Whether in the office or working from home, staying productive in 2020 has been a unique challenge. From heightened safety measures to kitchen table desks, new routines are the new normal. If you are struggling to remain productive and on task, you are certainly not alone.
The following four tips will hopefully help make the work day a bit easier.
1. Make a List
The number one solution for staying productive, regardless of location, is making a list of relevant tasks. Ideally, this list will be ordered in terms of priority, ensuring the most important tasks are completed first. More than serving as a visual representation of current projects, lists serve as a reward system upon task completion.
An effective list will create a snowball effect. Each item checked off leads into the next, gaining more momentum as the checks begin to add up. This will also minimize multi-tasking. Without a set plan, we often tend to bounce from task to task as they make their way top of mind. A productivity snowball cannot form if its momentum stops and starts.
Ultimately, a list provides accountability. Having your goals in front of you – daily, weekly, monthly – is a tangible reminder of what is expected of you. Once you have them laid out, all that is left is to execute.
2. Mind Your Posture
How many times have you felt like you are quite literally sinking into your chair after a few hours in the same seated position. You would be surprised to learn how much posture can affect productivity levels, not to mention those back pains that creep up every few days.
In addition to pains, poor posture when sitting can also result in rounded shoulders, headaches, and muscle fatigue. The more those aches add up, the more time away from work spent alleviating them. Sitting with your back straight, shoulders pulled back, and neck and head at an upright angle can improve your entire day.
Posture is only half the battle, however. As a rule of thumb, employing the 20-8-2 Rule achieves the perfect balance of sitting, standing, and exercise. The rule states that for every 20 minutes spent sitting, you must spend 8 minutes standing, and 2 minutes doing some sort of exercise – walking, running, getting a coffee, etc.
Why is this so important? More than simply factoring into a healthy lifestyle, getting your heart pumping is a natural way to boost energy flow. Get out of that chair and get going!
3. Eliminate Distractions
For those working from home, distractions have been the biggest challenge of the last few months. Those without a designated work space can be subject to the many distractions that come with trading the discipline of an office for the comfort of home. Staying productive at home may be difficult but it is not impossible.
The easiest way to eliminate distractions when working from home is to put yourself in work mode. That means waking up early, getting ready as you would to go to the office, and having a designated (preferably secluded) work space. Developing a daily routine is essential to mimicking the office atmosphere and being able to ignore the temptation of a few minutes of TV or working from bed which can easily result in a loss of productivity.
Then there is the cell phone. Of the many benefits of technology, its availability and ease of access are the most detrimental to an effective work day. While turning notifications to silent may work for a few minutes or hours, the best solution may be to leave the cell phone in another room or set aside specific times to check notifications to avoid distraction.
4. Take Time to Refuel
Being in the refreshments space, Aramark knows a thing or two about the importance of staying nourished and caffeinated throughout the day. Everyone has those days where the tasks pile up and the best option is to power through. While effective in spurts, this is not sustainable. Days like these helped create the term, “2:30 crash.”
We all need that boost every few hours, whether it is a cup of coffee or tea, or snack to keep us working to our best ability. When we crash, our production crashes, just ask the 56% of employees that say without an afternoon snack they hit a no-energy slump.
Luckily, breaking no-energy slumps is Aramark’s specialty. We have a wide variety of services that will keep you and your employees productive all day long!
