When you have settled into your job, you might find that your performance has stalled after a while. You need to stoke the glowing embers of your career into flames once again. Your performance needs to pick up and here are some ways you can do that.
By incorporating some of the following methods into your schedule, you can improve your work performance to a more than satisfactory level.
Setting yourself targets and goals
Before you expend any energy working, you need to set yourself some goals and targets. This enables you to know what you are working towards. Without such goals, you will find yourself going around in circles.
These goals should be at both the personal and professional level. Break them up into smaller milestones which will help you keep track of your progress towards attaining the overall goal.
Identifying your priorities and plan
When you have set your goals and milestones, you should identify which ones matter more than the others and prioritise them. When you have your priorities straight, you can then go ahead and plan on how you are going to achieve them.
Make a plan for the activities you’re going to do that day. While making this plan, make sure that you don’t bite off more than you can chew. You’ll find that it’s better to set a lower milestone for that day and achieve it than take on a big task and fail to accomplish it.
Focusing on your task and limiting distractions
As you set off to achieve accomplish your task, limit the distractions that will divert your efforts and cut down on your productivity.
When you lose focus, your brain takes a bit of time before it’s up to speed again to continue attending to the task at hand. You can partake in some ways to improve your concentration so that you can accomplish your tasks as you wish.
Doing one thing at a time
When you have plenty of things on your plate, you tend to believe that you can do more than one at the same time. Multitasking is the death of any focus and concentration you have acquired, leading to reduced productivity and performance.
With multitasking, you feel like you are accomplishing more at the same time. On the contrary, you are slowing yourself down and taking longer to achieve the milestones you set for yourself. You should, therefore, pick on task and do it to completion before picking up another.
Endeavouring to finish what you start
One of the by-products of multitasking is that you’ll expend so much energy on a multitude of tasks and will complete only a few of them. This will leave your in-tray and to-do list still littered with a variety of unfinished tasks.
You should, therefore, endeavour to finish whatever you start so that you always have a clean slate when you’re starting on the next milestone.
Reading at least one article a day
If you want to improve your work performance, you should read at least one article a day. This article should be related to your field of expertise or your general industry. By doing so, you can keep abreast of all the developments and advancements in your field.
Something might even catch your eye; something that can give you an edge in the way you do your work. Reading is, therefore, one of the ways you can continuously develop your knowledge and skills while at work.
Making connections
One of the important ways to improve work performance is by going out and making connections. These new connections can be colleagues from different firms or even within the same building. This can help you know how they go about their days and how they get things done.
You can also find mentors when you make connections. Mentors provide insight into the organisation and the industry at large.
Stepping outside your comfort zone
When you remain in your comfort zone, you are likely not to learn anything new and worthwhile.
By taking the risk and getting out into a place where you don’t have maximum confidence, you can learn something new. You can pick up skills that would have otherwise passed you by because the task isn’t part of what you’re comfortable with.
Getting more rest and sleep
One of the ways to improve work performance is quite a simple one; sleep. Many people are under the impression that going long hours at the office means that they’re being more productive.
However, sleep deprivation is one of the leading causes of decreased productivity. When you’re running on low sleep, you are more likely to be moody and less likely to learn or remember a lot. You’ll not function properly to be of any use in the workplace.
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Exercising more
Just as more sleep works wonders for your health, so does more exercise. Start of the day with some exercise like cycling, jogging or swimming.
By working yourself up to a sweat, you are more likely to dispel any stress, improve your mood as well as increasing your productivity.
Learning from your competition
If you are in direct competition for a certain position with someone, find out what they do so well that you don’t. Work hard on learning that skill so that your overall productivity and capability at doing your job properly increases.
Examining yourself
By examining yourself, you can find your own blind spots. These blind spots are areas on your characters, ability and personality that aren’t really up to scratch. This self-examination requires you to be brutally honest with yourself otherwise the whole endeavour is pointless.
Ask your colleagues where they think you fall short. This is usually effective when it comes to your character, personality and the way you associate with others.
Asking when you’re not sure
When you’re given an assignment, you should be sure of what the brief requires you to do before embarking on it. If you’ve failed to ascertain what is expected of you, don’t be afraid to seek further clarification from your supervisor.
Clarity enables you to know what exactly your goal is at the completion of the task. You are also able to plan properly for how you’re going to deal with the task, which is one of the sure-fire ways to improve work performance.
Knowing how to delegate
If you are in management —top or middle— you will often find that you want to follow up on every single task that your subordinates are doing. If you have assigned a task, desist from micromanaging so that you can focus on the more important things that you have to do.
Learning to say no
During your workday, there comes a time when someone wants to offload some work on you. Much as it’s polite to help out, sometimes your plate is full. Learn to say no so that you can clear what you have on your schedule.
If it’s your superior asking, let them know that you have some other tasks that you’re working on. Then proceed to ask whether what they’re offering should take precedence over what you already have. In this way, you are able to accomplish the task with the higher priority.
In Summary
There are plenty of ways in which your productivity at work can slow down. This doesn’t spell a pleasant route for your career. You should, therefore, employs the above ways to improve work performance and get your career back on track.
