How to increase your productivity by doing less!

A simple answer to the question - how to increase my productivity - often comes as - do more work! Finish more tasks! That usually results in overwhelming us and our schedule becomes a cluttered mess of post-its and undone tasks.

That is a problem a lot of people face while handling too many things in a short frame of time. Here is something that could help you reduce the number of tasks you do, all the while increasing your productivity - stop following the hustle culture.

When we do a number of things together in a go, it affects not only our capacity to be productive but also causes stress, and affects mental well-being.

The misguided opinion

Urgent doesn’t always mean important, just like, busy doesn’t always mean productive!

A student on an average is studying a minimum of 40 hours a week. Apart from that, there are responsibilities towards family, commitment to friends, grocery runs, and hobbies. Assuming that you take proper sleep (which is often not the case), you still have 90 hours in a week that remain unutilized. Despite that, in the end, so much is left undone and at the beginning of a new week, you have a pile-up of leftover lessons that need reading.

Studying long hours and exhausting yourself can have adverse effects, from poor communication skills and low productivity to disturbed sleep and depression.

Despite this, long hours have become the new trend towards becoming ‘successful’ amongst youngsters. Recent surveys show that today’s youth is putting in longer hours than has ever been recorded. This can be attributed to higher expectations and more competition. Unfortunately, we have been taught that more hours equal more productivity and better results.

Here are some things suggestions on how to increase your day-to-day productivity by decreasing the number of things you do!

A shorter to-do list is more achievable

Remember that schedule-making exercise you religiously (fail to) follow? It is time to restructure the way you go about it. It is perfectly fine if every box of your color-coded day planner is not filled.

Open that planner, fresh page, and after listing all the activities you have to accomplish, and then rate the top two.

These are your absolutely necessary tasks of the day; your mission-critical items that MUST be done. The other things on your list have to be done but shouldn’t take up your mind space the way your immediate priorities do. Start your day with with that in mind.

If you decide to cross out some of the tasks from your to-do list or club some of these, it is possible that you are able to reduce the pile-up and the pressure that comes with it. Also, a to-do list with one hundred items will only discourage you for the day ahead. If you are preparing for an entrance exam or try-outs for a college sport team, let activities to this effect be your priority. Remember priority means only 1 and not a combination of diluted goals. 

Pre-decided agendas 

When entering a session with your study group, study buddy, mentor, guide or tutor make sure that the agenda for the session is clear. Ensure that this agenda ties into the priority task for the day.

This will help you make confident strides towards a pointed result. It will also help you from digressing onto paths that don't serve the greater purpose.

The early hour of scrolling

If you wake up by a phone alarm, chances are you spend the first thirty minutes of your day checking email, scrolling through social media, or replying to messages. This puts you in a reactive frame of mind, i.e., you are already working when your mind is not even fully awake.

If you read that last sentence again, you will know that that can’t be good. The first hour of the day is very important. Use it to exercise, read a book, have a cup of coffee, or just do something for yourself. When your day starts with a fresh, active mind, your productivity will automatically increase.

Fewer hours mean more focus

The attention span of an average human being is 40 minutes. After that, the mind needs to hit refresh. When you have long hours of study, you tend to lose interest and that just brings down the quality and quantity of the work.

Fewer hours make it better to manage tasks (especially if you follow rule 1 of keeping lesser tasks). You can also use short activity intervals, by working for 30 minutes then taking a five-minute break before you start the next 30-minute shift. It is called the Pomodoro Technique and has proven to be pretty effective.

Multitasking is getting you nowhere

The only worse thing than no attention is divided attention. Not only are you stressing your brain but both (or all) the activities you are engaged in are not getting the focus they need to get results. Stretching yourself too thin is always ineffective and frustrating. Multitasking is never the answer to increasing productivity.

Pick up one task, finish it, then move on to the next. Accomplish your goals one by one.

Take time off!

New Zealand, one of the most progressive countries, has a law that mandates 30 vacation days per year for all staff. This does not reduce productivity at all but on the contrary, has proven to increase productivity. Take a day off in a fortnight and use this time to relax and unwind. Give those mental gears some much-needed rest. 

Club up tasks where possible

Now, this is different than multi-tasking. DO NOT check your email while driving. Clubbing up just means that you can make that phone call to your friend while on your lunch break, or listen to a podcast while brushing your teeth, do a house chore, like laundry/cooking with your family which gives you time with them. Not only will your productivity increase, but also give you better time management.

Subtract from your lists instead of adding to them. Follow routines, but do not overburden yourself.

What are some other ways to make your days more effective?

• Cut back on watching the news. Read the paper instead or watch the morning headlines. It makes you happier and less anxious to not read every single news piece throughout the day.

• If you know you are tired, hit pause and pick up the next task tomorrow. Grasping onto new concepts especially need your full attention, make sure you have the bandwidth to make them.

• DO NOT compromise on your rest. Go to bed early, and that feeling of being #tiredallday might just go away.

• The TV really is an idiot box. If you are spending two hours watching television, you are probably spending one of them switching between channels - not exactly taking a break.

• Disable unnecessary notifications on your phone. Even email and social media notifications if you tend to check your mail regularly. It helps you study better if your phone doesn’t go ‘ping’ every few seconds.

• Declutter your workspace (and your desktop). You will find that stapler (and pen) quicker. 

Life is not about filling a rack with trophies that say ‘I cleared my to-do lists 257 days out of 356’. You have to manage time in a way that gives you a chance to enjoy studying and learning. Like your schedule, and your table, your mind needs to declutter too. Follow a healthy lifestyle, and your productivity will automatically increase.

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