Improve Your Productivity

Do you want to boost your productivity? Of course you do! If you're like most people, your to-do list never seems to end. However, trying to improve productivity often results in high levels of stress that take a toll on your physical and mental health.

Fortunately, there are ways to get more done without driving yourself to the brink.

While it may be tempting to draft a quick to-do list while you're enjoying your morning coffee, experts recommend planning your day beforehand so you have time to prioritize and schedule your tasks.

Let's be honest: you can't do everything that's on your plate in a single day. And even if you try, you'll only end up stressed and overwhelmed. So pick your battles! Ideally, you should start your day with the most important and urgent tasks so you get them done while your mind is still fresh. Routine and relatively unimportant tasks like cleaning your email inbox should be done last, when you're already too tired for anything else.

While many people pride themselves on their multitasking skills, the truth is that human brains weren't made to multitask. When we think we're doing two things at once, our brain is just switching between the tasks very quickly. This requires a lot of energy and makes you more prone to mistakes. Having to correct your mistakes leads to even more work and even more stress… and this is exactly what we're trying to avoid.

As we've just said, our brains don't like switching between tasks. Every time you switch focus to a phone notification, an annoying song playing on the radio, a coworker who wants to gossip, or any other distraction, your brain has to spend a lot of time and energy to concentrate on your work again. So you end up tired and stressed even if you haven't done much.

No one is good at everything. So if you feel that a particular task is draining too much of your time and energy, consider asking for help or even paying someone else to do it. This is not a sign of weakness. On the contrary, delegating means you've made a conscious choice to focus on what you do best.

You need both physical and mental energy to be productive and excel at your tasks. So make sure you sleep well, eat reasonably healthy food, and don't hesitate to talk to doctors and mental health professionals about any health concerns you may have.