One of the biggest enemies of productivity are time-zapping distractions and tasks that prevent you from maximizing your efforts. You may have all the enthusiasm and eagerness for a goal, but find yourself consistently off-task or disrupted. Identifying these time zappers can help you get them under your control so you can accomplish more and be more productive.
Assessing your current level of productivity and pinpointing time zappers helps. Here’s how to it-
Step one: List your goals: Create a to-do list of goals for the week. These can be daily goals or overarching goals that need to be completed.
Step two: Track your time- Spend one week tracking your time throughout the day. Track when you start and stop a task. Make a note when you stop short of completing a task as to why you stopped.
Step three: Journal once per day- At the end of the day, journal your thoughts about the day’s productivity. What went right, what happened unexpectedly, and what time zappers got in the way?
Step four: Assess your productivity- After a week, review your data. What does it show? What time zappers got in the way of your productivity? Assess the time zappers for things that were in and out of your control. What happened during the day that interrupted productivity?
Tackling Time Zappers
Once you identify the unique time zappers that get in your way, it’s time to develop a work around for a more productive day. Here are some common time zappers and some work arounds that can help-
Time zapper- Alerts and notifications: It’s good to be aware that you’ve got mail or a response to your latest social media post, but there are times when they do not matter. When you are focused on an important task, avoid reacting to alerts and notifications. Keeping your focus on the task at hand helps you reach your goal and be done with it. Stopping to review every text, call, email, or other notifications will distract you and burn up the time you have in a day.
Time zapper- Procrastination: People procrastinate out of fear or avoidance. Fear from being overwhelmed and avoidance from not knowing what to do first. Break goals down into manageable tasks and focus on the micro-task. If you have a large project looming, simply start with the first task you need to work towards your goal. This will reduce the level of overwhelm and make you less likely to avoid the task as a whole.
You may feel as though you don’t have enough hours in the day to achieve your goals, that may be the result of time zappers getting in your way. Assess what they are and find solutions to remedy them and your productivity will surge.
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