5 Ways to Be More Productive and Apps to Improve Your Workflow

We are always finding ways to increase Productivity. Sometimes workflows easily and before you know it, it’s 5 pm and you’ve completed everything on your to-do list. But other times, no matter how hard you try, you find it difficult to stay focused and you end the day feeling exhausted and unproductive. All the shallow work we default to are the ones that give us a false sense of productivity, and the feeling of work done, but can you say your work is well done?

For example, if you’re feeling particularly overwhelmed, it might be helpful to take a few minutes to close your eyes and focus on your breathing or to take a break and do something that relaxes you. However, there are ways for us to actively increase our productivity instead of waiting for it to happen naturally. Nothing great comes out of work that requires no emotional labor. What if we could improve our productivity by making small changes, in the same way we improve other areas of our lives?

There are plenty of apps, programs, websites, and routines that promise to boost success in everyday life. Many solutions to increase your productivity come in the form of strategies, tools, and technology. You can make change happen by implementing some of these strategies, such as setting goals and creating a daily to-do list. These solutions can create an environment of productivity that will help you stay on track and stay focused to prioritize tasks.

In this post, you will read about five strategies to increase your productivity. Keep in mind that these strategies are not magic solutions. You need to pay attention to your schedule, habits, and work-life balance to discover which strategies work best for you. This is your journey—With our tips, we hope to provide you with some inspiration. Let’s explore.

Tip 1: Managing time and energy with routine

Every day we wake up to choices, a choice to scroll social media or a choice to respond to emails, a choice to get through a to-do list filled with shallow work, or a choice to do something productive. It is a lot about learning to be productive for a lot of us. Why? Simply because we struggled with it, and a lot of how productive we are is dependent on being able to decide what not to do versus what to do. Avoid distractions and remain focused on the work at hand to get in the groove with work.

Work routines introduce discipline and efficiency into work and help individuals achieve goals. No wonder the daily routines of the most successful CEOs are often talked about and replicated. However, it’s not necessarily about following someone else’s extreme schedule, but about listening to your own.

Our bodies have a circadian rhythm. This cycle controls our energy peaks. Planning your tasks around these peaks can help you complete your hardest tasks when you have the most energy. For most of us, our energy starts in the morning. It reaches its highest point around lunchtime and then slowly declines. By 3 pm, we often experience a slump. After that, our energy levels rise again until a second peak around 6 pm.

Let’s change things up a bit and prioritize our to-do list based on our energy levels. We usually spend our mornings dealing with emails and our afternoons on more important tasks. But instead of using our valuable productive hours to respond to emails, why not tackle the big tasks when we have the energy?

Tip 2: Optimising your well-being

To have a productive workday, it’s important to have a healthy mind and body. We know what to do, but doing it is another matter. Practicing mindfulness for just a few minutes a day can benefit your mental well-being, help you stress less and focus more.

Another important factor in being productive is staying hydrated. We are constantly reminded to drink water because dehydration affects our productivity. Studies have shown that even a small 1% decrease in hydration can cause a huge 12% drop in productivity. So, if you’re struggling to focus, maybe all you need is a simple sip of water.

Tip 3: Keeping accountability

Being accountable can increase productivity in fitness and at work. Studies have shown that sharing your goals increases your chances of completing the task by 65%. Regular check-ins with accountability partners can raise that number to 95%.

To be accountable, start by choosing a partner. This could be your manager at work or even a colleague. Share your weekly goals with them; these little steps can make significant progress toward your bigger goals. Set measurable targets; check them halfway through the week. Review your progress at the end of the week. Talking and sharing our tasks helps figuring out and complete tasks within a given time frame.

By clarifying your to-do list and structuring check-ins, you can eliminate guesswork about what needs to be done and set regular deadlines. This means you will have less confusion and spend fewer unproductive hours trying to organize your day.

Tip 4: Background Noise or Silence?

According to a study workers exposed to a moderate level of ambient noise outperformed those working in silent or much louder environments. Some people thrive in a busy café to get those ZZZs under their belt, while others need a quiet library for uninterrupted creative flow. Everyone has different noise preferences. You need to consider your work type, your personality, and how you react to different sounds, to figure out what works best for you. The goal is to find a balance between staying focused and staying motivated.

