The Best Productivity Tips to Achieve Your Goals

Written by: Cora Gold

Productivity is a big word with a simple meaning — yet many complicate it, leading to unrealized goals. If you want to change the course of your life this year, you need to be more productive. Here are the best tips for you.

What Does It Mean to Be Productive?

First, you must understand that doing more doesn't equate to being productive. Your schedule could be packed and you're swamped with work, but if these tasks don't add value to your life, you're meaninglessly efficient. Productivity means doing the tasks that increase the value of your life, like those that take you closer to your goals.

Ordering food instead of cooking so you can have those extra few minutes to do a client's work is an example of effective time management. In a nutshell, productivity equals meaningful tasks.

Practical Productivity Tips to Inject Into Your Life

Does multitasking count as being productive? No — believing in this myth is a recipe for getting zero things done. When you engage in multiple tasks simultaneously, it will take you longer to complete one. Incorporate these productivity tactics into your life to achieve your goals faster.

1. Practice Self-Care

This may be something you didn’t expect to be on this list, but self-care is half the equation of being productive. Studies have shown that people are 13% more productive when they are happy, so doing things that bring you joy will benefit all areas of your life. 

Self-care activities to relieve stress can include an at-home spa day, getting your nails done, going to the gym or indulging in a wellness treatment. Pampering yourself dissipates pressure from work and other obligations, which, in turn, gives you more energy to be productive.

2. Use Productivity Strategies

There isn't any shortage of efficiency techniques, from time-blocking to having a to-do list. People lack action, which can be addressed by picking a productivity technique that works and appeals to you. Here are some popular ones.

• Time-blocking: You block off periods from your calendar to focus on work.

• Time-boxing: You break down the tasks into management chunks and put each on a time-framed schedule.

• Pomodoro: You divide tasks into 25-minute intervals and take 5-minute breaks between them.

• 80/20 Rule: You prioritize the top 20% of tasks to achieve 80% of the results. It’s also known as the Pareto principle.

• Eat the frog: You tackle the big, complex tasks before doing less urgent work.

There's an effective time management strategy for everyone, so choose what works best for you. These teach you how to prioritize tasks, take action, and get one thing done at a time.

3. Leverage Technology

Besides strategies, you need tools. Imagine using an ax to trim a log — it’ll take you days to accomplish the task, but a saw can do the job most efficiently. Similarly, delegate some tasks to digital apps to boost your productivity exponentially. For example, you can ask AI to create a social media calendar for you in less than a minute.

4. Make It a Habit

Like any learnable skill, being productive is also buildable. You need to be consistent, which is why approaching productivity like a set of habits stacked together and moving in a sequence makes you more likely to stick to it.

Develop a routine. Start small and slowly build the habit, from planning your day the night before to prioritizing tasks, doing the hard work first thing in the morning. Stack positive habits one after another until the trait becomes automatic.

5. Communicate Effectively

This is important for women who work in male-dominated environments. In the workplace, productivity is more of a team pursuit than an individual quest. That's why learning to effectively communicate your opinions and feedback matters.

It can facilitate seamless collaboration, prevent conflict, build trust and influence productivity. When you know how to convey your ideas persuasively, you come across as confident and are likely to influence the decision-making process within your organization.

6. Practice Mindfulness

Like self-care, being present affects how efficient you are at completing tasks. One study found mindfulness meditation can reduce burnout, depression and anxiety, and improve mental health. It can also improve concentration, work engagement, cognitive flexibility and job satisfaction — all markers of a productive person.

For these same reasons, more and more businesses are integrating mindfulness programs into their employee benefits. Try a mindful activity — like meditation, yoga or tai-chi — and witness how it can improve your productivity.

Be Your Most Productive Self

Productivity is action-oriented, so get those hands to work. Be consistent in getting things done and making it a habit, and don't let fleeting emotions affect your actions. Approach your tasks objectively so you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. Remember — the key to efficiency is sustained action.