Note: This article is by writer and blogger Celestine Chua, who shares the most important ways to increase productivity and work effectively to advance and avoid getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of development.
Ways to boost your productivity
1. Divide the task you have into small parts
Fear of a project is easy to feel when it is an abstract theoretical goal surrounded by massive ambiguity, such as when your goal is to write a book or draw a storyboard. Then, I find it very useful to divide similar tasks, as it becomes a set of simple action steps or procedures.
So, let's assume you are working on a new book, which may seem like a smooth task. Actually, it is not. You have to start by writing pen heads or a general description that summarizes what needs to be done, such as writing:
- Research on the subject of the book.
- Planning the book's draft.
- An initial draft of the book's introduction.
- A first draft of the first chapter of the book, and so on.
After you've done that, start working on the first part of your book with a good focus on this step and nothing else, and don't worry or bother about the other parts of the book while you're working on the first part.
If you still find the task intimidating, you can break it down more and more and keep doing so until you get rid of that feeling. Then, focus on the priority step you are currently working on, and don't worry about other things until you finish it and complete it fully.
2. Simplify
I often overcomplicate the things I have to do as a perfectionist, but the problem is when you double the number of variables in a project, the project complexity doesn't just double. It gets too complicated and too fast.
For example, if you're working on a program with only two features and you decide to add two more features to it, not only does the complexity of your project increase by two-fold, but it's much more complex. So, it's important to always focus on the essentials.
Instead of trying to do every task on your shoulders and doing all of your homework, only focus on the things that make the greatest difference or make the critical impact in your life.
When I was working on redesigning my website last year, I realized that a number of my old design elements and components required frequent and continuous maintenance. Every time I introduced a new feature to the site and applied it, something else was disrupted by the interdependent nature of the website elements and components, especially websites and software components that add specific features to pre-existing computer software for WordPress.
I decided to simplify things by creating a user-friendly design and removing all the unnecessary. So, I removed the sidebar on the end of my webpage and changed the look of my website to become simpler and contain minimal components, and got rid of the other elements that I had previously added to add an aesthetic or a nice and attractive character to the site.
I also got rid of comments and discussion forums in the blog, which wasted a lot of time, while adding little benefit to readers, and I ended the new design of my website a week later. This new simplification means that I will spend much less time maintaining the site from now on.
So, try to simplify your things and tasks as much as possible, use the Pareto principle or the 80-20 rule by identifying the main missions that are 20%, and make a massive difference or impact on your way towards achieving your goal.
Then, focus on them and remove the unimportant things from your life. You will be amazed by the fact that working on fewer tasks and duties achieves more achievements for you and gives you a lot of gifts in reality.
3. Delegate to others and receive assistance
We often think that we must do everything alone, without help from anyone, but that is not true in reality. We must try to seek help from others and delegate some work to them unless a person has a goal that they must work to achieve themselves.
For example, e-business has become extremely complex in the past few years. Although I could have done everything alone in the past, there are many variable and advanced parts today which are difficult for me to deal with alone.
I realized that I needed to assign some of my business to specialized service providers, even if I had to pay more, so I used the services of private shopping carts and modernization to get a better Internet server and use a third party as a solution to manage and supervise training courses, which saved me a massive amount of time and saved me a lot of anxiety and stress.
Now, I can go back to the really essential things in my life, such as helping others progress and develop and solve their problems, instead of spending countless nights solving technical problems. Actually, I wish I had asked for help and done so from the beginning.
If there's something you're unsure or uncertain about, ask for help, consult with professionals who have achieved the results you aspire to, get advice from people with experience in the field, and hire someone to help you.
Even if you don't know anyone who does it for you, you actually have no excuse for having multiple free groups today on Facebook, which cover all the topics you can imagine from business, book writing, video creation, and coaching.
Facebook users can also help you and give you advice. You can smoothly search for the topic you want, then search for the groups that suit you and click on the option (join the group).
