7 Easy Ways To Perfect The Present & Instantly Increase Your Productivity At Work

by Dr. Krista Wells, The Military Spouse Coach®

 

• Have you ever felt overwhelmed at work and felt that the answer was to try some new productivity tool?
• You search for books and articles on how to delegate more, send shorter emails, and increase your productivity?
• You take notes at your company's training du jour, download a new app, and begin researching online, but then as you click on the author's bio and find all that you are left with is a screen shot of a cherry pie recipe and more discouragement?

When you wake up from your social media coma and full day of meetings that keep you from actually working, know that you are not alone. So many of us are feeling disorganized, overworked, and overwhelmed.

Many new career coaching clients come to me fed up with this feeling of overwhelm and assume the answer is a new career, or at least a new job. But sometimes, the answer is to consider some small changes prior to big leaps. And my initial solution is often what our coaching industry has coined “perfecting the present.” When you apply this principle to work, it can help you regain a sense of hope. You can invest some time in making small outward tweaks that will yield some meaningful inward returns.

Have you slowed your pace enough to consider what a productive day would look like so that you have a vision to work toward? Do you have some work goals in writing? What skills, if mastered, would yield more productive results? When you start each day deciding you deserve respect, you deflect attracting people that derail your progress. When you make time to plan and prioritize at the start of each day, you let your artificial adrenaline rushes know they no longer serve your best self. And as you invest time in creating boundaries, decluttering your workspace, and improving your current systems, you will find that more time and energy begin magically showing up. While you may attract some wonderful new opportunities, you are comforted in knowing that wherever you go, there you are. You wake up accepting that even when demands are increasing on your time and energy, you are empowered to design a day that considers all your priorities and leaves you feeling productive and accomplished.

1.     Decluttering Your Work Spaces

Yes, filing physical papers, watering the plant on our desk, and dusting off our bookshelves can spark motivation, but in addition to a clean desk, you want to create a clean mind. What would it look like to clear the virtual clutter you face at work? Organize passwords, properly labeled files, printed copies of systems that keep you on track. The benefits of decluttering can feel too vague to add cleaning tasks to your master list, but the rewards are promising, so consider scheduling a little time in your day to accept LinkedIn invites, delete photos that don't make the favorite list, and rename your project file so you get into the habit of setting yourself up for success.

2.     Remind People How To Treat You

If other people are upsetting you at work, it's not usually based on different personalities; it's usually a lack of role and task clarity. You may need to remind your colleagues of your expectations. In addition, if you are feeling micromanaged or unsupported at work, you can subtly teach your boss the management style that will make you most productive. If you have people working for you, have you invested time into how to best communicate and motivate each other? Many clients have noticed that as they exercise better boundaries and establish clearer expectations, everyone is more productive.

3.     Commit to One Master Task List

Think about a twist on Franklin Covey's popular 4 quadrant chart with the top two horizontal columns labeled important and the perpendicular columns labeled urgent and non-urgent. Think of a way to distinguish personal and professional tasks; maybe use two different pen colors. Important urgent projects will be on your morning calendar and less urgent decluttering tasks might be things you wrap up at the end of the day. One client shared that she likes having her master task list handy when she checks emails, attends meetings, or even when she is working on a project, because it helps her quickly get ideas out of her mind and onto paper so she can focus back on the more pressing project, thereby increasing her productivity.

4.     Tackle Your Email System

Deleting emails requires quick decisions. Pretend you are an assistant organizing, rather than feeling you must dive in (unless it is a 30-second response) and start doing everything that is being asked of you before you have prioritized what you need to do. She said the secret to getting to zero is to take some initial time and invest in an overall observation of your current system and brainstorm ways to make it go faster. She set up email rules that now sends certain types of emails to certain saved folders that she needs to access later and now flags incoming emails from her key team members and manager so she can handle those requests first. Excavating emails can feel healthier than a prior archiving habit.

5.     Theme Potential Pockets of Time

It is hard to grow your business and also keep up with current client demands, but entrepreneurs and corporate positions often require a balance between working on our job and in our job. It can feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to get it all done. Theming your days can help you become extra efficient. One client shared that as she began to direct her down time through themes such as Marketing Monday, Task Master Tuesday, Writing Wednesday, Technology Thursday, and Friendly Friday, she noticed people were asking her out to lunch on Fridays. She would inevitably accept the offer and her “goal” of internal networking happened effortlessly.

6.     Invest In More Automation

Create simple systems for posting on social media, checking social media messages, or even connecting with people on Linked In, etc. Look for times when you are repeating similar tasks and a more automated system would free your time and energy. This might be an auto-responder email for similar responses or changing your voicemail to direct potential customers in more efficiently ways. Set up an automated delivery of office supplies or have pre-printed labels ready that require a small investment of time to set up yet become a gift for your future self.

Dr. Krista Wells is a certified professional coach dedicated to empowering military spouses. In her private practice, she focuses on improving her clients' health, increasing their wealth, and strengthening their relationships. In addition to her private clients, Krista offers keynote speeches, workshops for organizations and military bases, and writes for various military publications. She recently launched The Military Spouse Show podcast in an effort to expand her reach and connect with the broader military spouse community.   Go to: www.militaryspousecoach.com for more information.

Have a question about work-life balance for Krista? Ask here. Your question/answer may be printed in a future issue.