The Pomodoro Technique: Named for the tomato-shaped “pomodoro” kitchen timer, this technique involved breaking your day into half-hour segments called pomodoros that include 25 minutes of focus followed by 5 minutes of rest.
15-minute breaks: Plan two 15-minute breaks during your eight-hour workday (one midmorning, one midafternoon) to break up long stretches of work.Here are a few popular ones that Podio’s infographic suggested: You’ll want to experiment with different work patterns to see what’s most effective for you. “In the same way, if you know you’re always energized when you work on a particular topic, maybe schedule a task that is usually difficult for you to start right after that topic when you feel most energized and motivated,” Fraser added. For example, she said, don’t set an important deadline after a meeting you know will be particularly draining for you, as your energy levels will be lower. These tactics will help cut out the extra minutes that add up to extra hours each day.”įraser advised paying particular attention to what she called “driving” and “restraining” forces, meaning those tasks that increase and decrease motivation, respectively. “Set aside a defined block of time each day for responding to your email and create a thorough agenda/timeline for meetings. “Planning is the best way to reduce hours spent on necessary, yet time-consuming tasks such as email and meetings,” Jodie Shaw, TAB CMO, said in a statement. Once you understand the periods of the day in which you feel most productive, you can begin planning your tasks accordingly. “It can also help to ask colleagues when they observe you to be at your top form and when you appear lackluster.” Work patterns and habits “You can begin to see patterns that could help you restructure your work day to align with your most productive work patterns,” Fraser said. Virginia Fraser, senior communications editor at Insights Learning & Development, said that keeping an informal diary about what you accomplish throughout your work day can help you identify your productivity peaks. Underestimating the effort a task will take.
In fact, the TAB survey found that 35 percent of respondents cited poor time management as their top productivity killer.Ī 2015 user survey by time-tracking software Toggl found people face numerous obstacles in proper time management: Productive people will often say that their secret is excellent time management, but not everyone is naturally good at it. Next, determine what holds you back from getting all your work done. For example, you likely know whether you’re an early bird or a night owl based on when you’re feeling most alert and attentive. You can find your most productive work times and patterns just by paying closer attention to your daily habits, as well as your energy and focus levels. This cycle is known as your ultradian rhythm, and, therefore, it’s important for you to learn your own rhythm to maximize productivity. There’s a scientific reason that working too much kills productivity: According to an infographic by project management software Podio, your brain can only focus for 90 to 120 minutes, at which point it needs a short break before you can launch into your next 90- to 120-minute period of focus.
“This shift in office culture should not be the standard daily activity maximum productivity to be restored into the workplace,” Allder told Business News Daily. This is especially true of business owners – a recent survey by The Alternative Board (TAB) found that 84 percent of business owners put in well above 40 hours of work per week, and 1 in 10 feel continuously overwhelmed by their workload.īut Kelly Allder, vice president of people programs at Ceridian, noted that logging more hours doesn’t necessarily add up to productivity. This often leads people to work evenings and weekends to make up for their less-than-productive workday hours. Everyone goes through productivity slumps during the workday, and yet they still try to power through and keep working, even if it means substandard output. If you work standard office hours, you probably also know that, despite your best efforts (and caffeine intake), you’re not always at your peak when you’re trudging through the daily stream of work.