In an increasingly competitive capitalist society, American citizens must work harder than ever to gain a competitive edge in entrepreneurial endeavors and application competitions. This pressures many into working very hard, even when the task is unfavorable. Thus, depression and suicide rates have skyrocketed in recent years, partly due to the fact that many cannot efficiently work on their passions without falling victim to procrastination. Procrastination, in turn, triggers a negative psychological response because of the lack of production outputted by the body. To avoid a mediocre lifestyle, continue reading to learn how to outsmart your competition’s work ethic through 9 vital tips to productivity.
- Isolate yourself, but not completley
Many will say that complete isolation with no distractions leads to the best work. This is false as nothingness is more of a distraction then, for example, a sports poster on your back wall. This is because a blank setting is rather uncomfortable, causing self-awareness. As described later, when you are self-aware, you are most definitely not in the flow state of mind that outputs maximum productivity. In fact, this state of self-awareness causes your mind to wander off to topics that are unrelated to your current activity.
2. Do things you are passionate about
The bottom line is this: if you do not want to do something, you will find a way not to do it. The flip side to this is: if you want to do something, you will find a way to accomplish it. Therefore, doing work that reflects your core passions is a must in order to maximize productivity. This applies to all facets of life, but especially towards your occupation. To be happy in this life, you must, presumably, spend the majority of your life doing something that you want to do. Thus, identify a way that you can make a living off of your passions and pursue it as hard as you can to avoid falling into the vicious 9-5 cycle (unless you are a passionate office worker;)).
3. If what you are doing isn’t your passion, find a way to connect it to your passion
While this may seem tricky, it is rather simple with practice. For example, let’s say that you must write a paper summarizing the middle ages for your history class, but your passion is in art. An easy solution to this is to summarize the artistic development in the middle ages and show how that reflects major events. This simple connection will increase your interest in any activity that does not directly resonate with your personality. If you cannot find any relevant connection between your activity and your passion, then either find a way to manipulate the requirements of the activity or push through the discomfort knowing that completion will lead to freedom.
4. Research the most efficient way to complete your task
To efficiently complete any activity, one must first formulate a procedure and their plan for carrying out their procedure. DO NOT blindly begin an activity without looking to see if there are more efficient ways of completion. An example of this is drivers education because online courses cost hundreds of dollars less than traditional courses and are quicker and more efficient. Ultimately, one must understand their task at hand before carrying out any procedure.
5. Work in a comfortable environment
Whether you set your thermostat to a reasonable temperature or you dress in a manner that encourages comfort, a solution is needed to resolve discomfort. Discomfort is a large distraction that is unfixable if you are working in a non-home environment as you cannot manipulate the temperature nor your clothing on command.
6. Keep your goals in mind for motivation
Ultimately, if you remember why you are doing a task and the reward associated with its proper completion, then execution will be less stressful and you will be more determined. For goals to be most effective, utilize milestone goals that help you keep pace and direction towards your ultimate goal. These subgoals are yet another form of motivation and are mentally rewarding when completed.
7. Have water and food nearby
Food and water are a human necessity and will be required at some point during your work. In order to reduce their disturbance, keep a fair amount of healthy consumables near your workspace so that a simple craving does not turn into an hour disruption. Besides the proximity of food relative to your location, the nutrition involved in mid-work snacks greatly affect productivity. Thus, choose healthy options such as fruit, vegetables, and nuts/granola.
8. Ergonomic Workspace
The first business article posted on SNBDaily.com will outline the importance of ergonomics in long term health and productivity alike.
9. Push through frustration to find flow
An idea made famous in the book “Mindset”, flow is the full immersion in an activity in which the participant gives full effort with maximum energy without being mentally conscious. To further explain, flow is when a participant subconsciously exerts maximum effort while time is flying by at a greater rate than realized by the participant. This state is when productivity is highest and if you want to learn how to achieve this mental state, I highly recommend reading “Mindset” written by Carol Dweck.
