How to Stay on Top Form
How to Stay on Top Form
Staying on top form during work can be pretty tough sometimes. We all hit the highs and lows of the productive day and we have some tips to ensure that you stay on those productive highs all day. With 5 different ways of staying productive to planning all of your day to filtering your emails e effectively say good bye to those hour long procrastination sessions and say hello to that new and improved (and less stressed) you.
1. Work out your work flow. It’s super easy to simply go about our day without a plan; but is this productive? Do you nd yourself taking longer breaks than usual? Find yourself randomly on Facebook checking out your friends holiday snaps?
This is where your work ow chart comes in. This may be a simple task but simply plan all of your day out. All of it. All of your breaks, how long they are, take in to account your travel times and plan your day around these. If possible try to have tasks completed before you go on break. This means that during your break you can clear your head and return completely refreshed and ready to work on the next task.
Add in times, how long it should take and what the task includes. Don’t be too strict with your timings however, add some leeway to ensure that you don’t get stressed that you’ve gone over your timings.
2. Attention Pockets. If a plan may not work for you then try finding moments in your day when you nd yourself being unproductive when you could be. So this could be checking your emails in the supermarket queue. This means that you have saved yourself some time. You don’t have to read them all before starting your next task.
3. Rethink your Connections. It’s great that we are connected like never before thanks to our technology but this can be a bitter sweet afair. Checking social media is fun and comforting but it can drain your productivity time. Look at the apps that give you constant notifications. Turn o the notifications for the apps that aren’t productivity based or beneficial to you. Don’t worry, Facebook and Twitter will still be there for when you finish work!
4. Schedule your procrastination. Coaches swear by this tip as it allows your mind to stay nimble and on point. Get yourself a kitchen timer and set if for about 25 - 30 minutes. Use this time for uninterrupted work. Once the bell rings you can set it again for 5 minutes of playing Angry Birds, checking Twitter or whatever you like. The physical timer will instantly wake you up from your task and ensure you keep alert and on task. 5 .Use the D’s. Delete, Do It Now (is it’s a 2 minute task), Do It later, Delegate or Decide (if it needs action or can be led for later). Use this system to filter your emails. This will allow you to look at the most important tasks at hand and which are doing nothing but causing information overload.
There you have it. Some of our ways of staying on top form. There are many other ways of keeping on track. Do you have any that work for you? Share them with us at info@jcisheffield.org.uk or Tweet us @JCISheffield!