What time is considered the most productive for work? How to work productively and not waste time? Setting a specific goal.

There are times when you simply cannot force yourself to work, and talkative employees, social networks, public pages and toys only make things worse. The work is worth it and it won’t get away from you. How to shake off the embrace of laziness and start doing something?

Here are 6 tips to help save your unproductive day.

Such a lazy mood can visit you not only at work, but also at home: because of it, you continue to sit in a dirty apartment, staring at the monitor, and instead of a healthy dinner, cook yourself dumplings.

So, in order not to clear away the rubble at work and at home, I offer you six ways to force yourself to do something right now, and not in the distant “tomorrow”.

1. Cleaning - first of all Maybe your desk is in perfect order, but during the day all sorts of rubbish still appears on it - papers, documents, notepads and pens, cups of coffee. The first thing to do when you feel stuck at work is to clean up your desk.

Stuff lying around distracts you without you even realizing it, and the act of cleaning itself helps clear your thoughts. At home it’s the same, if you can’t force yourself to do something, start by cleaning: wash the dishes, make the bed, take out the trash: usually one action is enough to start the process, and you won’t sit on the sofa again until you do it everything you need.

2. Start with small things Usually they advise the opposite - to start with the most difficult and complex projects so that they don’t hang like a stone over your soul, but here we have an emergency situation and a sharp decline in productivity, so difficult things will only make you procrastinate even more.

Do a few small tasks and check them off on your to-do list. For example: tidy up your desk and sketch out a plan for the day. When you see that something has been accomplished, your mood improves and you can take on more difficult tasks. Easy tasks will serve as a warm-up for you, just don’t get carried away, 2-3 tasks will be enough, otherwise you’ll be doing nonsense all day.

3. Choose one task So, you have warmed up, now the main thing is to maintain the result. To prevent social networks and entertainment sites from sucking you in again, turn them off, remove everything that is not related to work or your primary task.

Select one task that needs to be done right now, write it on a piece of paper and stick it on your laptop. Make it visible and start executing. When you're done, write the next one, and don't be distracted by anything else during the process.

4. Change the place Your workplace is saturated with melancholy and unproductivity, colleagues are chatting nearby, let’s say it’s Friday. Try changing your place, for example, take your laptop and go to another room, or go for a walk outside (given the weather, you can go into the corridor), while thinking about what and how you will do in the remaining time.

This also helps at home: just go out for a walk, for example, buy yourself something in a nearby store and return home with a ready-made plan of action.

5. Set yourself a timer You have decided what you will do, now set a timer for 15 minutes, and during this time completely immerse yourself in the task. Just a quarter of an hour, then you can be distracted again (you need to promise yourself this when you set the timer).

You'll be surprised how much you can accomplish with 15 minutes of concentration, even if your task actually takes 3 hours or three business days. When you see this, inspiration will awaken and the work will begin.

6. The glass is always half full No matter how little you have done that day or the day before, try to leave a positive attitude. Look at what you have done and promise yourself that you will do even more tomorrow, or better yet, make a plan that includes everything you will do tomorrow.

That's all, we hope these tips will help you overcome sudden laziness at work or at home.

Work occupies an important place in a person's life. This is an opportunity to earn money, to assert oneself, . Work helps in the process. It doesn’t matter where and how you work: at home, in the office or on the street, with a computer or with people. It is important to work productively: do more useful things and get tired less. If you notice that you spend a lot of time at work and often don’t have time to get everything done, then you need to increase your productivity.

How to increase your productivity?

1. Self-confidence

   To be confident in life and work, you need to constantly. Learn to notice your achievements and victories, even if they are small. This will give you confidence. Don't dwell on failures and mistakes. You have made certain conclusions, you can move on. Constantly repeat to yourself that you will succeed, you will achieve your goal.

2. Properly organized workplace

   Keep your work area tidy. This will help save time: you won’t have to search through a huge pile of paper for the document you need. You will not be distracted: there will be no extraneous things on the table. The less distracted you are, the more productive you will be. Spend 5 minutes daily cleaning your desk.

3. Alternation of work and rest

   You are not a robot to work 8 hours straight with high productivity. After every hour of work, you need to take a 5-10 minute break. You can spend a break in different ways: someone drinks tea, someone listens to music, and someone just looks out the window. It all depends on the personal preferences of each person.

4. Positive attitude towards work

   The work you love is done faster and with better quality, brings moral satisfaction, you are less tired and less likely to experience stress. Look for the positives in your work. The more productive your work is.

5. Increased concentration

   Do not be distructed, . Try to think about what you need to do. If you are reading or making an important plan, then you do not need to talk with colleagues or listen to music at this time. An important rule: at work, think exclusively about work, and not about household chores and plans for the weekend.

