Productivity is everything in the corporate world. A few minutes of lost time could cost thousands of dollars. Almost every company is conscious about how employees use their time. It’s one of the only ways to ensure productivity is at the highest level.
Large corporations might want to pay attention to all those brown trucks full of cardboard boxes. UPS is using technology in ways that may soon be common throughout the economy. To increase productivity, UPS tracks drivers with amazing results. Technology now makes it easy for most businesses to measure productivity and improve on what does not work.
“The data are about as important as the package for us,” says Jack Levis, who’s in charge of the UPS data. “Just one minute per driver per day over the course of a year adds up to $14.5 million,” Levis says. In the long run, as workers have gotten more productive, their pay will most likely increase too. If you are looking for career opportunities at UPS, check out www.upsjobs.com.
These are a few ways to be more productive and eliminate time wasting activities at work.
1. It pays to prioritize
Time wasting activities are often activities we enjoy the most, such as looking at funny cat pictures online and browsing Facebook. You don’t need to become an amateur monk to be productive but merely avoid indulging in these activities during work time. Give yourself time to enjoy these guilty pleasures and you’ll be less likely to indulge when you really need to get back to work.
2. You can use a blocker where necessary
Most websites can be blocked using some sort of web blocking program. Many of these options let you add specific URLs to a blocker, where you can specify when they’re blocked and when they open up again. This is a more forceful way to turn you away from time wasting tasks.
3. Learn to delegate
The vast majority of workers in corporate America have more work than they can handle. This is why so many people don’t take their designated vacation time and work overtime when they really don’t need to. These people think they’re doing a good job, but they’re essentially enduring a long slog for no good reason.
Delegate these tasks to others, or at the very least collaborate with others to have them done more efficiently. Remember, productivity isn’t about working as long as you possibly can. It’s about getting the job done consistently.
4. Make a list
If you have too many tasks, it can make it difficult to keep track of everything. This makes it easy to attempt to take on too many tasks at the same time. A common scenario is where someone gets pulled into doing little bits of big projects all at once. This reduces productivity and little gets done.
A to-do list where big tasks are broken down into bite-sized pieces will give a more streamlined work process, and that’s ultimately better for your productivity.
5. Take a break
Believe it or not, a break is actually the best way to keep your mind focused. The brain can only concentrate for so long before it switches off entirely. It’s why at the end of a Friday afternoon your motivation to continue working slows to a crawl.
Every person has a limit. Extend this limit by taking a short ten or twenty-minute break every few hours. Your boss might think you’re lazy, but they’ll soon see you can stay fresher for longer.
6. The carrot and the stick
Productivity is about knowing when to be gentle with yourself and when to use brute force to eliminate those tiny distractions. You don’t need lots of advanced productivity tools. Keep your body energized and make sure you physically can’t access distractions and it you’ll have a far better time at work. It also helps if you can remain consistent. Remember, humans are creatures of habit.
