Enhancing productivity is essential to business growth, yet the role of the workplace is an overlooked factor. Numerous studies have highlighted the significant effect an office environment has on employee productivity. Office spaces are generally spacious enough to allow work to happen. However, productivity requires more than that.

Office-based employees are reported to be 50% more productive than their remote counterparts. One in two employees agrees that their place of work enables them to become even more productive. 

Productivity is the heart and soul of a business. Therefore, it is best to find ways to increase your productivity and be better at it. So, here are some tips to help you stay productive in the office:

Stay Away From Social Media and Messaging

Designate specific times for your phone to go on silent, and pencil in designated times to check and respond to your notifications later. This will give you undistracted focus for your deep work and help you plan a time to perform the shallow work of responding to messages. so nothing slips through the cracks.

If you’re worried about your clients being left in the dark while you go incommunicado, create an out-of-office canned email or away message letting senders know when they can expect a response (i.e. during your scheduled reply time).

Use An Ergonomic Chair

For office workers, the majority of your days people will find us sat down in our office chairs. Sitting for long periods of time can cause numerous health issues. This is especially true if you don’t sit correctly and/or have a poor office chair that doesn’t support us properly.

Supplying employees with specifically made ergonomic chairs will not only improve the day-to-day productivity, but as a whole, the yearly productivity as employees will have less time off due to health issues caused by poor seating.

Improve Your Lighting

No one wants to work all day under rows and rows of fluorescent lighting. Most people will tell you that they respond better to natural light. One solution to this is to provide plenty of windows within your office environment. Windows let in natural light and help reduce the need for electric lighting (thereby saving your business money).

Unfortunately, not every office has enough windows so that everyone can work without a lamp. At night or during overcast days, you may need to turn on the fluorescent lights in order to get any work done. You can, however, install those lights in such a way as to control how many you use at any one time.

Track Your Time Doing Tasks

Tracking time does not only mean using automatic or manual timers to accurately record the time you spend on doing tasks. Rather, you should track time to check if some tasks are taking more than the expected time. You might be spending extra time on tasks that are supposed to be completed in less time, but you’re not aware of it.

It is important to know exactly how much time you spend on doing daily tasks, add multiple timesheets to record time data, set time estimates, and create custom time reports of people and projects all in one place. This will help you handle and plan tasks better.

Take More Brakes

You may skip breaks in the working day to become more productive, however, this isn’t a smart move. The secret to maximizing your productivity is to work hard for short periods of time and then take frequent breaks to refresh your mind. 

Studies have found that employees who take a 15-minute break every hour or so end up being much more productive. Likewise, its also been found that even a small microbreak can increase productivity by up to 13%. These small breaks must allow for mind wandering. This can also be for walking, staring out of the window, listening to music or reading, or even having a quick catch-up with your co-workers. These minor activities will renew energy and focus.

Key Takeaway

Working hard is a positive attribute but it doesn’t always lead to working smart and therefore productive. But when you combine hard graft with a better way of doing things, and in the right environment, then you can achieve dizzying heights.

The 21st-century workforce has the benefit of electronic scheduling systems, mobiles, and the ability to communicate to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Many of us still struggle to stay productive throughout the working day. Many are also still searching for ways to drastically change this. By simple changes like silencing your notifications to taking more breaks, you can greatly increase your productivity and get more work done.