We are constantly bombarded by demands at work, everything demanding our attention at once. And with the advancement in technology, more things than ever are coming at us faster than ever.
Amid all the demands and distractions, we still need to maintain our productivity and effectiveness. But with everything we have to contend with, we may be at a loss as to how we can work at our peak effectiveness. There are a number of things you can do, habits you can establish to help get the most from our effort without needlessly spinning our wheels.
One of the most important is actually something we routinely overlook – getting enough sleep. We constantly give up sleep, thinking if we devote that extra time to work, we’ll get a lot more done. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Even if we give up just small amounts of sleep that we need, there are sharp drops in our thinking ability, our ability to think creatively, our emotional stability, the quality of our work and how fast we do it. Almost everybody needs between seven and eight hours of sleep each night.
Some experts also say that we need to put everything on one to-do list, whether it is work related or not. By doing this, we can free our minds from worrying about these things, and devote our full attention to other things.
The first thing you do each morning should be the most important thing you have to do each day. By doing it first, you are tackling it when you are the most awake and energetic. But don’t work on any single task for more than 90 minutes without taking a break, because research has shown that 90 minutes is our limit for sustained attention.
You also need to make time for breaks throughout the day, to rest and replenish your energy.
Also, pay attention to your emotional state. If your emotions are getting into negative territory, this may be a sign that you are making more demands of yourself that are too taxing.
And finally, you need to make time in your schedule for things that are important to you, even though not necessarily the most urgent.
If you are looking for temporary, temporary-to-hire or direct-hire work in the Anchorage area, send a message to the Opti Staffing Group. We would love to discuss how we can help find the right job for you.