Why improve performance at work

Here are two articles on how to prioritize tasks and learning how to estimate the time needed to complete tasks more efficiently. Never lose sight of your goals. Focus on taking one step at a time and completing the previous task before starting a new one. Check out this article for a deep dive on how to avoid distractions at work. Interruptions come in many forms and learning how to avoid them is vital for improving work performance. Even though it feels like multitasking allows you to accomplish more, it actually does quite the opposite.

Whenever you start working at more than one thing at a time, take a step back and determine which task is more important and focus entirely on it. Working on one task at a time makes you faster, less stressed, and less prone to making mistakes. Once you start a task, try to see it all the way through. Change is happening all the time, all around us. Reading is the best way to learn about new tools, trends, and technologies affecting your company or industry, and a great way to keep up with the competition.

Golden tip: Try to read at least one relevant article regarding your industry every day. Count on our blog to help you! Effective communication at work can take the following forms:.

Golden tip: Communication is a two-way street. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Even though you can always find things to improve, focus on identifying the things decreasing your work performance and continuously work on improving them. Do whatever you can to be the best version of yourself every day.

Stress and burnout levels are increasing at alarming rates. Rest time is just as important to your professional development as any other aspect. Turn off your computer, go away for a weekend, change your scenery, and always remember to keep a healthy work-life balance. Sustainable continuous improvements are part of a slow evolutionary process.

It feeds off consistent progress. Using a tool to manage your daily work already puts you one step ahead of the competition. This extra time can help you avoid the stress of traffic, give you time for coffee and help you to relax and prepare for the day so you can work effectively.

Also, supervisors are often impressed with employees who arrive ready to go. Related: Tips to Demonstrate Work Ethic. To foster more engagement and energy toward your work while improving your performance, set your own productivity challenges.

Strive to do just a bit more than you already do, without compromising quality, during the same amount of time. For instance, if you typically write four blog assignments each day, see if you can write five or even six in the same amount of time. You might need to find more efficient ways to research, outline and write the assignments to get it done in a day.

This little challenge can give you something to work toward and can make a difference boosting your morale. Plus, your employer will likely notice the slight increases in productivity. Online productivity tools can help you keep track of all your tasks and make progress toward bigger goals. Some software tools have free features that are easy to use on your own. You can organize and plan each of your goals in the system to see them visually.

Consider the people in a similar role or in your workplace who are constantly getting praise or reaching top metrics. Try observing their strategies and implementing new strategies to improve your own performance.

You could ask them to discuss the challenges you face in the role and as a team. It is possible that you will be able to get some insight on how to become one of the top performers, too. Feedback based on your performance is very useful not only to identify what you need to work on, but also to understand what your employer values and how you can become an indispensable employee.

Criticism is a measurement of your performance and can give you a place to focus your efforts. Find jobs. Company reviews. Find salaries. Upload your resume. Even if you're trying to improve your work performance, that doesn't mean work has to be your life. Having hobbies outside of work and getting enough rest keeps you from burning out. Focus on self-improvement activities outside of work like meditation, sports and social events to keep your stress levels in check.

You might also find that your hobbies and interests help you to progress at work. Skills that you acquire through a team activity — like leadership, negotiation, time management and working as a team — transfer easily to the workplace.

Communication is key to maximising your performance at work. The most successful business leaders are naturally inquisitive and look for innovative ways to solve problems. It can be tempting to chat to coworkers and catch up on the latest news, but this can have a negative effect on your work performance — especially if it becomes too frequent.

Not only can it harm your productivity and concentration, but it can affect the way that others see you. Most workplaces are much quieter before the official workday starts, so if you have the opportunity to arrive early it can be a great way to be more productive and improve performance. With the office quiet, there are fewer distractions or temptations to prevent you from tackling a task or two. Another way to improve your performance at work is to create a schedule that works for you.

If you have the flexibility to decide when you complete tasks and schedule meetings, this can have a big effect on how productive you are. Organise your day. Set a daily schedule and create a to-do list at the end of each workday for the next day, or do it first thing in the morning. You can even block out your calendar to help keep yourself on task. Be guided by which tasks should be a priority, weekly essentials and your energy levels throughout the day. If you need to concentrate on writing reports, schedule this for the morning to avoid the after-lunch slump.

For creative projects, Friday afternoons can work well. Within your schedule, make sure you leave time for breaks or less challenging activities. Everyone needs rest and these breaks can help to keep you working at your most productive. Reward yourself for completing tasks with continual short breaks throughout the day to refresh your mind. We tend to save our least desirable tasks until the last minute, even if they are critical.

Get your most important tasks out of the way first so they aren't weighing on your mind. This can be a welcome distraction at times, but it harms your productivity and can have an impact on your performance. Next time, ask if the issue can be resolved by email or discussed another time. We all have the same number of hours in a day, but one way you can work smarter with yours is to group or batch similar tasks together. This approach to working can apply to almost any task or activity that you repeat on a daily or weekly basis — including emails, phone calls to clients, analytics reports, data entry, meetings with direct reports and more.

One of the easiest ways to lose time throughout the day is through task switching. A great way to improve your work performance is to be committed to your own professional development.

Not only does continued learning help you learn new skills or improve existing ones, it builds up a bank of knowledge that you can apply to your existing or future roles. For example, by reading about productivity you could identify an inefficient process at work and save yourself and others hours of time by improving it. Are you easily distracted by your environment? If so, cutting out the distractions around you can really boost your productivity and performance at work.

If you have the opportunity to delegate some of your workload to a colleague, do it. Sometimes tasks can be performed by more than one person and by delegating you are simply moving it along to the right person to handle it. Not only does delegating tasks remove them from your to-do list, it also shows that you can take the lead and manage tasks effectively. Ideally, begin the day beforehand and plan out the day ahead of you.

Then, when you arrive in the morning, set your desk up with everything you need before beginning with the most important or highest value task first.

Our inboxes can be the source of a huge amount of lost productivity in the workplace. It can be tempting to check in regularly, read emails as soon as they arrive and even several times before we get the opportunity to reply to or action them. To reduce this and recoup some of this lost time, create set times throughout the day to check your email.

Are there processes you encounter that slow you down?