6. Setting a specific goal

   The more specific, the shorter the path to achieve it. You must understand your job responsibilities well, what needs to be done and how. Make a work plan for the week and for the day. Divide complex and voluminous tasks into smaller parts.

Increasing work productivity is a completely doable task. It takes a little effort and desire. You will be able to do more and be less tired.

The question of how to work productively is especially relevant. It doesn’t matter whether you work at a computer, or a mid-level entrepreneur, or a mother who is a housewife, productive work allows you to get the most work done in a short time.

Get a lot of work done: efficiently, quickly, and your conscience is satisfied, and you have time for pleasant little things. Great, isn't it? The following productivity rules should help you become that high-performer.

Rules for productive, effective activities. Or how to be productive

The first rule of productivity. Remove the unimportant, focus on the important

Otherwise, set priorities, where to put first the most important matters that need to be resolved quickly. But simply prioritizing what to do first and what to do later implies that secondary unimportant things also need to be done.

Productivity rule #1 says that there are important things to do and that’s it! Other unimportant work goes into the trash bin. For it is not possible to do everything well, man is a creature that goes to extremes, now and then seven Fridays a week.

Choose only the important things and work on them, throw the rest out of your mind.

The second rule of highly effective work. Be flexible, break rules, change plans

Strange advice. One can still agree with “being flexible”, but how can one break the rules?

Plans and rules are drawn up, as they say, theoretically, but in practice, there may be pitfalls, and the path to success needs to be adjusted in order to get around them. This time.

Two, if you do monotonous work, you will get tired for some time, and your productivity and efficiency will gradually decrease. And you’ll spend a fair amount of time, but the effect of such a thing tends to zero.

Exit. If practice differs from theory, you need to follow the practice, and establish new rules and draw new plans.

The third rule of high personal efficiency. Do not be distracted, remove possible external distractions from work

There is a useful property of the human psyche – a flow state. When all of a person’s nature is focused on the current activity. A very productive state. But it's easy to break.

Even if you are not used to working in a flow state, I think you will agree that it is easy to get distracted, but then difficult to tune in to productive work.

The rule is this: before starting an activity, remove everything that could prevent you from doing it. Turn off your phone, turn off the TV, radio, notify your household or anyone else that you are in an inaccessible zone. Hang this sign on your door...

The fourth rule is how to work productively. Get inspired, get into a flow state

I already mentioned it above. In this article, in order not to repeat myself, about useful things.

In short. When do you work harder and more effectively? When is it necessary? Or when you are inspired and enjoy doing it?

Look for inspiration. Get into the flow.

Fifth and sixth rules. Time management. Manage time

First, you need to set deadlines for how long you will work. Secondly, accordingly, when you should complete this activity. If you allocate an indefinite amount of time to work, then you will do it for an indefinite amount of time. The opposite is also true. Not really…

Managing your time in your own way is an art. You need to be a strategist and a visionary. You can start with the little things by setting a timer: . It is very difficult to decide on the timing of work that is new.

Well, master the art of planning with time. For highly effective people, this is a must-have skill.

The seventh rule is how to work effectively. Automate everything that can be automated. Combine everything that can be combined.

For those who work on a computer, this is especially true. There is a lot of routine work and many opportunities to automate this work. The rule is this: at an early stage, already think about how to delegate this or that to software.

Lots of activities that can be combined. For example, if you work on a PC, you can combine scanning books with studying a training program.

If there is a lot of tedious automatic work, you feel like a robot, you can load yourself with another simple activity, preferably on “another channel of touching the world” (channels: see, hear, think, feel, do with your hands. So you can watch educational videos and cook dinner... )

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If procrastination is a pressing problem for you,

We've collected the top 7 best tips on how to stop procrastinating and become more productive at work and in life.

1/7 Find your "peaks"activity

Scientists have long proven that no one is capable of working for 8 hours in a row (let alone 12).Curry Mason, author of the book “Genius Mode,” also spoke about this. Daily routine of great people."

He found that most people have two to four productive hours during the day. This is the time when a person is full of strength, energy, creatively active and most productive in performing complex tasks. The rest of the time it is better to deal with simple management and routine tasks.

The famous foreign writer Taylor Pearson also agrees that every person has his own 2-4 productive hours a day. He tried to “force” himself to write a lot every day, but in the end, after several hours of working on the text, he felt tired, and the quality of the text deteriorated significantly.

So, instead of long and productive work, the writer received the opposite effect: every extra hour of work on the book added time to correcting what he had written the next day.

ADVICE

It's not difficult to be productive during the day. You just have to find your few productive hours a day. Try completing tasks of varying difficulty at different times of the day. This way you will understand when you work best.

