10 Productivity Tips To Lower Stress
What if you were not affected by your boss’s anxiety or your supervisor’s constant chasing and micro-management?
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Working long hours under extreme levels of stress in Investment Banking made me realise the importance of stress management to be efficient and remain in good health.
Maintaining a manageable stress level while increasing productivity can be challenging for any professional. Mainly for one reason: aiming for more productivity often increases your anxiety level. It is therefore vital to find a balance as too much stress can affect your mental and physical health.
Luckily for you, we are going to explore 10 productivity tips to lower your stress.
1. Make A List
The best way to be productive and reduce stress is to make a list of tasks to be completed each day first thing in the morning. If it is a large project, make sure you break down the deliverables into manageable items. Nothing feels better than crossing out the tasks you managed to complete throughout the day.
2. Do The Hardest Things First
Nothing is more burdening than pushing back on big tasks. The best way to overcome this burden is to focus on the most daunting tasks first in the morning. This has two benefits: after doing that you have a boost of dopamine as it doesn’t weigh on you anymore and you can now focus on your daily routine.
3. Reduce Your Internet Time & Turn Off Alerts
I set a limit of no more than 30 minutes of access to distracting sites (Messenger, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) from 10 am to 7 pm. This way I can be sure to stay out of the Internet matrix and focus on the tasks at hand.
Also, turn off notifications on your mobile phone for at least two hours during the working day. Set times each day when you can work without being disturbed by those annoying beeps or buzzes.
I personally recommend Block Site, a cross-browser website/URL and app blocker to limit internet usage.
4. Organise Yourself Around Your Productive Times
Some of us are night owls, others are early risers. Whatever your schedule, you need to make it your own and plan your day according to your energy levels. Schedule your most important projects or meetings at the times of day when you are most productive. Then, for the less productive times, focus on administrative tasks that need to be done but require less brain power.
Business Daily published a great article to know What’s Your Most Productive Work Time.
5. Organise Your Calendar
Your calendar should be filled in every day, as it will guide you to the tasks you need to complete. If you write everything, including personal time, in your calendar, use it to know what you need to do and when you need to do it.
6. Nurture Your Physical Health
Do you take care of your physical health? When you work in “challenging” industries (I mean industries where you work 70-100 hours a week), you often risk putting your health at risk. You should practice a sport at least 3 to 4 times a week and take care of your health by doing regular check-ups for blood pressure, cholesterol and diet.
7. Practice Mindfulness Daily
A daily practice of mindfulness is key to reducing stress while giving you more focus, clarity, creativity and flexibility. Ten deep, long, slow breaths take 2 minutes and are all you need to collect the benefits.
Calm is a great app to improve the quality of your sleep as well as your stress management ability thanks to its breathing exercises and guided meditations.
8. Focus On One Task At A Time
Multi-tasking is a myth. When workloads increase for employees, it is common to think that if you do more things at once, you will accomplish more in the same amount of time. This is not the case. Research has shown that productivity decreases dramatically when we multitask, it only leads to increased stress and decreased productivity. If you want to reduce stress and increase productivity, focus on one task at a time.
9. Prioritize, Delegate And Focus
Three skills needed to increase productivity without stress are prioritisation, delegation and focus. Prioritising your work according to what is required of you and that provides you with the highest satisfaction and delegating what can be done by others who are more competent or better suited to those tasks. This will give you more time to focus on your main priorities.
Ex: if you earn a certain level of money and some chores like cooking or cleaning annoy you, hire someone else to take care of them while you focus on what energises you (this one is not for me as I love cooking and cleaning my flat makes me clear my head).
“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” - Jessica Jackley, businesswoman
10. Take Periodic Breaks
Although it may seem counterintuitive, taking periodic breaks throughout the day greatly increases your productivity. You tend to lose your optimal cognitive focus when you work intensively. Take a 10-min break every 1.5 hours throughout the day to maintain peak performance and minimize stress.
In conclusion, if you follow the 10 productivity tips laid out in this article, I can ensure you will feel way better. If you want to become a real PRODUCTIVITY MACHINE, check out my article Tips To Build The Ultimate Productivity System.
I hope this article has been helpful in your journey to lower your stress and be more productive!
And you? Which of the above productivity tips will you implement? Do you know any other lifehack you would like to share? Let me know in the comments.
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