Most organizations use multiple apps for their day-to-day operations. The number of software apps deployed by large firms across all industries worldwide has increased 68% over the past four years, reaching an average of 129 apps per company, according to an analysis by Okta Inc. This growing trend leads to information silos and increases the time involved in searching for information. McKinsey reported that employees spend 1.8 hours every day—9.3 hours per week, on average—searching and gathering information. This is a serious problem that affects your productivity and work-life balance.
We all aspire to be more productive at work regardless of where we work and what we do. Everyone is always looking for new ways to be more efficient and effective. Your employees are at their productive best when they can produce more output than the input given (time, energy, and other resources).
Employees who constantly work under pressure are less productive and have higher levels of disengagement and absenteeism. 41% of stressed employees have said that stress negatively affects workplace productivity. The average employee is only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes per day. Being productive at work involves using the right tools to improve processes, refine workflows, and reduce interruptions.
The productivity tools and techniques listed below will help you increase workplace productivity
1. Implement collaboration tools
Investing in new digital collaboration tools is one of the smartest ways to facilitate instant and effective communication between your employees. Tools like Slack, Clariti and Microsoft Teams and cloud-based file-sharing services like Google Cloud and Microsoft OneDrive allow you to streamline all communication, exchange files and work on documents in real-time.
2. Set goals for your employees
Setting clear goals and priorities is essential for enhancing workplace productivity because it helps employees understand what they need to accomplish and how their work contributes to the overall success of the organization. When employees have specific, challenging goals, they are more likely to be motivated and focused on achieving them. According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, people who set specific, challenging goals are 90% more likely to achieve them than those who don’t.
3. Offer favorable working conditions for employees
Companies such as Google and Facebook offer outstanding workspaces for their employees as they believe happiness is critical to employee performance.
4. Eliminate time-wasting activities
For better productivity, your employees need to stay focused and minimize opportunities for unnecessary diversions like social media, chatting, distracting calls.
5. Prioritize tasks
The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. By prioritizing your tasks, you can focus on the most important ones and make the most of your time. One effective way to prioritize tasks is to use the Eisenhower matrix, which categorizes tasks as urgent and important, urgent but not important, important but not urgent, or neither urgent nor important.
6. Create an organized workflow
Help employees focus on what matters most. Provide them access to tools like to-dos and calendars.
7. Feedback and recognition
Regular feedback and recognition can improve employee engagement and motivation. According to a survey by Globoforce, 78% of employees who receive recognition are more engaged in their work. Taking regular feedback from employees will reveal several key issues that are acting as productivity barriers. Encourage your employees to provide honest and valuable feedback and create a favorable environment for them to do so.
8. keep track of time
Researchsearch suggests only around 17% of people are able to accurately estimate the passage of time. So, every employee should keep track of how much time they are spending on each task.
9. Take short breaks
Taking regular breaks can help employees recharge and avoid burnout. Taking breaks throughout the day is essential for increasing workplace productivity. Research has shown that short, frequent breaks are more effective than longer breaks. Use your breaks to take a walk, stretch, meditate, or do something else that helps you relax and recharge. According to a study by the Draugiem Group, employees who take short breaks every 52 minutes are the most productive.
10. Give yourself deadlines
Give yourself reasonable deadlines to complete each task and do your best to stick to it. You will be surprised to see how productive you are when you are watching the clock.
11. Follow the “2-minute rule”
Entrepreneur Steve Olenski recommends taking up tasks that can be completed in about 2 minutes to make the most of the small windows of time that you have at work.
12. Avoid unnecessary meetings
Though meetings are very unproductive, many people still waste a lot of time planning, inviting and attending them. According to a study conducted by Atlassian, the average office worker spends over 31 hours each month in unproductive meetings.
13. Eliminate distractions
Distractions can be a major productivity killer. Distractions can decrease productivity and lead to errors. According to a study by the University of California, Irvine, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to recover from a distraction. To eliminate distractions, turn off notifications on your phone and computer, close unnecessary tabs on your browser, and find a quiet workspace to help you focus. You can also use tools like noise-cancelling headphones or white noise machines to block out background noise.
14. Quit multitasking
Multitasking is one of the greatest productivity killers. Contrary to popular belief, multitasking is not an effective way to get things done. In fact, Studies have found that multitasking reduces your productivity by 40% and increase stress. Instead of multitasking, focus on one task at a time and give it your full attention.
15. Use your free time judiciously
Whenever you have some free time, use it to create a to-do list, or do some brainstorming rather than spending it on Facebook or chatting.
16. Take exercise breaks
Take regular breaks to exercise as it actually helps improve productivity, according to a study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
17. Use the Pomodoro technique
The Pomodoro technique is a time-management method that involves working in 25-minute intervals followed by short breaks. According to a study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, participants who used the Pomodoro technique reported higher levels of productivity, focus, and satisfaction with their work.
18. Create a pleasant environment
Research shows that offices with aesthetically pleasing elements like plants can increase productivity by up to 15%. So, surround yourself with some nice pictures, plants, paintings etc.
19. Offer flexible work arrangements
Flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting and flexible hours, can increase employee satisfaction and productivity. According to a study by Global Workplace Analytics, remote workers are 35-40% more productive than office workers.
20. Improve communication
Good communication can help employees work together more effectively and avoid misunderstandings. According to a study by ClearCompany, companies with effective communication practices are 50% more likely to have lower employee turnover.
Get the right tools to increase productivity
Productivity tools and software can help employees streamline their work and save time. According to a survey by Capterra, 43% of small businesses use productivity software to manage tasks and projects. When you don’t have the right tools to do your work, you will get stressed out and frustrated. But you are not alone. A study points out that 56% of employees don’t get the right tools to perform their day-to-day activities.