2/7 Don't neglect sleep

Many of us think that if we stay late at work or come to the office early in the morning, we can get a lot done, so we often neglect sleep. Such people believe that their productivity at work will increase significantly, but this is a fundamentally wrong tactic. To be productive during the workday, it is important not only to get a good night's sleep, but also not to oversleep.

Leading sleep expert Professor Daniel Kripke told TIME that a person needs an average of 6.5 to 7.5 hours to sleep.Studies have shown that those who sleep less or more than the golden mean not only show reduced productivity at work, but also live shorter lives. This statement is confirmed by the American publication Business Insider, which conducted its own investigation and found how much time successful people spend on sleep.

Take an example from successful people, remember your habit from childhood and try to sleep during the day. If you have a rest area in your office, then feel free to take a sleep mask, earplugs and take a 15-minute lunchtime nap.

3/7 Keep track of your daily routine

Even if you work from home or for yourself, a daily routine is very important, as Currie Mason, author of the book “Genius Mode,” says. Daily routine of great people." We're not just talking about planners or mobile apps that remind you of appointments. It's more a matter of proper distribution of working time.

For example, scientists advise taking short breaks at work.

A break, even 15 minutes long after 1.5 hours of active work, will only improve your productivity and allow your brain to “rest” and “recharge.”

You will be surprised how much your productivity will increase.

4/7 Fill your breaks with something useful

We already wrote above that scientists from the University of Illinois have established the need for breaks while working. Try to make your breaks not only relaxing, but also productive.

Some 15-minute breaks can be filled by watching tutorials or educational videos on YouTube.

Owl lovers will love them even more after installing the application. “Owl” will not only limit access to the sites you choose, but will also make sarcastic comments about you if it seems to you that you are not productive enough.

7/7 Stop following “successful” people on social media

Other people's success can make you admire, envy, and then even make you depressed. But think about it! Spying on someone's life will not make you a good employee or a successful person. Try to focus better on your current problems and tasks.

There are some very radical pieces of advice on this matter. Kelvin Newport, teacher at Georgetown University (USA), author of books and articles on career building advises remove yourself from social networks for everyone who wants career growth.

As follows from speeches Kelvin Newport, a successful specialist is valued by skills, not by positioning himself on social networks.

But if you don’t want to leave social networks and examples of other people’s achievements inspire you, it is much more productive to listen to lectures by successful people than to like their photos on social networks.

For example, subscribe to TED YouTube channel and stay tuned for announcements of new video lectures.

Final tips and selection of books to improve personal productivity

Productivity is not a character trait or some special quality that is passed down to you from your father or mother. Personal effectiveness is a lot of work on yourself and your mistakes.

To become an excellent doctor, you need to graduate from a good university, and in order to start playing the ukulele, you need to take special courses or watch video lessons on YouTube.

It’s the same story with productivity: to become a more productive person, learn to be one.

We have collected the best books that will help increase your productivity:

• Mason Curry “Genius Mode. Daily routine of great people” - the book is perfect for those who really want to look up to great personalities, and not to Instagram profiles.
• Chris Anderson “TED Talks. Words change the world. The First Official Guide to Public Speaking is an incredible book from TED ideologist and curator about how to make your presentations and speeches more powerful and effective. The book will also teach you how to work with an audience.
• Peter Ludwig“Beat procrastination! How to Stop Putting Things Off Until Tomorrow” is one of the most famous and useful books for those who feel constant guilt for not getting anything done, but can’t do anything about it. 5 out of 5 stars on Ozone, impressive reviews from those who have already read it, and most importantly, there is no “water” in the book, only examples from the real life of the author and his colleagues.

Hello, dear readers.

But tell me honestly, how many people manage this easily and simply? Most will answer that it is possible with great difficulty, and often does not work out at all.

Willpower is good, but not enough

You can force yourself to do something, but this personal resource is either not enough or does not last long.

Such pressure on oneself is exhausting and leads to a stressful state. Eventually there is a complete shutdown. Mental energy runs out, a person gives up what he focused on, but actually forced himself to do.

It turns out that willpower alone is not enough. Why is this happening?

It’s just that our brain is designed in such a way that it works on the basis of past experience, when we have repeatedly given up and retreated when unsuccessful. As a result, he resists in every possible way anything that requires a lot of energy and time.

This is the main and main reason why it is so difficult for us to accomplish what is intended as a long-term goal.

It is impossible to work productively without pleasure

The second reason why we cannot take on what we need to do is displeasure. We tell ourselves: we have to do it because we have to, and that’s all. Without any emotions.

This kind of “tuning” of the brain is not effective. Most likely, it comes from laziness to think about what is important at the moment?, what will affect success and well-being?, what will ultimately bring us satisfaction? Instead, we “evade”, do some routine things, do whatever (mainly what's easier), avoiding what needs to be done. How to work productively in such conditions? - but no way, a complete “zero” pastime.

