Tired of sitting at your desk all day? Find yourself looking at the time repeatedly to check how much time there is till you can go home? Feeling like you’re not achieving as much as you wanted to? Don’t worry; you’re not the only one. Sedentary jobs or jobs where you have to sit most of the day can get challenging and eventually affect your mood and health.
You can ease the frustration by managing your time smartly at work rather than putting in more hours. Being productive isn’t really rocket science, instead of it’s concerned more with how determined you are to manage your time well. Here are some small, simple steps to relieve the stress.
Take a Break. Yes, we started with the most appealing thing at work – a break. It may sound counterproductive, but research proves that taking short breaks between long, tedious tasks can help maintain a constant level of performance while working nonstop may make you irritated and unfocused. They also give you a much welcome chance to stretch your legs.
Practice Does Not Make Perfect. Seriously, give up. Perfection is an illusion. It’s common for entrepreneurs to get hung up on perfecting every task that comes at them, but it’s better to know what your full ability is and stop when you believe you’ve done the best you could. Trying to perfect everything will waste time and lower your confidence.
Think on the Way. If you have a substantial amount of time on your way to work, make use of it. Instead of using Facebook or playing candy crush, use this time to check some emails or if you’re driving, just do a little brainstorming and make a mental timeline of the tasks you have lined up.
It Only Takes 2 Minutes. If you have small windows of time at work (don’t lie, no one works all the time), make the most of them. If you think there is something that you can do within 2 minutes or less, do it then. Getting back to it later will actually end up taking more time than doing it immediately.
To Multitask or Not? The common belief is that multitasking is an essential skill for being efficient. On the contrary, though, psychologists believe that doing multiple tasks at one time can result in a loss of time and productivity. Instead, give your full attention to one thing at a time before moving on to your next task.
Set Self-Enforced Deadlines. We usually take stress negatively, but a healthy amount of it can help us stay focused and complete our goals. For tasks that don’t have a set timeline, try giving it one yourself and stick to it. You’ll be surprised at how much you achieve.
Try these out and you will notice yourself achieving more which will lead to feeling motivated and positive which in turn will lead to a happy work life!
