Increase Your Productivity
Key concepts for you and your young adult children.
Improving your time management strategies will help increase your productivity. By improving your productivity, you will find it easier to reach your goals. Increased productivity takes time. However, as you begin to implement different strategies, you will discover which methods are effective and improve your personal and professional productivity.
Repeat What Works
There are numerous programs, hints, and tips available to help you improve productivity. The key to improvement is discovering what works and repeating those actions with the appropriate tools. This requires researching and trying different strategies to determine which ones fit best with your workload and habits. For example, not everyone can use the same technology to keep a schedule. Once you determine which resources and strategies are effective for you, it is important to keep repeating them. There is no reason to change your routine once you have determined what works for you. Over time, the repetition will increase your productivity and help you move forward.
Get Faster
It may seem obvious, but the more efficient you become, the more productive you will be. Practice and effort will help increase your speed on tasks that you perform regularly. For example, you can work on getting faster at typing, reading, walking, etc. No matter the task, just try to increase the speed a little bit at a time. There are numerous ways to help you get faster and improve your productivity.
Ways to Improve Speed:
- Games (i.e. Hand-Eye coordination games, Chess, and strategy based games)
- Task building exercises
- Apps (i.e. luminosity)
- Computer programs
Choose the method that fits best with your life and interests.
Remove “Should” from Your Dictionary
The words that you use have a greater impact on your life than you may realize. We have already discussed remaining positive by avoiding negative language. It is also important to avoid uncertainty in your language. For example, the word “should” needs to leave your dictionary. This word implies feelings of guilt because you do not plan on actually following through. For example, someone who says, “I should start exercising every morning” is not likely to start exercising. The decisive word “will” indicates a decision has been made. Saying, “I will start exercising” is making a commitment to follow through with an idea. Making this simple shift in vocabulary will commit you to action and improve your productivity.
Build on Your Successes
Success itself can become a habit if you start small and build on your achievements. Once you have a single success, you will find the motivation to work towards more. You should start with a small success and build. Begin with the goal that is easy to reach. For example, you could begin by setting time aside every day for a week for reading. Move on to another achievable goal. These successes will provide a foundation to build on as you attempt to reach more goals and success. By moving from success to success, you will be able to increase productivity in both your personal and professional life.
Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of college students and those high school students preparing for college. The CollegeLSP is a subsidiary program of the Support For Students Growth Center, in Boca Raton, FL.
