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PRODUCTIVITY – THE SECRET YOU’VE BEEN MISSING

Ever thought why sometimes we feel so frazzled, depleted and stressed? Because we don’t manage our work correctly, therefore, our energy. We don’t organize our day. That’s the secret to productivity we have been missing — mapping out our priorities.

  • Prioritize Ruthlessly

Prioritization is directly linked to getting more out of the limited time that you’ve got each day. It can be a blessing to work out everything from productivity to time management to work-life balance.

Not able to prioritize your to-do?

Being productive isn’t about doing more; it is about doing what’s needed by focusing on the tasks in the right way—in other words, prioritizing.

When it comes to prioritizing, everyone has a way to do. Its the very first step whenever you are working over a project — know what your work is. Make a list of things along with the deadlines. When you do this, you will know ahead what is essential and what is not. Hence you’ll be able to divide your work into; today’s task, recurring tasks, and projects.

    • Which Tasks Are Necessary, Urgent, or Both

Necessary means “something that needs instant attention.” Most of us have trouble prioritizing our tasks as per necessity and urgency because it is difficult to distinguish.

You can use the Eisenhower Method of Prioritization, where you take a matrix-based solution to differentiate between urgent and necessary tasks. The four quadrants of the matrix are as follows

  • Necessary & Urgent (Do it now)
  • Necessary & Not Urgent (schedule a time for it)
  • Not Necessary, but Urgent (who can do it)
  • Neither Necessary nor Urgent (Delete it)

When you finish with this labelling, it will help you in decision-making, and you can focus on what matters to you. 

    • Create Your To-Do List

The importance of making a to-do list is to finish every project. To-do list is the best way to organize everything that you have to accomplished for the coming days.

This idea of creating a to-do list might be a common one. But if you don’t do it right, it won’t be helpful. Check whatever you have on your plate and smartly prioritize your tasks. Note it on the list before you plan to do it. This way your mind will remain organized when everything is written on your to-do list—thereby increasing your productivity.

The list can increase your productivity and output by 25% if you are dedicatedly working on it. When you plan your to-do list, your subconscious mind will know what to work on first and what to work later.

How to prioritize?
  • Break down your list based on deadlines
  • Break tasks down to manageable sub-tasks
  • Use labels to prioritize, organize and differentiate tasks.
  • Estimate time to define how much time each task should take
  • Create recurring tasks
  • Track time spent on tasks using timers or manually.

  • Quick Communication

Irrespective to the size of the team, preparing priorities and communicating it to the team can cause misunderstandings, stress, and frustration. But when you are communicating clearly from the beginning until the end of a project, you can avoid troubling emotions.

Staying in the loop with the team will give an excellent chance to share how they’re feeling, what’s challenging them and what’s pulling them down.

  • Time Management

A productive time planner will bring all your data in one place. When you come up with great ideas to put forward, you can prioritize tasks to make sure you get the job done faster.

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Work From Home – Effect on Mental Health

You might have noticed changes in your mental health now that you started work from home. Do you feel stressed out though you don’t have to commute? Are you fighting the battle of isolation though you can work flexibly?

Work from home jobs can be challenging your mental health. It can turn usually optimistic, productive worker bees into tired, unmotivated, irritable toads.

Therefore, before you hit rock bottom, learn how to spot the signs of declining mental health so you can address your next steps.

Let’s see what the psychological effects of working from home are.

  • Loneliness and Isolation
  • Anxiety Stress and Pressure
  • Depression
Loneliness and Isolation

Work From Home

You could spend days without talking to anyone if you don’t have to go to the office. Though you take a break from the distracting coworkers, you miss the aspect of chatting about your work and life. Though you talk on calls and video calls, it won’t feel the same. This disconnectivity with the rest of the world makes you feel lonely and isolated.

