With smartphones, Slack messages, AI-powered CRMs and other apps and techniques that were created to boost your productivity, it’s an expectation from employees these days to get their job done faster than ever. But psychologists and neuroscientists agree, that while everything around us runs at tremendously high speeds, our bodies and brain haven’t changed a lot since ancient times and often can’t keep up with the modern pace of things. So, how do you ‘marry’ your brain to the latest technologies in the best way to really boost your performance?
Put away your smartphone
These days our phones aren’t just a tool for making phone calls. They are like little computers that store all our memories and important moments, be it a cute family photo, tickets for upcoming vacations, an impressive record in your favourite game or a funny WhatsApp conversation with girlfriends. Not surprisingly, we get so emotionally attached to these things and simply can’t avoid checking them out every now and then. And every time you automatically check updates on a locked screen (without even touching your phone!), you interrupt the work process and your brain starts thinking of something else. What seems to be a fraction of a second glance for you is actually way more for the brain, because it takes time to get back on track to the important task you were doing before. The smartest thing you can do? Just turn off your phone and focus on work or keep it in your bag, away from your eyes. Here are four more lifehacks for organising an efficient workplace, by the way.
Allocate time to check emails
Like your smartphone, your emails are the biggest distraction at work, unless your work IS replying to emails 🙂 Trust us, most certainly no one will die if you leave that email unopened til’ the last working hour. The thing is, when we switch from one task to another, our brain takes time and energy to focus on the new task. The time wasted in switching between tasks is called a ‘switch cost’. The more emails you reply to while doing something else, the more ‘switch cost’ time you’re spending during the day!
Avoid open space offices
Not that you get to choose unless you run the company, of course! But when possible, try to work with no one around or at least surrounded by people you don’t know (like in the nearest coffee shop or co-working space). We’re biologically social beings and just can’t avoid making contact when we see a familiar face. It’s a proven fact that when you share a room with people you love chatting to you get up to four times less work done than if you were doing it on your own. Keen to know what other natural habits we’d better avoid at work?
Break up your tasks
One of the main reasons for procrastination at work is our fear of big and complicated tasks. When you have a whole mountain of things to do you feel like you’ll never get through all of them so you end up doing nothing important instead. To trick your brain into getting things done, break your tasks up into smaller actions that could be completed in five minutes. Need to calculate a financial plan for the next three months? Start with ‘I need to create a spreadsheet for this financial plan”, the next task will be filling in the compartments and allocating colours to each section. See, you’re doing that already!
Find your peak hours
Some of us find it easier to ‘eat a frog’ in the morning, others only feel fully switched on when the kids are asleep and it’s dark outside. These moments are called ‘peak performance hours’. Actually, top executives report being five times more productive during their peak performance hours! So why not use this impressive margin to your advantage? make a note as to when you’re usually feeling the most active and productive and try to have as much done in this time. Choose the most difficult tasks as well! You might not have enough energy to do it otherwise. The rest of the day may be spent on your daily routine. If you struggle to understand when you’re the most active and feel like you’re never productive enough, maybe you’re suffering from a work-related illness?
Don’t drink coffee in the morning
Don’t panic, we’re not one of those extreme Goop fans who ditch coffee for morning affirmations! In fact, we love coffee so much, we have even devoted a whole article to coffee. The only thing we recommend is to move your daily coffee intake to a bit later in the day. When we wake up, we normally have enough energy to perform well anyway so a little caffeine boost at 10.00am or even after lunch will be way more helpful!
