Leadership, Personal Development, Success Library, Time Management

Top 8 Action Tips to Ignite Your Productivity

Do you sometimes find yourself wishing you could get more accomplished each day? Perhaps you struggle getting started or get hung up on the details. Use these strategies to ignite your productivity and get things done.

1. Be realistic about what you want to accomplish in a day:

If you set a goal of completing 30 tasks in a day and you only finish 10 of them, you probably won’t feel very productive.

Your goals should be achievable and make sense within the parameters of your life.

2. Wake up earlier:

Perhaps you need an extra hour to get things done. Try waking up at 7:00 a.m. instead of 8:00 a.m. and see how that works. Plan to use that first hour of each day to finish any incomplete tasks or get minor chores done quickly.

3. Use lists:

Write down a list of things you can conceivably accomplish in a day. Once you have a concrete list in front of you, it’s a lot easier to get started and stick to a plan. This also helps you easily transition between tasks since you won’t have to ponder what’s next.

Keep your list and schedule in a spiral notebook. Check off or put a line through each job as you complete it. When you look back at all you’ve accomplished, you’ll feel great!
Working from a list is not only motivating, but it also gives you a feeling of success every time work is crossed out.

4. Pick an hour to work on tasks you’ve been avoiding:

Sticky notes help us be reminded of the to-do tasks, like those small jobs that seem insignificant. Set aside an hour each day to focus on completing those lingering, annoying tasks. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can get them done.

5. Acknowledge when a task is no longer necessary:

Some of the things we put on our “To Do” lists no longer need to get done. Just remove them from the list. Recognize the completion of tasks no matter who does them.

Maybe somebody else helped out and completed the chore before you had a chance to get it done. That’s okay.
If a task is no longer relevant, it’s acceptable to let it go.
Deciding a project is unnecessary gives you a sense of achievement because you are still moving forward.

6. Limit interruptions:

While working in the office, let your phone calls go to voice mail for an hour while you get your work done. When at home, avoid answering phones or responding to texts during that hour. If you want to keep your momentum going, always stick to your list. Read this humorous article on “The Isolator!”

7. Return all phone calls each day:

Once you’re done working for the day, this is the time to return any calls you missed. If you keep putting that off, your list of people to call back will continue to accumulate. When you return calls daily, it’ll keep your momentum going.

Although you may not be able to reach every person, always leave a message that you returned their call. At least they’ll know that you’ve made an effort to get back to them.

8. Acknowledge what you’ve accomplished at the end of each day:

Look at your list. Congratulate yourself on a job well done! Celebrate the fact that you were effective and productive. Whether you crossed off one large task or seven small ones, you made progress.

Planning and accomplishing a daily list of tasks will help you to feel a sense of success. If you follow these tips, you’ll consistently finish the things that you need to get done. You’ll love the way you feel when you light the flame of productivity!

Viken Mikaelian

Viken Mikaelian is the CEO of PlannedGiving.com and Major Gifts LLC — the resource for all your major and planned giving marketing needs. Viken is available for speaking engagements on planned giving marketing, personal development and time management at viken.net. Connect with Viken on LinkedIn.

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Top 8 Action Tips to Ignite Your Productivity

1. Be realistic about what you want to accomplish in a day:

2. Wake up earlier:

3. Use lists:

4. Pick an hour to work on tasks you’ve been avoiding:

5. Acknowledge when a task is no longer necessary:

6. Limit interruptions:

7. Return all phone calls each day:

8. Acknowledge what you’ve accomplished at the end of each day:

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