How to Increase Your Productivity at Work

There never seems to be enough time in the day to accomplish everything we want to do. Our to-do list gets longer, but our days don’t.

The key to meeting our goals is to become more productive to make more efficient use of our time. Becoming more productive means becoming better at managing our time, finding ways to increase our focus, and finding ways to work harder, not smarter.

Here are a few ways that you can become more productive at work to accomplish more in less time:

Set Goals

Before you can get hard at work, you have to understand what you are trying to accomplish. Otherwise, you cannot properly focus to get the results you need.

Concentrate your efforts by determining your goals. You should set both short- and long-term goals to stagger your efforts. Short-term goals can be those you can accomplish in a day or even the hour, and they can contribute to the completion of long-term goals.

Setting goals ensures that all the work you do is meaningful and that you do not waste time on efforts that do not achieve the things you need to achieve.

Get Organized

Once you know your goals, you can become organized to create a plan of action. If you are not organized, you waste too much time trying to assess where you are with a project and to determine what you need to do next.

Even physical organization can help you to be more productive. If your desk is messy, it may be hard for you to find the things you need or to focus on your work. Make sure your work space is clean and organized to make your work more efficient and productive.

Limit Distractions

Minesweeper, solitaire, Facebook, e-mail: They are all minor distractions that can add up to hours in your day if you are not careful. Ditto for trips to the break room for your fifth cup of coffee today and chats with Larry in the next cubicle over.

Limit your distractions so that you can focus on work and the things you need to accomplish. Avoid chatty Larry when you see him coming, and use software on your computer that blocks non-essential programs when you need to focus on work.

Sure, everyone needs a break from time to time, but be sure that these “breaks” don’t end up taking over your day!

Learn to Say “No”

Being more productive doesn’t mean working yourself to the bone trying to fulfill every request and oversee every project. If you become overwhelmed, you won’t be able to focus properly on the job at hand, and your work will suffer and will take you twice as long to finish.

Learn to say “no” to non-essential projects so that you can give the proper focus to your work. Take the time to do the job right the first time, and you will save yourself from having to do it over or to fix mistakes.

Learn to Delegate           

No employee is an island. Learn to be a part of a team, and learn how to delegate. Take ownership for your own work, but find tasks that can be shared by other members of your team and delegate those tasks. You will lighten your load and ensure that your project is completed efficiently.

Learning how to be productive at work requires the same time-management skills that you need to be successful in your personal life. Set goals, become better organized, and limit distractions to become better focused, then learn how to manage your workload by knowing when to delegate and when to say “no.”

Do you use these tips to stay more productive at work? Which ones work best for you? Tell us about your experiences in the comments!

Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and researcher for CollegeScholarships.org, where recently she’s been researching medical school scholarships and free grant money for college. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.