Productivity: Meaning, Measurement, and Strategies
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Hyperconnected organizations and workers (by default) feel like they work against time. Depending on your mood, you may feel workdays going by in a blur or painstakingly slow. The way you measure productivity can determine the fate of your success.
The productivity varies from one individual to another. Yet, some core concepts remain the same, like prioritizing health, wellness, and passion can help you achieve more whether you work from the office (or home).
Changing your routine and eliminating non-essential tasks are other ways to power through busy days.
Is productivity good for you?
Productivity can feel like a double-edged sword. It has its pros and cons depending on how you measure it. Adopting a holistic approach that gives work and life equal importance produces promising success.
Otherwise, you struggle to keep up with daily tasks, lose focus, and give up quicker than before.
This guide delves deep into the elusive meaning of this phenomenon and personalized productivity tips to achieve it.
Let’s begin.
The Basics: What Does Productivity Mean (and How to Measure It)?
The productivity meaning in textbooks and dictionaries focuses on “the measure of output per input.” You can consider your energy, resources, and time to complete a task (or a project). You can also break down your trackable metrics into smaller targets. That allows you to focus on your progress and gain self-accomplishment through it.
Investopedia simplifies it further by stating the amount of work an individual employee completes. Then divide it by the resources utilized in finishing that task. It’s considered a vital metric for tracking economic growth and employee performance.
Organizations and individuals measure productivity in different ways. According to Harvard Business Review, one should create a multifactor index to assess progress.
These factors include:
Budget cost
Overhead expenditure
Materials consumed
Additional expenses
Time
This approach effectively combines essential variables that influence performance during organizational operations. Choosing trackable factors makes it easier to optimize production. Companies do this by reducing non-essential tasks and expenditures.
As a result, employees produce maximum outcomes during designated periods.
You may apply a similar formula to track how productive you are doing the day. For this, you can compare your to-do list with the amount of work you finished. Calculate the time taken and resources required to complete each task.
Then adjust your schedule to get more done in less time. Remember that you shouldn’t compromise the quality of your deliverables by rushing through the process. Instead, take a closer look at the problem areas.
Remind yourself that being productive and being busy aren’t the same. People want to see outcomes no matter how many hours they spend planning a project. How you do something and how much you get done are more important.
Therefore you should reduce distractions that inhibit performance. These factors include social media breaks, responding to unimportant messages, etc.
Highly successful people perform consistently because they overcome these challenges. These individuals have razor-sharp focus and set goals. It enables them to stay on track and outrank competitors (previous targets).
Why Is It Important to Measure Productivity?
Evaluating productivity allows organizations and individuals to stay on top of deadlines by identifying problem areas. They can use this knowledge to adapt objectives and daily schedules to create a more efficient workflow.
Whether working independently or in an organizational team, you want to achieve more by putting in minimum effort. Measuring productivity levels can help you accomplish this objective by answering key questions.
A multifactor measurement index helps you figure out the three different things.
They are as follows:
What’s the production cost, and does it get covered by the ROIs?
How many resources do you utilize per day (or for every project)?
Is your business growing financially, or are you in debt?
After assessing monthly performance, you can alter your routine to set things straight through our helpful productivity tips. Aim to utilize money, resources, and your energy mindfully. Cut down mundane tasks and multitask by focusing on project priorities. You can focus on things that add value to your life and the bottom line by saving time and money.
Consequently, the significant change motivates you to keep moving and trying new challenges.
The Strategy: How to Boost Productivity as an Individual?
Have you hit a slump? Improve productivity levels through mindfulness. Adopt healthier habits to stay focused and motivated during your workday. It can start by starting your day early, organizing your workspace, and creating an optimized schedule. Also, allot some much-needed me-time to recover from a hectic day.
The “productivity meaning” may differ for your work and personal obligations. Yet, you should know how to tackle both life areas efficiently to limit chaos. Otherwise, your work-life balance will become unstable.
When looking at productivity tips, know that what works for others might not apply to your routine. Therefore, you should take inspiration and alter your routine to suit your end goals.
Here are some customizable strategies to boost your progress:
Get a Head Start by Planning Your Day with Time Blocking
Waking up early gives you sufficient time to stretch, shower, and eat a nutritious breakfast before you dive into work. Your active morning routine lets your mind shake off sleep and focus entirely on assigned tasks.
You perform more efficiently when you know what you’re up against daily. Most guides on productivity tips discuss the importance of creating a to-do list. You can amp your performance up by creating time-sensitive priority lists, aka time blocking.
Asana defines it as a time management strategy that maps your day into “bite-sized time slots.” When you do this, you have a better idea of how much you need to get done within X amount of time. There are multiple ways to incorporate this technique into your schedule.
You can do this by grouping similar tasks (like checking emails and social media accounts). Alternatively, you can dedicate a considerable chunk of the day to one significant task and then break it down into time-sensitive slots. Both tactics allow you to commit to a manageable amount of duties instead of overburdening yourself with an ever-expanding to-do list.
Switch things up every day depending on work requirements. That way, you manage to keep things exciting despite the self-imposed timelines.
Limit Distractions to Stay Focused
Do you have trouble concentrating on work?
Your inner critic and chatty coworkers can break the tempo of your work. The continuous disruptions and a cluttered workspace become hard to avoid sometimes.
We have a few productivity tips that can counter those common distractions.
Here’s what you can do:
Got an untidy workspace? Declutter your desk by investing in organizers. That way, you can keep your planners and important files at hand.
Does your smartphone keep buzzing? Install social media blockers to prevent notifications from breaking your workflow. Eliminating digital distractions can stop your mind from being overstimulated by unnecessary messages. You can concentrate on work without being pulled in different directions.
Is your workplace loud? Put on noise-canceling headphones to avoid disruptions caused by background noise. Create a moody playlist to amp your productivity levels by playing relaxing sounds or upbeat tracks, depending on your preference.
Do you refresh your inbox frequently? Allot time to check emails instead of scrolling through emails every hour.
Are staff meetings bringing you down? Team meetings online (and in-person) can take you away from priority projects. Stick to email and chat correspondence until required to save time.
In short, identify your distractions and counter them by placing actionable measures. Once you get into a peaceful routine, nothing will deter you from meeting your daily targets.
Take Care of Yourself
If those workplace productivity tips aren’t working out, strategize your goals. Sometimes neglecting your health and social life can inhibit your progress. Therefore, it’s important to allow time for rest.
You can do this by:
Taking microbreaks between 90-minute long time blocks
Meditating for 5-10 minutes when you feel overwhelmed
Keeping healthy snacks and a water bottle handy to refuel during a busy day
Stretching your legs by going for a short walk during your lunch hour
Meeting friends and family after work to improve your emotional and social wellness
Lastly, remember to dedicate nighttime to rest instead of worrying about unfinished tasks or work. That way, you’ll wake up the following day feeling refreshed.
Make Every Moment Count
Do you measure productivity by time, cost, and project deliveries?
Whether you work for a company or yourself, the joy of completing everything on your to-do list seems unmeasurable. It’s essential that whatever you do adds value to your quality of life.
It can be impossible to do this without tracking your progress. Use multiple factors to ensure you identify everything that influences your performance. Then adjust your plan to achieve better outcomes in minimum time.
Many productivity tips allow you to do this. You can do this through time blocking, maintaining mindful work habits, and limiting distractions. Once you do this, you will have an easier time tackling your projects and achieving daily targets.
Good luck!