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Being productive at work is useful in many ways. Firstly, you’ll have a great sense of achievement, and you’ll feel proud of how much you got done. Secondly, you won’t have to bring work home with you, or stay late (or get in early) in order to get everything done. Finally, you’ll gain more confidence in yourself, and this will help you to achieve more such as a promotion or even finding the courage to start your own business if that appeals. If you find that you aren’t as productive as you think you could be, here are some ideas that might help you.
Set Micro Goals
It’s good to dream, and it’s even better to dream big. However, having a goal that is huge and lofty and hard to reach won’t help with your productivity; it may even slow you down because you become so focused on achieving what you’re aiming for that you become overwhelmed and too busy to do anything else. The big dream is the end goal, but remember that it will take many smaller steps to get there. These smaller steps are micro goals, and setting them can help you become a lot more productive.
Every time you hit a micro goal, reward yourself and understand how much closer you are to your ultimate goal. Immediately set the next micro goal and start heading towards it. The sooner you can reach these smaller goals, the sooner you will reach your main aim, but breaking it up into small steps will help you stay on track and keep you moving forward.
Question Things
When you are working in any kind of career, it can often seem easier to just go along with the way things are done and not really think too much about why, or even if that’s the right way to do this. However, if you find that you are being asked to do something that doesn’t seem quite right to you, question it.
It could be the fact that no one has questioned it before that means nothing has ever changed, and a simple word from you will have other employees also stepping up to say that they don’t like how something is done. Once these problem areas are changed, productivity is sure to go up.
Take Breaks
Taking breaks at work can be the best thing to do if you want to be more productive. If you are becoming tired or you feel that your creativity or productivity is waning, then getting up from your desk and walking around, perhaps going to make a cup of coffee, getting a glass of water, or even just taking a stroll along the corridor and back can be enough to make you feel yourself again. You might even take a longer break and head to Fitness 19 for a workout. It will depend on your schedule, of course.
If you are staring at a piece of work and forcing yourself to finish it, then the end result will be much less satisfactory than something you felt happy and healthy about. Taking a break can improve your thinking and clear your mind, giving you a much better end result.
