10 Useful Strategies for Avoiding Toxic Productivity
How can you ensure that your workforce management system is helping your company’s productivity instead of harming it? By avoiding these ten toxic productivity strategies, of course! Each one of these tactics will keep you from getting more done and moving forward in the right direction with your business. Before you know it, toxic productivity will have consumed your time and resources and sapped your office of the power to be productive in any way at all. Don’t let that happen!
1) Use your own products
If you have a workforce management system (WFM) in place, you can track employee activity to see if your workers are experiencing toxic productivity. WFM programs allow businesses to track their employees’ time and monitor productivity. Even if a worker is putting in fewer hours than you think, or working less productively than expected, you can see an end-to-end history of their day—where they were, what they did when they were there and how much work was completed.
2) Automate everything you can
We’re all different, so it makes sense that each of us will have a unique set of productivity needs. But if there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that being super busy sucks—and in many cases, toxic productivity is self-inflicted. If you find yourself spending too much time managing your schedule and not enough time enjoying life, maybe it’s time to take action.
3) Turn off notifications
Your employees are human beings, not robots. The constant flow of notifications from Slack, text messages, and even phone calls can cause a disruption in productivity. One approach is to control when your staff members receive notifications by making them opt-in rather than opt-out (no one wants to feel like they’re missing out on something important).
4) Schedule when you do things
If you want to prioritize certain things and reduce your toxic productivity, then you’ll need to schedule when you do those tasks. This can be as simple as placing certain assignments in a Google Calendar, or creating a task list with specific due dates (that are, yes, set in stone). Whatever your tools of choice may be, planning out when and where you spend your time will go a long way towards reducing unproductive activities that tend to negatively impact worker performance.
5) Prioritize your to-do list
As any manager worth their salt will tell you, employee productivity is crucial. In fact, it’s one of the major keys to a successful workforce management system. With so many different tasks and responsibilities on your plate—both at work and home—it can be easy to let your day slip away from you without accomplishing much at all. If you want to ensure that you stay on track throughout your day (and into your future), focus on prioritizing what matters most first.
6) Focus on tasks, not outcomes
Whether it’s managing a team, running your own business or simply trying to get through a to-do list, it’s easy to lose sight of what you set out to do in favor of worrying about outcomes. But when you focus on tasks and prioritize those, with no regard for success or failure, it takes some of that pressure off and makes getting things done less stressful. It also helps you stay focused by avoiding time wasters.
7) Break the big task into small chunks
It’s easy to get a sense of accomplishment when you check off a major item on your task list, but oftentimes, there are dozens of smaller steps that go into completing those major tasks. To minimize stress and keep yourself on track (and productive), break down big tasks into small chunks and reward yourself after each step is completed.
8) Implement Pomodoro technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. This technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. These intervals are named pomodoros, derived from Italian, and are also sometimes called cycles.
9) Delegate as much as possible
When your to-do list seems endless, remember that you have a team of people who can help. Start by delegating tasks as much as possible to get more out of your workforce analytics and workforce management system while relieving some of your stress. Over time, you’ll develop an organizational culture where it becomes second nature to delegate work. No one likes a micromanager, but proper delegation is fundamental to good management.
10) Unplug every now and then
One way to avoid toxic productivity is to unplug every now and then. And it’s easy, really—when you’re working on a big project, just turn off your Wi-Fi or 3G network, leave your phone in another room, or turn off all notifications on your computer. You’ll find that you won’t miss out on anything important, and you might even enjoy greater focus.
SOURCE: 10 Useful & Tested Strategies for Avoiding Toxic Productivity