However, it is known that the most productive part of humanity achieves outstanding results by directing their efforts to mastering the most difficult skills.

It is obvious that such people achieve high results for one simple reason. They get satisfaction from acquiring complex skills, and do not “spray themselves” on small and unnecessary things that only take up time and do not bring results. Hence the conclusion about the following feature -

About your favorite thing

By doing it, you can achieve a lot. Why doesn't this work? It’s just that we don’t know what successful business is our favorite, and we certainly confuse our favorite business in the name of success with our favorite doing nothing, or doing something that is easier and does not require effort.

Avoid this situation and understand what necessary case favorite, most likely it is possible, but only if we start doing what we see after. Without starting something, we will never know what brings pleasure and what does not.

You can do a lot and be busy all day, but just working, and working tirelessly, doing like everyone else, is not enough.

Difficult start

When we need to do something difficult and long-term, we very often put it off until later, for some uncertain future, the timing of which is in the fog for us, that is, there is none.

The protective function of the brain is also affected here. He simply avoids unnecessary stress, and clings to any opportunity to postpone a difficult start, pushes into.

This leads to an unpleasant result. We spend most of our lives doing what is more familiar, easier, and not doing what we need to do. We go to work, perform simple and uncomplicated tasks, do the same things at home, and as a result we discover that over many years, it turns out, nothing special has been done, and most importantly, much has not been achieved.

To start is to finish

However, despite our laziness, there is an amazing phenomenon. If a group of completely different people is given a task to do something, and at the same time they are limited in time so that it is clearly not enough to complete the task, then the majority, 90 percent or more, after the allotted time has passed, want to stay and finish what they started.

This means that almost all of us have the desire not to stop. And we do this not because our brain works like an automaton, but because it is unpleasant for us to stop without finishing the job we started. We are experiencing discomfort!

Why then do we still put it off, don’t start, and delay doing the necessary things?

The reason is most likely that we set ourselves a task so big that we want to avoid it, or we don’t think through all the details. We are afraid of our own uncertainty.

In this case, there can apparently be only one solution - just start, without thinking about the consequences, and start with what is not the most difficult, and maybe even with the problem. For example, in the morning you don’t feel like doing it - you just need to start a light warm-up, and then everything will “roll” like clockwork.

Need rest

We’ll get started and get involved in the matter, but there is one danger here. We begin to push ourselves, not allowing ourselves to rest. It seems to us that the more intensively we work, the more efficiently and quickly we will do it.

But this approach is fundamentally wrong. In fact, this leads to fatigue, and it is no longer possible to work productively. We forget that people are subject to cycles. At the genetic level, a person is so programmed that he must observe daily cycles lasting from 90 to 120 minutes for activity and for sleep - rest.

It was also found that the best susceptibility and performance of people occurs when alternating between employment and rest. A rest period of 15–20 minutes is sufficient to maintain high performance. Cycle: 90 minutes (one and a half hours) of work - 20 minutes of rest may be quite acceptable. Then the question of how to work productively will be resolved by itself.

Do it in cycles and in order

Sticking to such cycles is useful focus on just one thing, do not be distracted, and at the same time complete all tasks consistently. Trying to do everything at once reduces productivity and wastes time. If you are distracted by another task, it takes up to 20 minutes or more to return to the previous rhythm of the cycle.

And so that things don’t seem “scary” and difficult, it’s useful to break them down into your goal into pieces that are easy and specific. Then the brain will not consider the goal as a huge and difficult task, and will not “sabotage” its implementation.

And lastly, business, like money, loves counting

The results of the experiments show that it is important to set yourself deadlines for completing work. Such self-discipline increases the ability to successfully finish what you start by at least 80%.

At the same time, the effectiveness of self-control increases sharply if it is possible to calculate what has been done in any way. It doesn’t matter at all what and how we calculate. It is important that such quantitative calculations be possible and done.

Let's sum it up

Willpower alone is not enough. Sooner or later we break down. Turning a task into something you love radically changes everything, and it goes off with a bang.

The beginning can be difficult, you just need to start and that’s it, and not think about the consequences. The beginning gives rise to pleasure from the completion.

You can’t “drive” yourself with work. Alternate work with rest, for example according to the scheme 90 → 20 → 90 (in minutes), and so on.

It's better to do things consistently. Simultaneous multitasking is our enemy.

To neutralize brain sabotage, break down tasks into small ones, write them down, and set deadlines.

The efficiency and completeness of work increase with quantitative accounting of what has been done.

I wish you success in your business!

P.S.
It is better to plan your day the night before. If you try to do this in the morning, you will not be able to plan effectively - there is no time to think and weigh everything. In addition, there may be urgent matters in the morning that will interfere.