Productivity Tip: Work When You’re Strongest

Is there a certain time of the day or week where you’re significantly more productive than other times? Are you very slow to wake up in the morning or do you get really distracted towards the end of the day? Do you do better when you’re projects are down to the wire or do you finish things the minute you hear about a deadline? Pay attention to the way you complete things and try to identify a time when you’re most productive and then schedule your activities that are most important to be carried out during those times.

You can spend your down time or the time where you’re least productive doing mundane work that doesn't require much conscious thought such as any data entry or day to day tasks that you need to take care of. Save your most important tasks and projects for the times of the day when you routinely get the most accomplished and plan ahead so that you can boost your productivity levels during this time of day by employing other habits such as turning off phones or unplugging the internet during these times to ensure that you get the very most out of these hours that is possible.

It may take some time to get used to this technique and it also takes some self-discipline. If you’re most productive time is in the morning then show up ready to get to work right away and don’t let anything get in the way of that. If you’re most productive time is in the afternoon then spend the morning preparing for that time by taking care of any other tasks you need to accomplish and minimizing the distractions that you’ll have at that time. However regardless of when you’re most productive time is don’t kid yourself into not doing your work by telling yourself that you’re merely saving it for your most productive time of the day. All that does is put more stress on you and make it impossible to complete all the projects you’ve been trying to accomplish.

Also make sure that you aren’t saving a ridiculous amount of work for your productive times because you’ll end up getting overloaded and then you wont be able to accomplish much of anything because you’ll be so rushed. Prepare for your most productive times by gathering everything you need for the work you’re doing in that time in advance - whether that be information, supplies, certain tools, or correspondence from someone you work with make sure you have it all ready to go so that when you can feel your peak time starting it’s easy for you to just jump right in and get working instead of having to find your bearings and figure everything out. Don’t waste valuable productive time by not being prepared and organized when it comes time for you to start on a big projects.

So remember, save your most important or biggest work for the most productive times of your day or week, prepare for your times, and don’t overload yourself!