10 best productivity tools for employees to organize their work better
1. Clariti
Clariti conversations is a powerful communication platform that can help businesses increase workplace productivity. By embedding emails into chat and organizing them based on subject matter, Clariti conversations help teams communicate more efficiently, reducing the need to switch between different applications and ultimately saving time.
By filtering emails based on specific subjects, Clariti conversations help teams reduce the number of irrelevant emails they receive, allowing them to focus on the most important information and increasing productivity. By allowing team members to collaborate in real-time and access previous conversations easily, Clariti improves collaboration and ensures that everyone is on the same page. Clariti offers advanced search capabilities, allowing team members to quickly find specific emails or chats based on keywords or phrases. This saves time and ensures that team members can easily access the information they need.
By embedding emails into chat and allowing team members to see all communication related to a specific topic or project, Clariti increases transparency and reduces the risk of miscommunication. By automatically grouping related emails and chats, Clariti helps teams stay organized and improves productivity by reducing the time it takes to search for information.
2. Time Doctor
TimeDoctor is a cloud-based time tracking and productivity management software that helps businesses and teams to monitor and manage the time spent on tasks, projects, and overall work activities. The software enables users to track time spent on different tasks and projects, monitor employee productivity, and generate reports that provide insights into how time is being utilized. TimeDoctor integrates with various project management tools and also provides features like screenshot monitoring, activity tracking, and distraction alerts to help organizations enhance workplace productivity.
3. Brain.fm
Brain.fm is one of the best tools to increase productivity at work. It is a web and mobile application that provides AI-generated music to improve focus, relaxation, and sleep. The music is created using research-backed algorithms that use sound and rhythm to stimulate specific brainwave patterns associated with different mental states. The service provides users with a variety of music tracks that are tailored to their specific needs and preferences, and users can choose from different genres, durations, and intensity levels. Brain.fm also offers guided meditations and other mindfulness exercises to help users achieve their desired mental states and improve their overall well-being.
4. Nebo
Nebo is a note-taking tool that can be used to increase workplace productivity. It is a note-taking application designed to convert handwritten notes into digital text in real-time, making it easy to organize, search, and share notes across devices. With its advanced handwriting recognition and editing features, Nebo can help users save time and streamline their note-taking process, improving productivity. Additionally, Nebo offers various features like diagrams, sketches, math notations, and document export capabilities, making it an all-in-one productivity tool for anyone who takes handwritten notes.
5. StayFocusd
If you are prone to distractions while at work, help is at hand. StayFocusd is a free Chrome extension that keeps track of all the sites that you are browsing, and it blocks the sites that consume most of your time. So be it videos, games or websites, it blocks all the distractions and increases workplace productivity.
6. HazeOver
If you are a multi-tasker and have the habit of toggling between multiple windows to get things done. Thank heavens, HazeOver removes all the distractions by automatically highlighting the window that you are currently working on, and it fades out other windows (from soft dimming to intense black) until you finish the most important task at hand.
7. Panda5
Panda5 is a web-based content curation and reading tool that allows users to collect and organize articles, blog posts, and other online resources for easy access and sharing. It streamlines the process of finding and organizing information, content curation and consumption. Panda5 is more suited for those who want to stay informed and up to date on their interests or industry rather than for those who need a dedicated productivity tool to manage tasks and projects.
8. Plan
Getplan is a tool designed to enhance workplace productivity. It makes individuals and teams manage their tasks, projects, and goals more efficiently. It offers a variety of features, including task lists, calendars, time tracking, project management, and collaboration tools. Getplan allows users to prioritize tasks, set deadlines, and delegate tasks to team members. With its intuitive user interface and robust functionality, Getplan can help users stay organized and focused, leading to increased productivity and better results. Overall, Getplan is an effective work productivity tool that can help individuals and teams streamline their workflows and achieve their goals more effectively.
9. Harvest
Harvest is one of the best tools to improve efficiency at work by helping individuals and teams track their time, manage projects, and streamline their workflows. It offers features such as time tracking, invoicing, project management, and reporting, all of which are designed to help users optimize their productivity and efficiency. Harvest allows users to easily track billable hours, set project budgets, and generate reports on project progress and team performance. With its user-friendly interface and extensive functionality, Harvest is a powerful tool that can help businesses and individuals alike improve their productivity and achieve better results.
10. Spark
Apache Spark can be utilized to handle emails by parsing and extracting relevant information from email messages. This can be helpful for email classification purposes, such as identifying spam or important messages. Spark can also assist with data cleaning and processing, enabling you to efficiently store and analyze large volumes of email data. Additionally, Spark’s machine learning capabilities can be used for tasks such as sentiment analysis or email content categorization. Overall, Spark provides a powerful platform for handling email data and can be beneficial for businesses or organizations that need to manage large volumes of emails.
Choosing some of the productivity tools and techniques listed above will add more productive hours to your busy workday.
Conclusion
Increasing workplace productivity is essential for organizations to achieve their goals and remain competitive in the market. Fortunately, there are many time-tested productivity tools and techniques available to help individuals and teams improve their productivity levels.
Some of the most effective techniques include prioritizing tasks, minimizing distractions, taking breaks, and practicing good time management. Additionally, there are many helpful tools such as productivity apps, project management software, and collaboration platforms that can streamline workflows and enhance workplace productivity.
However, it’s important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to improving productivity. Different individuals and teams may require different techniques and tools depending on their work style and preferences.
Ultimately, the key to increasing productivity is to continuously evaluate and improve upon your current practices. By incorporating time-tested techniques and utilizing tools to increase productivity at work, you can maximize your potential and achieve greater success in the workplace.
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