Productivity takes a dip for multiple reasons. Lack of resources, improper planning, incapability, poor time management, multitasking and stress are various factors that affect productivity. The workload also plays a crucial role. It has been observed that when professionals are given one task at a time, they tend to deliver quickly in comparison with instances when they are allotted multiple assignments at the same time. Interestingly, some professionals tend to be more productive when they have multiple assignments and get to plan ahead. It eventually boils down to the workload and planning and how someone approaches the whole task at hand.

Here’s a brief guide shedding light on how to increase productivity.

• Prioritizing is the absolute basic that anyone should master. Without proper prioritizing, one would always run late and would under-deliver. Every task doesn’t require equal focus nor attention and time. It is necessary to work on the most important tasks and to put the maximum amount of time and effort in these. The less important tasks can be done briskly without losing sleep over them. The most productive people are always those who are the best at prioritizing.
• Getting adequate rest is also important to increase productivity. It is obvious that one should get some sound sleep every night as that affects the next day’s productivity. But it is also necessary to take some rest in between assignments. The human brain can multitask but when it does so or switches from one kind of task to another without any break, the attention span and the focus get splintered. Studies recommend every ninety minutes of intense work should be followed up with a break of at least ten minutes to twenty minutes.
• Distractions have to be done away with and technology must be endorsed and applied wherever possible. Social media use should be banned unless it is integral to the task one is doing. Chit chats with coworkers, multiple coffee breaks, television or unnecessary phone calls are all distractions. These should be reduced to the extent of being nonexistent, unless the job demands so.
• Checklists are a simple tool to increase productivity. In professions such as event planning, having a checklist or multiple checklists in order of their priority, working according to the flowchart in the checklist and then evaluating the task done with the checklist is a simple way to increase productivity.