photo credit: Mykl Roventine

A good way to motivate yourself to begin increasing productivity is to tell other people about it. Once you let other people in on your goals you instantly become accountable for reaching them. Let’s be honest our friends are just waiting for the chance to call us out when we’re not adhering to our goals. In addition to those who have that ever increasing need to say “I told you so” or “I knew you couldn’t do it” there are others who may offer some much needed encouragement. There may be more people than you think that are attempting or have already reached the goal you’re striving for and are able to offer suggestions on what you can do. They may also even notice opportunities for you to increase productivity in your life that you never even thought of. Having an outsiders view on things will benefit you even if they are there just to catch you when you’re not sticking to your goals.

One of the challenges in improving workplace productivity is that because everyone is motivated and works differently, it's difficult to find a strategy that works for everyone. The solution to this then would be to first focus on increasing productivity on a general level, then increase it on a personal level.

Increasing it on a general level involves creating certain standards like everyone having to show up to work on time and other rules that everyone agrees to abide to. When you set up these expectations in the first place, new employees who come in will automatically adjust their ways to fulfill these standards.

In terms of doing this on a personal level, this would involve finding out what motivates your employees. This can be done simply by asking them. When people have a job that gives them meaning and purpose, they will be happier. When they are happier, their productivity will increase.

Improving workplace productivity isn't something that can happen all at once. It will take some time and testing but the outcome will be well worth it.

Here are two great tips to help increase personal productivity.

1. Do what you love

When you find something that you actually love doing, you will spend less time forcing yourself to do it and not to mention the time you'll be saving from not procrastinating. When you do what you love, there's this sort of special energy that you get. It can cause you to actually be annoyed that you have to sleep. It's almost like everyday is the day before you go on vacation. The increased productivity can be intense.

2. Outsource what you hate

We all have things we hate doing. Even if you are doing what you love, there are bound to be things you need to do that you'd rather not have to do. In this case, have someone else do it. This way, you can spend more time doing things you enjoy rather than waste time struggling to do things you hate.

You can't have more time, but if you use your time more wisely, you can create more free time. Isn't that what increasing productivity is all about?