Boosting Productivity At Work

Here are a few ways for you and your team to increase productivity at work -

1. List your "crucial results" for the day
   Crucial results are the list of objectives that absolutely need to be accomplished to move forward with projects and goals. Create a spreadsheet listing your top 3 crucial results for each day. This will help you plan each day and make sure you're maintaining focus on the most important tasks.

2. Eat healthy foods
   The food we eat throughout the day is extremely important in boosting our brain power and how productive we are. Junk food affects your weight and causes decreased productivity and energy crashes. If your office doesn't provide healthy snacks, bring your own to stash in your desk and keep you fueled.

3. Complete tasks in batches
   Batch your activities instead of breaking them up into small chunks. It takes time to get into a rhythm with whatever you're working on, so if you constantly start and stop that process, you're wasting time getting back into your rhythm or catching up where you left off. Some ways you can incorporate this idea into the workday - set a block of time to knock out all of your data entry or reporting tasks instead of spreading them out, set meetings with colleagues back to back in the afternoon, work in 90-minute increments, or answer voicemails or emails for a chunk of time in the afternoon.

4. Use the 2-minute rule (successfully)
   After getting your to-do list in order, you will find that some tasks are small and can probably be done in a couple of minutes. Do them! Obviously, don't get bogged down by these small tasks or let them derail you by taking more time than they should. Take them at face value and knock them out when you can.

5. Get moving
   Exercise is important for the body and mind. It reduces stress hormones while increasing growth factors int he brain that are necessary for new neuronal connections. Whether you prefer exercising in the morning, after work, during lunch or small breaks throughout the day, you will notice the impact it has on your energy, mood and productivity.

6. Stand more
   Feeling sleepy around 3pm? Stand up! Having trouble staying focused? Stand up! While standing doesn't burn a significant amount of calories more than sitting, it can help diminish other health risks like shoulder and back pain, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature death. When working in the recommended 90-minute intervals, stand up near the end of that time when you might start to lose focus.

7. Read in the morning
   Most people don't wake up super energized and feel instantly inspired to take on the day. To get in the right mindset to be productive at work, read for about 15-30 minutes before starting your day. Books on business, psychology, behavioral economics and personal development may particularly boost creativity and inspiration for the day.

8. Wear headphones
   Working in a high collaborative environment can mean that people come up to you with questions throughout the day, throwing you off your rhythm. Wearing headphones is a simple trick that can ward off questions that are either too menial or too complex to be answered in a quick face-to-face interaction. Your colleagues will question whether what they needed to discuss is worth the disturbance. The best part? You don't even have to be listening to music!

9. Give yourself less time than you think you'll need
   However long you think it will take you to complete a project or task, give yourself less time to complete it. You'll find that giving yourself a deadline will keep you more focused to get the job done.