Does the following sound familiar to you? “I will do it right after I watch this YouTube video”, “Tomorrow will be a better day to finish this”, “First I need to take my dog for a walk and then, if I have time will write that essay”… These are all excuses people tend to use while they frequently procrastinate.
Well, we guess that there is something else you should be doing instead of reading this article, aren’t we right? But due to some unknown force, you decided to frequently procrastinate by reading an article about how not to procrastinate.
Luckily for you, and all of us, to frequently procrastinate is not a disease. It is just a mindset that can be fixed or changed. In order to achieve that, you first need to recognize procrastination as a bad and unhealthy habit. Second, you need to have a strong determination to change. Without it, you will fall under the pressure of doing other things rather than your chores and tasks.
Here are some tips that will help you avoid frequently procrastinate and improve your productivity at work:
Table of Contents
Let technology work for you and not vice versa
We live in the technology-enhanced world, why not use that technology for your advantage. There are countless mobile apps and online tools that can literally do all the work for you which will ultimately save you a lot of time. You could then use that spare time to do something useful or you could watch YouTube videos, it’s up to you. Here are some of the tools and apps we found useful:
Productivity Tools:
EasyPDF – A free online PDF conversion suite that can help you convert & create PDFs securely, anonymously, and without any limitations.
Time Doctor – In these uncertain times where most of us are working from home, it is crucial to be able to know how and where your team is spending their time. This tool is designed specifically for remote teams and will help you track their time spent doing real work.
Zoom – A tool that provides remote conferencing services with high-quality video and audio. Up to 1,000 participants can be on a call who can collaborate and communicate seamlessly with each other.
Productivity Apps:
PDF to JPG Converter – The app enables you to effortlessly extract photos from PDFs without any loss of quality. It can be really helpful to people who own a website or blog or basically anyone who works with images.
Expensify – The app will allow you to automatically track your receipts and manage your expenses on the go. You can track your personal receipts, submit business expenses or even collect expense reports from other colleges.
Google Drive – This one is no brainer. It represents a cloud storage service that will allow you to store and access your files wherever you are. There is an offline mode as well so you don’t even need to have an internet connection.
Follow the two-minute rule
This basically means that if the task takes less than two minutes to complete you should complete it right away. It could be practically anything from responding to an email, taking a phone call all the way to confirming a dentist’s appointment or taking a look at that contract. The idea is to get those small tasks done right away rather than let them pile up and snowball.
Pomodoro technique
We are most certainly sure that you have probably heard about this technique before, but on the other hand, we are also sure that you don’t know how exactly it can help with supercharging your productivity. The trick lies in the repeated usage. Once it becomes a habit, your ability to focus and concentrate during the duration of the timer would be at least 10 times better.
This tactic is so powerful because it using conditioning to put you in the zone immediately. More than half of the productivity battle is concentration and the other half is actually getting things done so we believe you now realize how powerful this technique can be. You can find out everything about the Pomodoro technique here.
Turn off notifications and alerts
This one could also imply to the previously mentioned Pomodoro technique. It is extremely hard to get into the Zen zone when your smartphone is buzzing and making all kinds of sounds every minute. Depending on how you set up your phone, you may be getting notifications for basically everything from games to tweets or emails. It is crucial to turn off these notifications! Believe us, your efficiency will skyrocket and if you combine it with the Pomodoro technique well, the sky is the limit.
Use templates as much as possible
Templates are blank documents that you can fill in later on and they are absolutely great for the repetitive assignments. For example, if you regularly send email updates to your employees, just create a template that you can use every time you need to send those updates. The same thing can be applied to people who create spreadsheets or reports, just create a template and it will save you a lot of time in preparation. There are various templates that can be found online, just perform a Google search and find the right one.
Do one task at a time
If you are one of those who believe that multitasking is an advantage, let us tell you right away – you are wrong. Planning is everything and having a good plan for your activities, as well as an order to carry them out is always the best option, not only because it allows you to focus on one problem at a time, but also because it helps you concentrate on doing things properly. Multitasking can be beneficial when it comes to less important tasks, but when it comes to work, it is important to set a schedule and do each task with the dedication it deserves otherwise, it may not turn out as expected.
Back to you
What other productivity hacks you like and use? Let us know in the comments below because we would love to add them to our productivity arsenal as well!
