3 Strategies for Maximizing Productivity Tomorrow
A shutdown ritual can help you end your day on a high note…
Just as I am a big fan of starting the day by knowing its purpose, I have also realized the importance of ending the day using the same principle…
Each day, before you end your day at work, take a few minutes to reflect on the day. Look at your to-do list and compare what you need to do with what actually is. Could you have done better than what you did? Have you completed all your high priority tasks? For this reason, if you make it a habit to spare some time for yourself every day, that is, if you end your day consciously, I can say that you will continue to have a great day every day…
How you finish your work day today; Of course, it will affect your behavior outside of work, your general well-being, how well you sleep at night, and ultimately your mood tomorrow morning.
Many people spend their last hour at work often devoting it to low-level tasks (activities that keep you busy and prevent you from doing your real work). You can do better than this.
Others are buried in their work until the last minute and start the next day with the same mindset and can even get less done.
If you are not productive every day, time will pass agonizingly slowly, minute by minute.
Remember, according to the Pareto principle, 80 percent of your output is determined by 20 percent of your input.
It would benefit you to know how and on which tasks you use your time. Spend the last 20 minutes of each day for the next working day; spend it to reflect, process, measure and prioritize.
This simple habit can increase your productivity. A workday “closing ritual” can make all the difference. In his best-selling book, “Deep Work: Rules for Focusing on Success in a Distracting World,” Cal Newport expresses the importance of ending each workday the same way:
“This ritual should include reviewing each unfinished task, goal, or project and confirming that for each one you either 1) have a plan that you trust to be completed or 2) will be revisited at the right time.”
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1| Take a moment to think about what you've accomplished
If you started the day knowing your purpose, by the end of the day you would have accomplished tasks of high importance. So check them out. Write it down somewhere. Focus yourself on achievements and progress. Keep a completed list to increase your satisfaction level.
Celebrate your small successes…
The events that ignite emotions, increase motivations, and trigger perceptions that occur within a workday are essentially the same.
The importance of progress is emphasized in detail in the book “The Principle of Progress” written by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer. According to a study they conducted in the book, examining 12,000 daily work entries of 238 employees at 7 companies, making progress in meaningful work brightens a person's work life internally and accelerates long-term progress.
Here's how they explained it in the Harvard Business Review:
“Intrinsically, our quest to identify the drivers of business led us to the principle of progress. In the study, when we compared our participants' best and worst days (based on their overall mood, specific emotions, and motivation levels), we found that the most common event that triggered a “best day” was any progress made by the individual or team participating in the study. The most common event that triggered the “worst day” was a mishap.”
It's easy to forget to stop and take a moment to celebrate our successes, no matter how small. Try not to let yourself get distracted. Take time to record your progress. You can do this by using a diary, for example. This way, you'll be sure to be in a better state of mind before ending your work day.
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2| Identify your high-importance tasks for tomorrow
If you've planned your weeks or months in advance, you already know what you'll be working on tomorrow. Just reminding yourself will be enough.
Author Peter Bregman explains this in his book “18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Pay Attention, and Do the Right Things”:
“Every morning I ask myself some questions: Am I prepared for this day? Am I ready to have a successful and productive day? Have I thought about this? Have I made a plan for this? Can you imagine the risks that could lead me astray? “Will the plan I made for today help me focus?”
– Identify the three most important tasks you need to do for tomorrow. Write these down somewhere. Sort them on your list and set priorities.
– Aim to tackle these preferably in the morning when you are most active.
– Review other tasks you need to do for the rest of the day.
– Imagine how the day will unfold.
This way, you'll feel more prepared, more confident, and less stressed when the day begins.
What kind of results do you expect tomorrow? What meetings, calls, and events do you need to keep track of tomorrow?
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3| Declutter your desk
Studies show that clutter distracts you and hinders your overall productivity; It reveals that you should spend a few minutes every day to tidy up and clean your desk.
Use the 5-S Principles to organize your desk before you leave work.
5S is the name of a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words:
– Sort (Seiri), Make your job easier by removing obstacles.
– Set In Order (Seiton), Arrange all necessary items so that they can be easily selected for use.
– Shine (Seiso), Clean your workplace thoroughly daily or adjust the cleaning frequency.
– Standardize (Seiketsu), Always maintain high standards.
– and Sustain (Shitsuke), Self-discipline, also translated as “do without being told.”
End your day on a positive note and your next workday will be incredibly wonderful, you'll see. End on a high note. Prepare yourself for a super productive day tomorrow; At the end of each day, review your completed tasks, plan tomorrow's to-do list, and tidy up your desk.
Thomas Oppong