We all understand the benefits of being productive. It can help boost the overall profit of our employer, it lets us get more accomplished around the house, and it gives us more focus.
I have always viewed productivity as a great equalizer.
Anyone can learn to be productive. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, how educated you are, or other human characteristics you have for that matter.
Which of the following two employees you would rather have?
Person A — who is a disorganized genius that puts out brilliant work periodically.
Person B — who has average intelligence but puts out consistent quality work every day.
To me, this choice is a no-brainer — I’d chose Person B every time because overall, this person is far more productive.
The productive person has a steady approach to their work. They try to improve a little more every day and try to make better decisions every day. They know that over time, this mindset will make them super-productive.
5 Ways to Become Superproductive
Here are some methods you can start using now that will supercharge your productivity. Regardless of how productive you are now, try out a few of these and watch your productivity rise even further.
Know Your Edge
Understanding what you bring to the table requires a few things. The most obvious is that you concentrate on what you do best, and let others do what they do best. This makes for a very strong team because it eliminates many weaknesses that the team might have otherwise.
In the past, we have seen the ridiculous managerial approach where they train employees in their weakest areas. Why? Would you ever let a member of the maintenance manage your financial books?
We need the opposite approach. We need each team member to reach the master level of what they do best. When you are a master at what you do best, you become indispensable and provide the most value to your employer.
Focus on Results, Not Time Spent
Many of us get caught up in maintaining a comprehensive “to do” list. We get high from checking off all the tasking we are completing. It makes us feel productive. We are all guilty of this.
I urge you to take a step back from your daily list and think about the real result gained from these tasks. Who was served from the completion of these tasks?
Too many times, we load up our daily list with busy work. Why not set aside a time slot for these busy tasks? This way, you can use the remainder of your day to tackle tasks that yield greater results.
Summarize and Minimize Information
The information has become a real monster in this information age. If we are not careful, managing the deluge of daily information can become our entire day.
I’m not just talking about emails and inboxes. I’m also referring to vital information about your job that you must read and consume.
The first thing you need to do is minimize interruptions. This begins with recognizing the emails and texts that are urgent and setting them aside. The remaining ones can wait.
Reserve a brief morning time slot and an afternoon time slot for dealing with those non-urgent emails and texts.
Before taking on big chunks of required reading material, think about what you need (or expect) to glean from the document. Write down these main points beforehand. Now start skimming through the material for these points.
Modify your notes and skim through the document once again. Repeat this a few times until you feel good about what you have learned.
When you master this method of summarizing information, you will be able to consume much more material that is vital to your industry.
Micromanage Your Energy
Managing your mental energy is perhaps the most vital thing you can do to enhance your productivity. This requires that you understand the ebbs and flows of your energy levels because we all have them. And these ebbs and flows are unique to each of us.
Countless studies have indicated that when our mental energy is depleted, we become more impulsive, and our ability to make good decisions diminishes. As a society, we see more crime and more bad choices taking place in the evenings — when mental energies are at their lowest levels.
This begins with a sensible diet, adequate sleep, and good hydration — yes hydration, because our brains need plenty of water to function properly. We will also need to find ways of recharging our mental energy throughout the day.
One way that people recharge their minds during the day is by having a quick 5–10 minutes of quiet meditation. You can also recharge your mind with quick nutrition by consuming something like a power bar. And there are countless nootropics you can use that will enhance your brain health.
Remain Flexible
One thing that kills the motivation of productive people is when their daily plan gets blown out of the water.
On the other hand, a super-productive person understands that plans are made to be changed. They see plans as a starting point and can be improved with modification.
It is by having this flexibility that keeps their mind open to a better solution and a better result. They know that one little distinction could potentially save hours of work, so they remain open to change their plans for such a distinction.
