Ways To Improve Productivity – My Personal Experiments
There are many ways to improve productivity. When the work definition changes as we move ahead in our careers, when we are expected to multi-task, concentrating on improving productivity becomes inevitable to hit a balance between work and family life. Here are a few things that I did very recently which improved productivity and helped me add one more hour to my day, everyday.
Disclaimer: The products that I have mentioned in this article are not affiliate links. I do not make any money if you click or buy those products.
What is productivity?
Productivity is the capacity to make the work fruitful.
Increasing productivity means – methods which you adopt so as to complete the tasks in a smarter and faster way.
My ways to improve productivity
1. Bought a smartphone: I bought Nokia E 63, an economic phone, priced at around INR 8,500 /- Rated as one among the top 5 smart phones that are below 10,000/- rupee range.
It helped me to
– Quick email access & quick replies – No more of waiting to open laptop to send replies. To read the tutorials that I have subscribed, like the latest health research etc, I can read them wherever I am sitting / standing.
– Quick web browsing and e-newspaper.
– QWERTY key pad – means faster typing.
Good thing about this phone is, facebook and twitter links are situated very deep. It is better for someone who wants to restrict their usage, because, more often than not they are distractions.
– To do list, calendar – Both are quickly accessible from the home page of the phone, which is very cool.
2. To do list both in phone and laptop.
A to do list which is updated both in the phone and laptop, as and when I remember something I have to do, it is just entered then and there. In my phone, I view it at least twice a day. In laptop, it is viewed, as soon as I open it. In the laptop, the to do file is a notepad file, so that it can be opened very quickly and it is on my desktop screen. So, its very visible and easily accessible.
As the to do list grows, it is better to divide it into ‘home’ and ‘work’
3. Broadband connection at home – For faster internet access, quick upload and download, especially videos.
In India, fast BSNL unlimited broadband is available for a price of INR 750 per month. So, its not very costly.
4. Inverter and battery – In India, we will have to do without electric power at least one hour per day. This is more so during rainy season. So, inverter and battery is very necessary here in India to keep the work going. The one which I bought is for INR 18,000/- , which is enough to run 2 fans and 2 lights for 12 hours.
5. Getting things done. – This is a book written by David Allen, and costs INR 312. I bought it from here . It is more helpful for office goers, I suppose.
6. One hour per one type of work. I split my work into one hour schedules so that I am not bored of doing the same thing all day. Be flexible for half an hour plus or minus, based on interest, and completion of task at hand.
7. Productivity desktop back ground. – I downloaded this picture and made it my desktop back ground. It is working wonders. It is keeping me inspired to use every minute in the best possible way. Here is the picture.
8. Equal focus both to home and work issues: I developed an attitude to making my daughter sleep, chatting with my mother & wife etc as a part of my work so that equal attention is given even to my family.
9. Matching typing speed with sentence forming speed. – This is something that has helped me save a lot of time. Now, I am almost able to type without seeing the keyboard. While it saves a lot of time, sometimes it gives rise to some typos in my articles, which some of my friends point out and the rest bear with it and move on. 🙂
10. Embrace technology. Do not hesitate to learn new things or a new technology. Keep an open mind. By the way technology is surrounding us, we have got nowhere to run away.
11. Pay bills online
12. TV or laptop – Only one at a time.
12. Dream big, dream bigger, dream impossible.
Further reading: 50 ways to improve productivity – read here
Hope these were helpful to you.
Cheers!
