You're reading 6 Minimalism Tricks to Help You Focus and be Productive, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
There’s a common misconception that minimalism refers to the number of items you own. Minimalism is about prioritizing things of value and importance. Items that create unnecessary clutter are removed. This principle can be applied to your work.
These 6 tricks
will show you how to add minimalism to your life to become more focussed and
productive.
Remove
distractions
First and
foremost, remove anything that is not needed for your current task. Research emerging from Harvard in 2015 discovered the
power of reducing distractions. Those with a clean work area could carry out a
challenging task for 1.5 times longer than those exposed to a disorganised
workspace.
Distractions also
include work related to a different task. A loose file from a past project may
cause your mind to wander. Rid your workspace of clutter. Only have everything
visible that you need for the task at hand.
Have
a morning routine
In today’s busy
world, it can be hard to allocate time to yourself. Get into the habit of a morning routine to relax your mind before you
start work.
Shift your sleep
schedule slightly, so you have time in the morning to yourself. Choose
activities that ease your mind. Many people now practice yoga and meditation to
start off the day. Perhaps you’d enjoy a morning stroll down the road or even
just a coffee and reading the paper without the usual morning rush.
Create
your workspace
Do you work from
home? If so, is your home office a space where you can feel productive and
focussed? Your work environment will
affect your productivity greatly. Choose a location with minimal distractions
and background noise.
It’s also
important to separate your work life from your personal life. Separating these
areas can be difficult if your home office is in your bedroom, so consider
sectioning off the room with a divider or large rug.
There are many creative
ways to create a home office. Converting a shipping container into a home office is an
up-and-coming innovation. They make for a cheaper alternative to building an office
from scratch.
Image Source: Unsplash
Plan
your day
Taking five
minutes out of your day to prioritise your work will make a world of difference
to your focus.
Prioritise tasks
with closer deadlines and use a checklist to tick off completed tasks. This is
especially helpful for those with many small tasks to complete.
This way there
will be a clear path of what you need to complete for the day. Instead of
feeling overwhelmed with your workload and wondering which task to complete
first, your mind will be focussed at the task at hand.
Stop
multitasking
Multitasking may
negatively affect your productivity. Switching between tasks forces you to
re-orientate yourself. First, you must shift your goal from one task to the
other. Then, you need to activate the cognitive rules required to complete the
task. With a scattered mind from constant task switching, you could end up with
sub-par tasks that require revision.
Batch
tasks
Batch tasking is a
great alternative to multitasking. This is where a series of repetitive or
similar tasks are completed one after the other. This reduces the extra time
required to re-orientate yourself between tasks. This could include batch emails, phone calls, social media post
scheduling and report writing.
The best time to
start putting these minimalism tricks into practice is now. Remove anything at
your desk that could stop you from doing your job efficiently and effectively.
Start applying these changes to your life and reap the benefits of increased
focus and productivity.
Maia Fletcher is a Gisborne based writer. She
has written articles for various local New Zealand based sites such as Poynters. She loves to inspire people to be less busy and more
productive. Check out her blog for more inspiring reads.
You've read 6 Minimalism Tricks to Help You Focus and be Productive, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.