I work part-time, attend full-time university, write articles for my own personal blog and contribute to triond.com. On top of everything else (girlfriend, partying, cooking, cleaning, earning a living etc) I have to juggle my own Honors research commitments and personal development (I'm learning to program in C++). There's only 168 hours in a week, assuming a person averages 7 hours of sleep every day, that's close to 30% of the week gone!
So where do you find time to fit in everything? In this article, I'll share with you five incredibly easy ways to boost your daily productivity.
Clear your desk, clear your mind
Start by clearing your desk of odds and ends. Do you really need that staple, hole puncher, ruler, stamps, envelopes etc on the table right now? What about your sunglasses? Or your wallet? Or even your bag? If its not needed for the job, stow your kit away. Have a craftsmen attitude to your desk top, keep clutter to a minimum and you'll maintain your focus longer.Work in short, intense 30 minutes burst - then coast for 15, break for 15 and repeat
Psychologists and neuroscientists measure concentration by observing the test subject's ocular view. Basically they set up a camera to observe the test subject's eyes. They discovered that the average adult has an undivided, 100 attention span of 10 minutes, for every 5 minutes past the average, concentration wavers and drops by 5%. Bear that in mind the next time you decide to sit down....Have a bottle of water handy
There was a scene in the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" where Will Smith's character decided to forego getting up to get a drink of water so that he can use that extra few minutes to cold call an extra customer so that he can get the job at the brokerage. I am not asking you to go to such lengths, but there's nothing worse than having to break halfway in the middle of a major breakthrough. So keep a bottle of water handy, stay hydrated.Become the "Early bird"
Remember the saying, "The Early Bird Catches the Worm". Successful people attribute their successes to being an early riser. Not only do they report higher energy levels, they also report feeling a lot calmer. You can put that extra hour to good use by thinking about what it is you need to do. I normally get up at 5 am, and use the extra hour to log on and download my emails for reading on my daily commute to uni. Also I use that time to brain storm new blog post ideas or think about the day's task.Keep a daily target, have your goal in mind, work consistently towards it
To protect myself from feeling burnt out, I set myself a few achievable targets. These targets add up to the larger picture. Set annual goal, come up with daily targets - clear target every day. This way you break up a Big Hairy Audacious Goal into smaller more manageable steps.
This year (2008) my goal is to earn USD$1 every month from writing articles on triond.com. My ultimate goal is to earn an extra USD$100 every month from my stream of articles.
I hope this article has inspired you to get out there and do more. Don't be discouraged if you do not see instant results. Don't just work hard, work smart!