Here are some steps to help you determine your ideal noise level:

• Evaluate Your Work Type: Some background sounds can be great for repetitive, simple routine tasks like filling out data sheets or sorting emails. However, some tasks need deep concentration, like data analysis or complex problem solving, and noise can hinder performance.
• Experiment with Different Soundscapes: Try working in different environments, like coffee shops, libraries, or at home with background music or white noise. White noise is generally better for focus and productivity. Ambient noise fosters creativity. Try different soundscapes and discover what works for you.
• Mindful listening: Pay attention to your surroundings and be present in the moment. Focus on the sounds around you, it could be the sound of your breath, the tapping of a keyboard, or traffic noise in the distance. This strategy can be helpful if background noise distracts you.

Whether or not you want background noise or silence in your workplace is ultimately a personal choice. Final thoughts, should a productive office be pin-drop silent. Dead silence can cause your creativity to pack up and leave. And that can make us fall asleep at work folks.

Tip 5: Setting the right environment

Where you work can greatly impact your productivity. Everyone has their own optimal state of productivity. Some of us are early risers and others are night owls. Some need to move around a lot; others find a standing desk works best. Some work to music, while others need silence.

Embracing what works for you is the best way to get more done. As more of us are working remotely, joining co-working spaces, or working from home gives us more flexibility to work at the times when we’re most productive. You need to find your “sweet spot” to what helps you do more, better work. Surprisingly, a study found that people who work from home spend 55% more time working than those in an office. On the other hand, Forbes reported that 69% of employees experience higher levels of burnout due to increased use of communication tools and reduced social interaction.

Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in between. Hybrid working offers a great compromise, allowing individuals to maintain a work-life balance while still having a structured environment for focused work. Hybrid working allows employees to work from home and in the office, depending on the task they are working on. This allows them to take advantage of the benefits of both working from home and working in a shared workspace. Desq Worx coworking provides an ideal working environment that is aesthetically designed to enhance productivity.

Productivity apps

In the age of social networks, one cannot simply quit workplace distractions. Our phones are a major distraction, but what if they could help us stay focused?  Thankfully, there are several easy strategies and tools to overcome distractions at work and help you reclaim your productivity. Let’s explore some top digital tools that boost productivity.

• Todoist: The Todoist is a simple-to-use, intuitive app that can keep track of all your tasks, no matter how big or small. It allows you to sort your tasks based on priority and manage your to-do list with your whole team. What makes Todoist unique is its ability to work with other apps. You can connect your meetings in Gmail or your Trello board to Todoist, bringing all areas of your life together in one place, making it easier to manage urgent matters without getting overwhelmed.
• Freedom: Distractions are bound to happen, especially when you have the internet. Fortunately, many apps can help you stay focused, Freedom is the ultimate productivity app, allowing you to easily block websites on both your laptop and phone, so you can avoid anything that might distract you from your work.
• Pomodor: If you’re unfamiliar with the Pomodoro technique, it’s a way to manage your time. You divide your time into work and break segments. A common Pomodoro technique is 25-5. You work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break, but you can adjust the durations to fit your preferences. Pomodor app is a classic Pomodoro timer tool. You can set a timer for your work session and focus on your task. It uses timed blocks of productivity with scheduled breaks. The super clean UX of the Pomodor app helps you stay focused without any distraction
• Noisli: If you work best with some background noise, tools like Coffitivity and Noisily offer various ambient sounds, like the buzz of a coffee shop or the rustling of a forest. If you prefer tranquillity, consider investing in noise-canceling headphones or earplugs, particularly if you’re working in a noisy environment.

That said, to be productive, you need the right apps and know how to use them effectively. To do this, start small and simple, by choosing one or two apps that meet your most important needs. Productivity is different for everyone; so don’t compare yourself to others. Doing less than someone else doesn’t mean you’re unproductive. It just means you work at a different pace. Once you find the best tools that work for you, productivity becomes achievable.

Desq Worx coworking with offices located throughout Gurgaon NCR offers workspaces that stimulate positivity, focus, and high performance. With ergonomically designed furniture, and natural light, which all contribute to your overall productivity and happiness. Look at our Desq Worx offices and reach out to us to explore how a hybrid solution could boost your productivity or the productivity of your entire team.