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Everyone wants to accomplish as much as they can in the quickest time frame but often this comes at a price. Being quicker at something is not always the most effective way and can often lead to a negative result at the expense of your business.

Being productive at work, whether you are an employee in an office, a freelancer working from home or an entrepreneur starting a small business, it is an important aspect to learn if you want to be successful.

If this is you and you’re looking for tips on being more productive in the work place, then take a look at our short list of things to think about to achieve productivity.

Learn to say no

If you’re a small business owner or freelancer just starting out, you may feel that you have to accept and tackle every job that comes your way. But you don’t have to! How important is the quality of your work? This should be at the top of the list in terms of business objectives and if this is compromised at any time, it will have a knock-on effect in your business.

Learning to delegate or working with others could be a solution if you are finding that there is just not enough time in the day. Delegation is not a way of giving up or defeat – it’s a way of managing a growing situation that you know could be handled better.

Start with tasks that you know are time-consuming or you simply don’t have time for but you know they have to be done. Hire a Virtual Assistant for those small takes, just a few hours a week and be assured that they will be completed whilst you focus on other parts of your business.

Say no to other jobs that you simply cannot fit into the puzzle. It is better to say no than to do a bad job – word of mouth and reputation is extremely important for any business, especially a small business that is trying to grow. If it’s a job that you know fits with your business but you personally don’t have time – is it something that you could hire a freelancer / virtual assistant for?

It’s about working out a way of managing your time and workload and staying focused on what you enjoy in your business.

Prioritise

We all have a hundred and one things on our to-do list and as the above point, there are times that we have to say no. However there are also times that we need to prioritise what we are doing and put order into our days.

Prioritise the work that comes in, work through tasks in order of importance. Often a good tip is to complete the tasks that take the most amount of time first, knowing that once that is done, you’ll have more time to focus on the rest.

Use lists to help you with your workload. Wunderlist is a great app that you can use on the go and will sync with your laptop so wherever you are you’ll be able to see what needs doing and what you have completed. It may seem tedious to start with but when you get the hang of working with lists and prioritising the tasks on them, your working week will become more manageable and you’ll be able to see what comes next each step of the way.

5 Quick Tips To Be More Productive

Manage your time

It’s extremely easy to get side-tracked and start one thing and then start something else halfway through. Managing your time properly will enable you to know how much time you spend on each task (especially useful for freelancers or virtual assistants who charge per hour) and help you to work to deadlines more efficiently.

Using your lists, work through your workload in order. If you’re charging per hour, be sure to use a stop clock or online app that helps you track exactly what time you are using.

Using an online calendar is also a great way of ensuring that you stick to your timeframes and with reminders being set, you can be sure to get each task done as and when they are required. Don’t forget to schedule phone calls or meetings into your calendar as this is time away from your day that you have planned to complete other work. Along with this comes scheduling time to check emails and messages. This should all form part of your daily lists and be entered into your calendar. It may sound silly but actually managing your time effectively means you need to know where all your time is being spent – and this is a great way of keeping track.

If you work from home and have family commitments, have your desk ready for working when you come home from the school run and then you know that you’re ready for business from that point on. Discipline is very important when working away from an office and getting in to a routine takes practice but is definitely worth it.

Stop multitasking

May sound an odd thing to put on this list as multitasking is often taught to be a good thing. But multitasking can often lead to mistakes and work not being produced to a high standard.

Use your lists and your priorities to organise your work load and work on one thing at a time to produce great results that clients will be sure to recommend you for.

Less is more when it comes to your productivity in the workplace – get tasks done more effectively and efficiently by not multitasking at work.

Take breaks

Yes, you want to get more done and you have a ton of things on your to-do list … but being productive is about time management managing your workload well. If you schedule breaks into your working day, it will enable your mind to re-focus and re-charge.

Grab a snack or a coffee, perhaps go for a walk and get some fresh air and definitely step away from your screen! Allow your body to have a break, ready to come back refreshed and ready to start again. This will make you more effective in your work.

There are many more things we could add to this list but remember that your business is your livelihood, it is a part of you and in order for your business to grow and to be successful, you need to a good reputation and your recommendations matter. Staying on top of your workload and being more productive at work will bring great benefits to you, health wise and also to your business.

If you’d looking for a helping hand in achieving any of the above or are looking for a Virtual Assistant to be your pair of helping hands, then get in touch!

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