The new year is a great time to focus your attention on improving your productivity. And it’s easy to feel excited about your productivity resolution before the clock strikes midnight on the 31st. With music blaring, people cheering, champagne flowing, anything feels possible. But what about after that?
Nearing the midpoint of the year, it’s a good time to check on how your 2024 goals are progressing. Did you have big plans for really maximizing your productivity? If those goals failed to come to fruition like you intended earlier in the year, it’s not too late to get back on track. Rather than resolving to just try again in 2025, use some of these productivity methods to finish out the year strong.
1. Minimize Unnecessary Correspondence
Little requests for information might not seem like much of an inconvenience, but they can be deceptively harmful to productivity. It only takes a few seconds to answer an instant message asking if you’re available. But maybe those few seconds take you away from your work, and it takes ten more seconds to hit your groove again. And if those interruptions occur regularly throughout the day, you might wonder how you were so busy but got little accomplished.
For non-sensitive information such as your work calendar, why not allow certain individuals to view your schedule? It saves a lot of unnecessary back and forth communication or allows people to ask quick, specific questions. If you’ve been hesitant to do so because you assume it’s a huge hassle, the ROI on your time investment is definitely worth it.
The vast majority of email services will allow you to easily share your digital calendar. If you can’t quickly figure out how to share Outlook calendar information, for example, a web search should get you the info you need. Start to finish, you’re looking at a maximum time investment of ten minutes. Depending on how often colleagues, employees, and family inquire about your availability, you might get that ten minutes back in less than a day.
When it comes to minimizing unnecessary correspondence, the basic rule of thumb is to identify non-sensitive information that others need. Allowing them access to that information gives them the opportunity to answer their own questions and reserve your time. You can always be called in for detailed answers or matters that require your expertise, but simple questions should decrease noticeably.
2. Outsource Your Tasks
Your time is valuable, so make sure you treat it as such. As you move into the second half of the year, consider which tasks and activities are truly worth your time. Administrative activities like travel logistics, setting up meetings, and responding to simple emails are all important. But these kinds of tasks, while technically productive, often serve as scaffolding to support your actual work.
And as your work scales, you’ll likely need to administrate more and more. So rather than get caught in the weeds, consider outsourcing to a personal assistant instead. A PA can help you manage everything from scheduling to creating emails to research and more.
To know whether hiring a PA is right for you, first determine your hourly rate. Then figure out how many hours per week you spend on administrative issues that could otherwise be spent actually working. Keep in mind that the average hourly rate for a personal assistant is between $15 to $25/hr. If your salary allows you to afford it or you can “charge the company card,” a PA may be right for you.
The great news? Many PAs freelance remotely, meaning that working with one can be incredibly convenient. PA’s are on-hand when you need them, taking care of your busywork in the background. That way you can increase your productivity by focusing more of your time on the work that matters most.
3. Optimize Your Workspace
When it comes to improving your productivity, don’t neglect your workspace. It may not seem like much, but a tidy workspace can dramatically improve your productivity over time. That’s because a messy, cluttered work environment can cause mental fatigue, overload, and difficulty finding essential items. In fact, Americans spend around 2.5 days per year trying to find lost things.
Rather than succumb to clutter fatigue, start the new year by improving your workspace’s ergonomics. Take back your precious time. Start by focusing on the low-hanging fruit that gives a lot of bang for your buck. The more electronics you have in your workspace, the more cords tend to accumulate with them. A bundle pack of cheap cord ties will address this issue directly. They’ll help you organize wild, untamed cords like a hair tie tames a wild head of hair.
If you spend a lot of time on the phone, buy a headset. That way you won’t have to waste time searching for your device every time someone calls. It will also prevent neck pain from cradling a phone between your head and shoulder. Your hands will be free, allowing you to write, type, and do whatever else you need to while being on your call.
Finally, purchase trays, hooks, and holders for keys, pens, and other essential items. Ensure every item in your workspace has its place. That way you can grab it reliably when you need it and easily put it away when you’re finished. Remember: the tidier you can keep your space, the more productive you can be! Be discerning and don’t keep too many things you don’t actually need.
Trim the Fat
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry noted that, “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” The same is true of productivity. Increasing productivity isn’t just about decluttering your physical space. It’s about reducing unnecessary tasks and distractions so you can focus on what’s truly important to your work. Leave it behind in 2023 and move on to great, more productive things in 2024.