Office Hacks: Tips for Being More Productive
Everyone can benefit from working a little bit faster and a little bit smarter. Research indicates that most people are only productive for an average of around three hours per day: a lot less than the total amount of time spent trying to work. If you can beat that statistic, you’ll be miles ahead of your coworkers!
So, how can you improve your productivity, stay focused, and get more out of each workday?
Here are a few of our best tips for more effective work:
Try the Pomodoro Method
The Pomodoro method is a simple strategy for getting more work done each day.
The basics are as follows:
- Choose one chunk of your daily workload and stick with it. That means no jumping from task to task.
- Set a timer for 25 minutes. This unit of time is known as a “Pomodoro” based on this focusing strategy. The name is a bit arbitrary, but measuring your day as a set of tomatoes (“Pomodoro” is Italian for “tomato”) is a fun way to stay on target.
- After your timer has gone off, take a five-minute break. The goal of the Pomodoro method is to give your brain some rest after you finish a significant amount of work. That means no more burning out after two straight hours of intense focus.
- You can take a longer break (up to half an hour) after you complete four Pomodoros – that means approximately two hours of work.
While some of the specifics of the Pomodoro method can be amended to fit your needs, for example, try a 30-minute work session and a 10-minute break. Sticking to the basic principles is what matters most.
Avoid Music With Lyrics While Working
If your daily workload involves lots of typing on a computer, you might be tempted to put on one of your favorite albums to help pass the time. However, if your music of choice has lyrics, this might not be the best move.
Research indicates that listening to music with vocals can seriously hinder your productivity while you work. However, instrumental music has the potential to make your workday even more productive. In addition, factors like the type of work and the genre of the music can have a major influence on your ability to work and listen at the same time.
In general, instrumental music seems to be a better choice for productivity than music with lyrics. However, you might find that working in silence, and enjoying some music on your breaks, is the best way for you to work.
Keep Your Workspace Clean
There’s nothing quite like a mess all over your desk to distract you and make you feel like your life is chaos. On the flip side, working at a neat, tidy, and organized desk can boost your productivity.
Researchers at Princeton University found that clutter can have a significant negative effect on productivity levels. The researchers identified what they call “task-irrelevant objects” – items that don’t have any reason to be in your workspace and are essentially just taking up real estate on your desk – as the key culprits in hindering your focus.
In addition, desk hygiene has an impact, too – the average desk is estimated to be around 400 times dirtier than your toilet seat. Nasty, we know, but it’s the ugly reality of life. Germs spread in the places that we spend the most time. Cleaning and sanitizing your desk, especially if you work in a shared space, can help to reduce the potential to have to call in sick. This, in turn, boosts everyone’s overall productivity at work.
Don’t Overdo the Caffeine
A cup of coffee or tea in the morning can be a great focus booster. Coffee seems to be the most popular drink of choice in the US, with 64% of American adults drinking at least one cup per day. If you’re one of them, you know how much your morning coffee means to you — and how grouchy you might be without it.
As a stimulant, caffeine has the potential to increase your focus, thus making you more productive. However, too much caffeine can have the opposite effect: it can make you feel irritable, compromise your ability to remember things, and give you a bad case of the jitters.
To reap the focus-boosting benefits of caffeine without getting any of the negative side effects, keep your consumption of caffeinated drinks at a moderate level. That means stopping after one to two cups (and by cups, we mean eight ounces each) and drinking plenty of water to offset the dehydrating effects of caffeine.
Get Your Devices Right Where You Want Them
At SkyFloat, we’re all about productivity. That’s why we created the world’s first magnetic ceiling-mounted device holder!
The SkyFloat lets you suspend your digital devices in midair, allowing you to do your work as effectively as possible. You can mount it directly above your desk for easy access to your devices – and to clear out some much-needed real estate in your workspace.
Mounting your devices above your desk instead of using them on your desk can work wonders for your productivity.
Here’s how:
Using a Magnetic Device Holder Can Improve Your Posture
If you’re sitting at your desk all day working on your phone, tablet, or another digital device, you’re not doing any favors for your posture.
Hunching over your devices can leave you feeling achy, irritated, and strained, which can decrease your productivity. By mounting a SkyFloat right above your desk, you’ll be able to sit up straighter and get more done! That means fewer visits to the chiropractor, too.
Extra Space
We’ve already covered the many benefits of keeping your workspace clean and tidy, and one of the best ways to do so is to mount your devices using SkyFloat. A mounted device is easier to use, but that’s far from the only perk of using Skyfloat. The magnetic mount can free up desk space and leave more room for other desk essentials.
With SkyFloat, you’ll put the centerpiece of your desk in midair, giving you more room for the rest of the items in your daily carry – planners, calendars, other digital gear, and more. That means a more productive workday and less clutter.
Be Productive Anywhere
Why have one great spot to work when you can have two? Or Three?
With multiple SkyFloats, you can be productive anywhere: just mount your second one at home and keep the first at the office. Then, you’ll be able to stay just as productive when you’re working from home.
SkyFloat gives productivity-seekers everywhere a chance to level up their workspace. Less work equals more time doing things you actually enjoy, and that’s something we can definitely get behind.
Sources:
In an 8-Hour Day, the Average Worker Is Productive for This Many Hours | INC
The Pomodoro Technique: An Effective Time Management Tool - NICHD Connection | Science@NICHD
Background music: effects on attention performance | NCBI
Interactions of top-down and bottom-up mechanisms in human visual cortex | NCBI
