7 ways to take control of your working day and produce your best work
When you are bombarded with notifications, stretched on projects at work and balancing a healthy home life, it can be all too easy to end up feeling stressed. So how can you better manage your time to accomplish more and feel more in control?
It isn’t possible to just simply ‘be more productive’, so we have to get smarter at how we work and find ways to get back to doing meaningful work, work we are proud of. Outlined below are a host of articles full of advice on how to do exactly that.
Notifications are great when they support your priorities and keep you on the right track. But they can become a nuisance when they create unnecessary interruptions and distractions.
Imagine if there was a way to have every beep, nudge and vibration working with you, rather than against you. Well, read this article to find out how to do it and put yourself back in control of your time.
You spend a lot of time at work. Over the years you’ve probably started to take your work week for granted and just experience it how you always have. But what if you could wrestle back control of it and use it as a launch pad for your best self and life?
When your workweek is structured to focus your creative energy on the right work at the right time, you’ll stay energised and effective. The three steps in this article can help take you there.
3. Take advantage of the quiet time to unleash your creative energy
Conventional wisdom suggests that group effort is essential to success in the workplace. But when it comes to finding creative inspiration, too much face-to-face team time might actually put us at a disadvantage and steal time away from when we might just be our most effective.
This article will help you find a few ways to find your inner focus, tap into inspiration and get some of your important time back.
4. Find your most creative time of day
We are all governed by our own internal clocks that depict when we’re wide awake and when we need toothpicks to prop our eyes open. And then we all assume that we are at our best during our peak hours. But when it comes to creativity, we may be getting it all totally wrong.
According to a study on how time of day affects problem solving, a little sleepiness may open our minds to more creative solutions. Read this article for the full story and find out when you are at your most effective.
It may sound like common sense but we are always under pressure to deliver ‘everything’ like it’s the most important thing. But, if everything is important, then nothing is. You need to be ruthless with your prioritisation.
Have a scroll through this article to see how the Eisenhower matrix – and the principle of important vs. urgent – can be a powerful tool to boosting your effectiveness at work.
You read that right. Doing nothing for a few minutes every day can help reduce stress, boost energy, improve focus and help you be more productive.
Ok so it isn’t actually nothing. It’s meditation. Find out more about how meditation and mindfulness can help you be more effective and efficient by reading this article.
7. Stop setting yourself bad goals
It’s happened to just about everyone. You put lots of thought into setting a goal: it’s ambitious, detailed and trackable. But then something goes wrong. Maybe you fall behind or perhaps your team’s priorities shift and the goal becomes irrelevant. Its demoralising and can feel like a huge waste of time.
Here are seven ways to stop yourself from setting bad goals and stay on the right track.
So, there you have it, seven articles packed full of advice to help you wrestle back control of your time and find ways to be more efficient at work. If you are still feeling stressed at work, then check out our articles from stress awareness month earlier this year, they’ll help you do more meaningful work and get back to the best version of you.
