We all want to do more with less – it’s human nature, so here are 26 productivity tips and tricks to help you get focused on the right things and stay focused long enough to produce excellent work.

Productivity Tips and Tricks you can implement today.

1. Set the right attitude.

Start your workday with a positive attitude – feel confident that you will achieve your goals. If you begin with the attitude that it’s going to be stressful and overwhelming, then it will be.

2. Get clear on your priorities

Write down your daily goals either the night before or first thing in the morning. Aim for 3 things to get done each day.

3. Know your most productive time of day.

Some people work best first thing in the morning; others are better burning the midnight oil. You know when you are at your most productive so aim to tackle your harder tasks then.

4. Start with your most difficult task first.

When you do sit down to start work at your most productive time, start with the tasks that are most demanding. If you keep putting off your challenging pieces of work, you are creating more stress for yourself.

5. Reward yourself once you have completed the most difficult task.

Having the promise of a reward can help you stay motivated to complete your task. Your reward could be a 10- or 15-minute break once you have completed your chosen task. You might grab a coffee and a sweet treat or perhaps give yourself some social media time or even meditate – whatever works for you.

6. Have set times for dealing with emails and other admin.

Productivity can be greatly reduced by endlessly checking your emails. Unless you are waiting for a very urgent message, resist the urge to check your emails every few minutes and if you have an audible notification that pings every time a new message is received, consider switching it off. It can be very hard to ignore such notifications. Instead set 2 or 3 periods of time each day to check your mail – first thing in the morning, immediately after lunch and the last 30 minutes of your working day can work well.

7. Use a limiter to prevent you mindlessly scrolling on social media.

If you are easily distracted, you may find it helpful to set limits on how much time you can spend on social media each day. Apps allow you to set a time allowance and when you have reached your limit for that platform, it will no longer be available for you to use until the next day.

8. Switch your phone to silent or redirect to your virtual assistant when you need uninterrupted thinking time.

When you need time to complete large or important tasks, you might not want to be disturbed when you are in full flow. Switch your phone off or have your calls redirected to your assistant for them to take a message.

9. Finish one task before moving to the next.

Flitting from one task to another and back again is not an efficient use of your time. Although our brains like to be distracted, if you constantly move between tasks, overall, it is likely to take you much longer to complete your work than if you focus on one task at a time.

10. Set a timer for 25 minutes.

You may be familiar with the Pomodoro technique where you set a timer for 25 minutes and focus all your efforts on the task in hand. When the timer goes off, either take a 5-minute break and then start on the next 25 minute slot or if you are in a good flow, reset the timer immediately for another 25 minutes.

11. Blank page syndrome – STOP!

If you are really struggling to get started on a task and you’ve tried the other options in this list above, you might want to consider simply acknowledging that things aren’t happening for you on this task right now and move onto something else that feels a bit easier. There’s no point in staring at a blank page for half an hour when you could be doing some reading, answering an email or talking to a client.

12. Switch your work location around.

Increase productivity by changing where you are working from time to time – if you have flexibility. You could move to a meeting room if you are working on-site, or if you are a remote/home worker, you could try your local coffee shop or co-working space. It’s sometimes surprising how effective that can be to help you overcome blocks and procrastination.

13. Have regular breaks.

Working flat out for hours and hours without taking breaks might seem like the best way to get lots done, but this is not sustainable and could lead to burnout. Schedule in regular breaks to move your body and rest your brain and you will find that overall your productivity will be increased.

14. Make sure you are well hydrated.

Our brains require sufficient water to function well. Dehydration can lead to sluggishness, poor memory and processing speed. Plain water is your friend.

15. Eat breakfast and lunch.

Similarly, it’s important to have regular meals to keep your energy levels topped up. Skipping meals can make you feel more sleepy and less able to concentrate resulting in a dip in productivity.

16. Get enough sleep.

For the same reason as number 15, it’s important to make sure your brain is adequately rested.

17. Have an accountability buddy.

If you tell someone else when you plan to complete a task there’s a higher chance that you will actually achieve your goal. Having an accountability buddy can be great for productivity.

18. Be selective about which meetings you attend.

Meetings can be a huge time suck so before you attend, make sure you really are needed.

19. Have an agenda for any meetings you run.

To help your own productivity and others in your team, have a clear agenda for any meetings you run so that everyone knows the value of the meeting, it’s obvious whether the meeting is reaching its desired objectives and you don’t waste time at the start of the meeting deciding what you will be discussing.

20. Start with just 5 minutes on a task.

Promise yourself that you will do just 5 minutes to get started on a task. Usually having a very small target to achieve can help you to overcome procrastination. Often once you have got started, you can keep going longer than 5 minutes.

21. Set boundaries for others.

If you are looking for head-down time in the office, let people know that you can’t be disturbed until a certain time. If you are working from home, put a notice on the door explaining when you will be free again.

22. Review your accomplishments at the end of the day.

Productivity is improved when we can see progress. Review your output at the end of each day so that you can see how much you have achieved. Some days will be much more productive than others – that’s normal.

23. Use automation and tools to increase output/reduce repetition.

Tools such as Calendly, GSuite, social media schedulers, CRM databases, etc. can substantially reduce the time spent on admin.

24. Group similar tasks together (updating systems, invoicing etc).

Batch process admin and repetitive tasks such as adding new clients to your CRM, sending out invoices or statements. It’s more efficient to work this way than doing one or two updates at a time.

25. Learn how to say no.

Sometimes we must learn when to say no to a client or a colleague. If you have too many pulls on your time, you could consider looking at the tasks you are currently saying yes to and making a different decision next time.

26. Delegate tasks to your virtual assistant.

You can improve your productivity by focusing on the tasks you can do well and need your input. Consider delegating tasks that you find too difficult or time-consuming to others who know what they are doing and can complete it to a higher standard more quickly than you can.

Some productivity tips and tricks will work well for you and others won’t be so effective. We are all different and our brains work in different ways. See which ones work best for you.

So what can a Virtual Assistant do for me to help me improve my productivity?

The answer is almost anything but to give you some more concrete ideas, why not check out my post ‘What Does a Virtual Assistant Do?

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