10 STRATEGIES TO BE MORE PRODUCTIVE AT WORK (THAT ACTUALLY WORK)

I haven't been always very productive at work. I was delivering on time. Yes, but the effort it was taking for me to deliver was overwhelming. I used to take time doing things here and there but very unfocused and I had strategies that were not very productive, but I challenged the status quo and I did my research and I tested 10 strategies ways to be much more productive in the workplace. Are you interested? Keep watching. Hey Bonjour, I'm Hugo and I help busy professionals be more productive and get back in control of their own time. If this sounds like you, you may consider subscribing to this channel and ring the notification bell so that we see each other every single week. Actually twice a week because I just released very recently a few weeks ago a new series of videos on top of my Sunday's videos. I post every Wednesday now. It's called coffee break with Hugo. And these are very quick tips very digestible small bite-sized videos two minutes long on time management and productivity. Check it out. Also just to remind you we are currently on the challenge to reach 500 subscribers on this channel. Once we reach 500 subscribers, we will have a very cool gift giveaway. So subscribe to this channel and tell all your friends about it. You must know some managers that may need some help with their time management and productivity, right? So let them know about this channel. So now let's get to the 10 strategies that I have for you to be more productive at work. The first strategy is to stop multitasking. If you haven't watched my video about multitasking yet do it now. Multitasking can seem very productive, but it's totally the opposite. It just exhausts your brain on the long run. Be focused on one single task and knock them out of the park one after the other. Second strategy is to create your to-do list the day before. Before you leave work every single day, just list the first task that you have to do first thing in the morning the day after. It removes friction and decision-making on what you need to start with in the morning. So you're already saving time on decision-making power. But also what is the first thing you do when you open your computer when you get to work? Open your emails, right? When you open your emails you tend to work for someone else. You don't work for your own goals for your own projects. Your email inbox is the reflection of someone else to-do list not yours. This strategy also works on Friday nights. Before you take off on Fridays to go on weekend, list all the things that you need to do on Monday morning so that you start your week very productive. Okay, that's a good segue for my next strategy, which is turn off your emails as we said right before and as I said all the time your inbox is the reflection of other people's to-do. It's not your to-do list. I used to check my emails first thing in the morning answer to 10 emails, but I feel optically accomplished. But when I think about it from 9 a.m. To 10 a.m. answering a bunch of emails doesn't allow me to make progress on my own goals my own objective. So my tip for you is to turn off your emails check your emails twice a day. Only try different times that are suitable for your own work. Try 10 a.m. And 3 p.m. For example and try to embed it in your routine and you're going to ask me what if there is an emergency if there is an emergency is the email the best communication channel. Do you have a phone by any chance? If there is an emergency a true emergency then people will call you or they will text you they will not send you an email. So next time use a better excuse the first strategy that I have for you to be more productive in the workplace is to be lazy. Okay requires a little bit of explanation here. Being productive is being focused on the value on the end result. Being productive is different from being busy. If you find a way to get to the end result without spending too much time with actually spending less time throughout the process without impacting the quality of the end result, of course, I'm not suggesting you to do a crappy job then do it be smart and creative lazy. That's the type of lazy. I want you to be not the lazy type that no one wants to work with constantly challenge your ways of working. There is always a more effective way. The fifth strategy that I have for you is to use the Pomodoro technique. I made a specific video about it, but it's a great technique for you to have really intense focused work. Check out the video right here. It's basically a technique that allow you to be very focused and it works as follows 25 minutes of very focused work then five minutes break. You repeat three times and then you can take a longer break. Very good pro tip for you guys. Make sure you block some time in your calendar just to make sure that no one is going to send you invite meeting invite when you were intending to do very intense and focused work with Pomodoro. The sixth strategy that I have for you. It can sound a little bit counterintuitive but is to take break. Sorry guys. I was actually taking a break. So forcing yourself to take breaks will help you be more productive on the long run. Try to identify your patterns. If you feel that you tend to be a little bit unfocused just stop working. Take a five minutes or 10 minutes break. Go outside walk go to the bathroom have a coffee whatever but the work you're doing right now is not delivering results. So better take a break seven strategy that I have for you to be more productive in the workplace is to prioritize and focus on value. If you know my channel a little bit you must know the 80-20 rule. And if you don't know it you should check out this video that will explain it a little bit deeply. If you are focusing on the few tasks that move the needle forward on your project or on your work you will achieve more in a much more quicker way and thus it will make you more productive. You will also get a sense of accomplishment much quicker and this sense of accomplishment will give you the momentum that you need to get going and get very productive throughout the day. The eighth strategy that I have for you is to avoid distraction. I know in the workplace. It's very complex to avoid completely distractions. I get you but you can have some techniques like closing your email inbox. We already talked about that. You can also set healthy boundaries with your colleagues to make it harder for people to reach or distract you. And by the way on that note you definitely need to check out the video that I made with my friend Dr. Chedi on how to set boundaries in the workplace very effectively. But if you do happen to be distracted keep a distraction list whether it's a sticky note or a piece of paper whenever someone comes to you and ask you to do something or something comes to mind write it down and come back to your focused work. Second to last productivity tips in the workplace is to manage your energy level and it goes beyond taking breaks. Make sure you get enough sleep. For example, get to know your patterns and also eat healthy. If you always eat this heavy lunch that makes you sleepy. Well, no surprise why you're not productive. I tend to go to the gym in the middle of the day and I know that I can go for a run for 20-25 minutes on the treadmill then get in a cold shower and come back to work. All of it within 45 minutes stops from leaving my desk to coming back to my desk and I get so much more productive that way. It could seem that I'm losing 45 minutes out of my workday, but I get much more productive as I have a clearer mind after that actually reinvested is 45 minutes into achieving much more within that day. My last strategy to be more productive in the workplace is not to be too perfectionist. Don't spend much time on a single task. If the result is already good. We already talked about the Parkinson's law in another video and the link is right here. If you haven't watched it go watch it your value on a single task or project tend to decrease over time until it's completion. The more you spend time on a PowerPoint presentation, for example, tweaking things here and there to make it perfect. You will just satisfy your perfectionist ego this way and you will not necessarily add value to the end product, which is the PowerPoint presentation. Once again, I'm not suggesting you to do a crappy job, but try to notice when you reach this tipping point where you actually doing over quality like overproducing and not really adding value to the end product as opposed to spending time on other tasks or other project where your time is well invested. That was a lot right? But I hope this was helpful. Let me ask you one thing. I want you to give me feedback and tell me in the comments below one thing one productive tip that you already using and also one tip that you will try today. Also, do you know other managers working in corporate that this video would help? If yes, help me help them and share this video on your LinkedIn or on your other social media platform or send them this video directly. Thank you guys for being subscribers of this channel. I'm so happy that you're here with me on this journey. See you next week. Au revoir.