Are you productive or just keeping busy?

Edel Walsh shares practical strategies to help you manage distractions, set boundaries and work smarter and more productively throughout your day

Do you find that in your working day, you only make the slightest progress in a million directions? Is your to-do list a mile long, yet you feel like you never accomplish anything? Are you busy but not productive?

Let’s have a look at a few ways you can become more productive and use your time more efficiently.

Learn to say no

It can be difficult to say no to a colleague or your boss when they ask you to do a piece of work.

Many of us say yes to things because we are keen to please and make a difference. It is worth considering, though, that if you are saying “yes” to a colleague, by taking on yet another piece of work for them, who or what else are you having to say “no” to?

The answer is that you are most likely saying no to yourself. The to-do list gets longer, and you may have to stay late to finish your work, which has a knock-on effect on other aspects of your life.

Saying no can be challenging. Take a moment to consider whether you can realistically take on this task. Reflect on who or what you are turning down by saying yes to this responsibility.

When you say no, say it with conviction. It is much better to say, “I can’t do this right now” than “I will try and make this work”.

Managing distractions

Do you ever think, “there are just not enough hours in the day for me to get my work done?” If so, take some time to reflect on the distractions and interruptions in your day.

There is no denying that some distractions are out of our control. However, we can control how we manage our emails, social media, notifications and unnecessary meetings.

The productivity impact of quickly checking a message or a notification on your device, when you are in the middle of a task, is substantial.

While we may think we are multitasking and being productive, our brains don’t actually tend to react very well to this kind of interruption.

According to Gloria Mark, it can take an average of 25 minutes to resume working on a task after we have been interrupted.

To avoid the temptation posed by distraction, check your emails only if you have the time, attention and energy to deal with them. Set aside time in your diary daily to check your email.

When trying to do a focused piece of work, close your email application, if possible.

You should also put your phone on airplane mode or put your device in a drawer so you cannot see it.

Time management

There is a time in the day where we are most productive. That might be early in the morning or late at night. Consider when you do your best work and focus on your creative tasks during that period.

Alternatively, rather than avoiding your most taxing piece of work, tackle it head-on at the beginning of the day. This gets the weight of the task off your back and frees up your mind for more enjoyable work and focus.

Finally, when you need to do a really focused piece of work, enter “monk mode”. Remove all distractions and place yourself in an environment where you can get your work done.

Edel Walsh is a student coach and mentor. For more information, see www.edelwalsh.ie