I've learned a lot just by reading the comments of people in groups created on Facebook, so you shouldn't feel like you need to do all of your tasks alone because you're not really alone. There are many people ready and willing to help you if you allow them to.
4. Change the environment or medium in which you work
If you feel stuck and you haven't moved on for a while, it's probably because of the surroundings that stifle you and stifle your creativity. Then, changing the environment you work in, talking to different people, and spending time in various social settings can give you new and different inspirations and creativity.
The environment in which I work - as a writer - has a profound impact on my psyche and my writing, as I have learned by practice that sitting in nature greatly enhances my writing abilities and provides me with great inspiration and energy for writing and creativity. However, sitting in a suffocating environment restricts the flow of ideas in my mind and limits my creative abilities.
When my ideas run out, and I can't innovate or create, I know that it usually means that I need to change my work environment and that continuing to do the same by trying to force myself to move on and continue writing despite my lack of inspiration and creativity is a waste of time.
So, if you're working on a creative project like a drawing, a storyboard, a book, a course, or a web design, you need to change the space and find ways to feel inspired, creative, and positive.
You can try following a different routine, visiting various places, spending time, and entertaining in a different environment or surroundings. You can continue to do so until you find a place that helps you to innovate quickly and easily, and then repeat your creations again in your work environment or home as much as possible.
5. Create a preliminary draft
If you find yourself confused between several options and issues that you should consider, create an initial draft at first. An initial draft is a copy of the abstract basics of what you're trying to construct or create, reduced to the initial conceptual necessities. Then instead of trying to design a perfect production from the first round- which is impossible - seek a modest copy or formula at first.
The way I launched my blog from the beginning was simply to write and publish articles that I felt would change people's lives. I planned the things I intended to write and reviewed my articles before publishing any of them.
However, I did not spend weeks or months improving my work to perfection. When I look back and remember the past, I feel embarrassed and confused because of some of my previous articles, which is one of the reasons that led me to review and revise my old pieces over the past two years.
However, my ability to develop and establish my blog and develop it into what it is today is precisely due to my allowing myself to publish works of art that are flawed and defective. If I kept obsessing and preoccupied with the obsession with the first article or the first ten perfect articles, I would not have launched my blog until today.
So, forget the details and don't care about them. Only create and extract a preliminary draft in principle. If you are developing a computer program, work on a prototype at the beginning. If you are writing a book, write the simplest manuscript possible.
You can always add the details you want in your work's second, third, or fourth settings or versions.
6. Take good care of your health and do not neglect it
You should never neglect your health. You should maintain a healthy rhythm or work regimen. You have a list of things that you don't sacrifice or compromise on, such as your sleep, breaks, and meal periods, so don't miss or skip meals or showers, or set aside enough time for rest even if you feel like it, and don't keep working until you feel tired and overwhelmed. Clearly set a deadline or limit for your work, such as stopping at 8 p.m. or two hours before your bedtime.
This is very important because you are actually the spirit and body of the project that you are working on. So, when you neglect them and fall short of their right, you are sacrificing your project's product or bottom line.
Although you may feel that you are spending less time at work - because you are taking time off to rest, relax and so on - you will find in a few weeks that your productivity will start to change from a short-term focus to a long-term focus, and you will begin working smarter because you have the space or mental space to do so. This is because work tends to expand to fill all the time available to accomplish it according to Parkinson's Law.
As a result, allocating an infinite schedule to work often lowers your productivity per hour rather than helping you achieve more. On the other hand, there are core and essential areas of life, such as self, comfort, and social relationships, that drain the human psyche when neglected and not cared for it.
The proverbial story of Silicon Valley - that you have to drown your entire life, fully indulge in work at the expense of yourself, your comfort, and your relationships to overcome all the difficulties and possibilities of failure -is actually exaggerated because you get many more gains and profits in the long run by respecting and meeting your personal needs, which in turn increase your productivity exponentially.
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