish consistent bed and wake times, including weekends
• Only vary sleep schedules in 15-minute increments
• Allow your body rhythms to stabilise

Inconsistency sabotages productivity by disrupting your circadian cycles. Committing to steady rhythms supports restorative rest.

Optimise Conditions for High-Quality Sleep

• Cool temperature between 60-67 degrees
• Eliminate LED light from devices before bed
• Consider blackout curtains and a white noise generator
• Avoid alcohol, heavy foods and stimulating activities before bed

Quality trumps quantity when it comes to sleep's impact on workplace performance. By proactively controlling sleep conditions, you awaken feeling truly recharged and ready to deliver your best work.

The Role of Physical Exercise in Productivity

Physical activity might seem unrelated to work performance, but research consistently shows a direct link between regular exercise and cognitive function. Your body and brain don't operate in isolation – they form an integrated system where physical movement directly affects mental capabilities.

Exercise Boosts Brain Function

Studies from Harvard Medical School demonstrate that exercise increases blood flow to the brain, delivering oxygen and nutrients that enhance neural function. This physiological response translates to measurable improvements in work performance:

• Improved concentration and attention span
• Enhanced memory formation and recall
• Better problem-solving capabilities
• Reduced mental fatigue during long work sessions

Strategic Exercise Timing

When you exercise matters almost as much as doing it at all. Different timing strategies offer different productivity benefits:

• Morning workouts – Boost alertness and focus for the entire day
• Midday activity breaks – Combat the afternoon energy slump
• Evening exercise – Help transition from work mode to rest mode

The Mayo Clinic reports that even short bouts of activity (10-20 minutes) can provide cognitive benefits lasting for several hours. Incorporating movement breaks into your workday counters the negative effects of prolonged sitting while simultaneously refreshing your mental capabilities.

Try simple movement breaks like a quick walk around the block, a set of jumping jacks, or five minutes of stretching. These micro-workouts pump oxygen to your brain and release endorphins that boost mood and energy levels just when you need them most.

Conclusion: Start Increasing Productivity Today

Implementing even a few of these science-backed tactics can profoundly expand your capacity. Begin tailoring your habits and environment to allow you to work within your natural rhythms and preferred style. Commit to organisation systems that eliminate wasted mental effort on logistics. Protect time for creative flow free from digital distractions.

The more strategic you become about self-management, the more easily high-value priorities will draw your time and energy. You cannot rely on motivation alone to fuel consistent excellence. That's why creating the conditions for efficiency matters – your routines, rituals, and workspaces shape daily performance.

Keep exploring new ways to maximise personal effectiveness. Regularly conduct time audits to calibrate alignment with your goals. Challenge excuses or rationalisations that divert you from activities you find challenging but essential. Commit to continuous improvement around productivity and unlock capacities you didn't know you possessed!

Frequently Asked Questions About Increasing Productivity

Last update on 2025-06-12 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API