Anxiety Stress and Pressure

You would probably squeeze in work without disconnecting and unplugging, which would result in burning out. You’ll lose track of time. You’ll feel the pressure to be working even after the office hours. Work From home requires a lot of time management. When you fail in this, you’ll lose work-life balance.

Depression

Work From Home

Depression during work from home occurs when you feel struck. Without a career milestone such as a promotion or a fancy corner office, it might seem like you aren’t achieving much. The anxiety, stress, pressure, isolation and loneliness due to work from home can lead to depression or make it worse.

Depression isn’t just feeling sad. The symptoms include:

  • Irritability, or frustration, angry outbursts (even for small matters)
  • Loss of interest or happiness in activities such as sex or hobbies
  • Sleep disorder like insomnia or sleeping too much
  • Lack of energy and tiredness where even small tasks need extra effort
  • Increased cravings for food
  • Anxiety, agitation, and restlessness
  • Trouble concentrating, making decisions, and remembering things
  • Unexplained physical pains, such as back pain or headaches
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Life after Lockdown – Measures to be followed

Have you ever thought How your lives are going to change after the extended lockdown ends? Do you think you can still hang out with your peers the way you used to? Can you again sneak out of your classes and go to a movie? Can you ever shake hands with a stranger without thinking twice? What about the crime of coughing and sneezing at public places? Self Quarantine if you feel feverish to skip getting caught in thermal screenings? Compelled to sanitize/wash hands every 20 seconds when you are out in public spaces? What about the frustration when people doesn’t follow social Distancing? Well, we should all be prepared for a period of frayed temper, paranoia, and zealous policing of public behaviour.

Transformation After Lockdown

Travel & Transport

Lockdown

Public transport in the worst-affected states will have take measures of social Distancing. Indian railway is considering measures as leaving the middle berth in three-tier compartments empty, stopping pantry services and passengers required to bring their bedding. The busiest international airports have already expressed arrangements of maintaining strict distances of up to two metres between passengers. For months or even possibly year people might forego the travel plans, especially to the containment areas or tourist destinations, where there have been lots of infections. The people who choose to travel after this lift of these restrictions will be treated with increased suspicion.

Weddings / Social Gatherings

A big fat Indian wedding will have to be reconsidered at least till the vaccines are out. The social gatherings will have to sacrifice their scale to intimacy. Parties will be replaced with extended family lunch or dinner with near and dear.

Office

Flexibility will define the culture post coronavirus, including the office culture. This privilege will become widespread with work from home, video over in-person for interactions and meetings. Setting up hand sanitizer stations and making face masks compulsory are some of the measures the office takes.

Education

Lockdown

Until this pandemic subsides Inside will be the new Outside. Wearing a mask (whether its store-bought or homemade) is the New Normal. Education is an excellent example of digitalization, as primary and secondary schools around the world shut their doors and move online. E-learning platforms like Cosmic Skills have seen growth during the lockdown. Even after restrictions are lifted, people will adhere to this new method of learning, as it is user-friendly and hassle-free. Preparations for exams are currently suspended too. Though their schools, colleges and tuitions have shut down, it is easier for students who can go online and continue with their preparations.

Cosmic Skills, a website that offers Online Courses and Internships to students, has seen an exponential rise in registrations. Right now is an excellent time to reevaluate old ways and look for the new ones. Online learning is a great opportunity, especially for students who come from smaller towns. It appears inarguable that online education, at every level from primary to tertiary, is going to grow in prominence. E-Learning will be the new normal.

Public Spaces

However, at some point, everyone had to step out for groceries during the lockdown. As stores restrict the numbers of customers allowed in at once, we wait in long queues, stood in the circles marked to distance customers from each other appropriately. This will continue at least until a reliable vaccine is widely available. Social Distancing will represent the new normal. Vacating public spaces, giving up convivial pleasures such as walk in the park, a meal in a restaurant, the movie in multiplex, or shopping at malls. We are, for now, a species in retreat, hiding from the predatory COVID-19 in our technology-enabled shells.

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