If you’re a business owner or freelancer, or really anyone who works from home, you know it’s important to be an efficient worker because every minute counts. The faster you get things done, the more free time you have and if you work hourly, the more money you will make. I started listening to podcasts and reading articles on productivity as much as I could. After working for myself for over five years I’ve compiled a list of my top ten productivity tips which have helped me to save time and be an efficient worker without sacrificing my mental health and happiness. I hear these things consistently across all sources and people I talk to.
1. Batch Your Work
My #1 tip for being an efficient worker is to batch similar tasks into one chunk of time throughout the week, or preferably throughout the month. Do as much of one task or project at once as possible, and this will save you tons of time. If this is the only tip you adopt, it will singularly save you tons of time!
2. Create a Morning Routine
This is the second most important productivity tip I have. Creating a morning routine that inspired me and more importantly adopting and promoting habits that help me to get moving in a positive direction for the day has had a huge impact on my productivity and happiness level over time. Some examples for things you can do are to find out what makes it easier for you to get up in the morning, for example using a certain type of alarm, making your room warmer, etc., visualizing your day while you brush your teeth, exercising, drinking herbal tea or special coffee or spending some time alone on a personal project.
3. Tackle the Hardest Task First
As hard as this is, tackling the most dreaded task at the beginning of the work day helps massively when it comes to being an efficient worker. This way you won’t lose time procrastinating, and your whole day should feel lighter and brighter.
4. Don’t Overwork Yourself
I’m very guilty of this one. I would work 12 hour days until I burnt out and what I noticed was that I was making mistakes in those long days to the point where I’d have to work to undo my mistakes. Studies show that after 50 hours of work productivity drops off. This is especially true if you have a family or other mentally draining tasks you have to take care of during the week as well. So, a very important productivity tip is to only work as much as feels comfortable and slightly challenging but not overwhelming.
5. Learn to Single Task & Eliminate Distractions
Multitasking doesn’t help you be an efficient worker in the end most of the time. Sticking to one task at a time will lead to your work getting done faster and better in the end. Eliminating distractions such as having your inbox open at all times or your phone right next to your computer is also very important. There are of course exceptions to this rule, but as a general rule of thumb try to do one thing at a time while working.
6. Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Sometimes it can be tempting to stay up all night to get a specic task done you’ve been wanting to accomplish, but in reality this will only hurt you in the long run. Studies show adults need 7-9 hours of sleep to perform to their fullest potential and be the best, most efficient worker possible. It doesn’t mean you’ll crash and burn if you don’t, but as a general rule of thumb and important productivity tip, try to make sure you are able to get at least 7 hours of sleep per night, and if that isn’t happening figure out how to improve your sleep hygiene over time.
7. Plan the Next Day the Day Before
Jotting down what to start with the following morning and what absolutely needs to get done saves you lots of time and is one of the most easy to implement productivity tips. Plan the next day at the end of your work day so that what you need to do is fresh on your mind and you don’t have to recap the next morning.
8. Exercise & Stay Active
Exercise is positively linked to both cognitive benets and positive mood, allowing you to be more a more efficient worker, more clear-headed, and happier overall. If you don’t think they are related for you, try it out for a month and then see how you feel and how much you’ve gotten done. I promise, it works!
9. Take Breaks
Studies show that you should be taking 15 minutes to relax for every hour you work. This will make you more productive during the time you are working, so losing 15 minutes of work won’t make a dierence. Work smarter not harder!
10. Have a Positive Mindset & Check In Frequently
Finally if you really want to be productive, efficient worker, you need to adopt an ownership mentality and to not view “failure” or “mistakes” as bad or negative. Stay positive throughout your day and make sure you don’t fall into a victim mindset. Checking in frequently to make sure you have a positive mindset is extremely helpful for me. I use the Time Out app for this, which features a full screen takeover as often as you’d like.
Lauren Kessel
Lauren Kessel is the author of this digital marketing blog post and the owner of the Inspired Assistance marketing services.
