Most people will, at one time or another, consider implementing concrete steps to boost their productivity at work. However, they may come to realize that the practices they’ve chosen, while certainly improving their output, are also inadvertently boosting their stress levels.
As higher stress means lower productivity, they sooner or later end up right where they started, perhaps with a bit more stress to boot.
Here are some simple tips to help you increase your productivity while at the same time reducing your levels of stress.
Find a New Movement Routine
Exercise is known to reduce stress and boost productivity, and you’ll often be advised to start working out to feel better.
However, if you really don’t like it and routinely have to force yourself to get moving, you won’t be reaping nearly as many of the benefits.
Instead, find a movement routine you really enjoy. You don’t have to go to the gym, go running, or play a sport. You can take up dancing, fencing, skateboarding, or start walking the neighborhood dogs. As long as you move your body for 45-ish minutes a day, you’ll notice yourself feeling better.
Sleep Better
Quality sleep is probably the single most underrated tactic for getting everything you want out of life. It not only reduces stress but also makes us more productive.
Instead of working more and sleeping less, try doing the opposite. When you are tired, take a break and sleep in. Don’t force yourself to think and solve problems with an exhausted mind. Give your brain a chance to regenerate, and it will be much sharper and work much faster.
Choose a king or California king mattress and really start sleeping well. A week of adequate sleep should be enough to make you feel more refreshed.
Breathe More Deeply
Most of us don’t breathe as well as we should and thus don’t get enough oxygen to our vital organs. This lack of oxygen can cause brain fog, make us feel more sluggish and slow, and impact our productivity.
Make a habit of taking a couple of minutes every couple of hours to just sit and breathe. Straighten your back, take slow breaths in through your nose, and exhale very deeply through your mouth. Your heart rate will slow down, and your stress levels will significantly improve after just a couple of these sessions.
You can use this tactic whenever you need to calm down and focus or when you are feeling particularly under stress. Breathing is a great way to lower anxiety and center on the present, and the more you practice it, the quicker it will work.
Spend Time With Animals and Children
Our busy lifestyles aren’t good for either our physical or our mental health. When trying to be more productive, we also happen to make the mistake of cutting down on our free time.
Instead of spending more time at work, try to find time to play with animals. They are great at reducing your stress levels and making you feel more relaxed and present. By volunteering at a local shelter, you can quickly absorb some positive energy that will help you return to your tasks with a better mindset.
The same applies to spending time with children. They have a magical way of taking you out of yourself and bringing out the child in you. Find some time to play with a young child, and watch as you become more regenerated.
Stop Multitasking
Contrary to popular belief, productivity is not about doing five things all at once. It’s about focusing on one task and getting it done as effectively and efficiently as possible.
In other words, stop multitasking and demanding your brain to do something it was never designed to do. While modern distractions have certainly made it very difficult for us to focus on just the task at hand, you can train yourself to zone out and zoom in on one objective at a time.
Make yourself a list of specific tasks. Start with the most difficult and urgent one, and don’t think about or look at anything until that’s done. If you choose small tasks, you will start feeling exceptionally productive as you achieve one goal after another. That way, you’ll be better equipped to tackle the next one.
Turn Off Your Phone
Speaking of multitasking, remove the number one stress-inducer and productivity killer from your life as much as you possibly can. Put your phone on airplane mode or set up a do not disturb setting that will only allow urgent calls to come through. Put it somewhere where you can’t reach it or see it.
Stay away from it as much as possible when not working too. The more you scroll on social media or read the news, the more cluttered your mind will be. Set aside 15 minutes a day to catch up with everything, preferably right after work. Think of phone time as a reward, not a habit.
Behave as Your Future Self
One of the best ways to reduce stress and become more productive is to change your mindset. Instead of looking at all the things you haven’t done or all the things you have yet to do, start viewing them as things you have not done yet.
This will put you in a much better headspace to succeed. You will stop obsessing over the future and the past, so you’ll be able to finally focus on the present.
Also, try to behave as the person you hope to become. Think of yourself as already highly productive and stress-free. What does that person do? How do they behave? How do they feel? If you act as your future self today, you’ll instantly adopt a more productive mindset.
Wrapping Up
Try these simple steps to increase your productivity and reduce your stress levels. Some of them may require a bit of practice, but over time, they will become a part of your daily routine. You won’t even stop to think about them.