As well as promoting healthy teeth, here at Peppersmith we are always looking for ways to improve our well-being in general. Feeling happy and productive in the workplace and at home is something we think is really important, so here are some top tips for how to get the most out of your day.
Good lists v bad lists
Believe it or not, there are such things as good and bad lists. When I started university, I decided to become super organised and write long lists every morning for the day ahead. Inevitably, being a lazy student I always completed the easiest tasks first and left the more challenging ones until, well, sometimes forever. These were what you call bad lists.
Of course, ticking off many small tasks felt great. How easy it was to be productive. Or so I thought. Slowly the important tasks started to build up and so did my stress levels. Thankfully I have now realised that filling my list with small menial tasks doesn’t get me very far, so I’ve come up with my three top tips for list writing and daily productivity.
1. Always write tomorrow’s list the night before
It takes a little bit of discipline, especially if the list is for work and you’re writing it at 6pm as the office is closing. But trust me, you’ll leave work feeling organised and ready for the morning, giving your mind a chance to fully switch off before you get home.
2. Try and keep your list down to three tasks
Yes, three really is a magic number. In fact there is a lot of evidence to show that the human brain best understands and memorizes information in threes. Aside from this, limiting your list to three forces you to prioritize the most important tasks. If you don’t feel comfortable limiting yourself to the magic three just yet, then try writing a priority and a non-priority list to help you organise your tasks.
3. Be specific
Short lists might be the way forward, but the secret to a great list is to be clear and specific. This will help you complete your tasks to the highest standard. Forget the one word list, give each point on your list a little direction to help you along the way. For example, less of ‘social media’ and a bit more of ‘fill out next weeks social media calendar.’
Start the habit…
It’s all about routine. See if you can make listing one of your daily habits and let us know if your productivity increases. We bet it does.
For more ways to become a productivity ninja check out this handy PDF from Graham Allcott’s book.
The post The key to a productive day? A world class list appeared first on Peppersmith.