How to be a Productivity Ninja with Think Productive (expert workshop)

Worry less, achieve more, and love what you do

Hayley Watts, from Think Productive, kindly shared with us her ninja expertise on one of the most important factors to work - Productivity. Productivity is something even the best of us could improve on, and it has fantastic results to our work when applied correctly. Here’s what everyone in this Brighton Summit session learnt:

Many people think productivity is all about time management, but Hayley broke it to us that it’s just a myth. You can’t manage time! Even if we use time management, we often stay late, come in early or work through our lunch.

Instead, try to think about the times of day in which you are ‘on point’. These are the parts of the day you know you work the best. Identify the good times and the worst. You should schedule your most important tasks in for the best times of day, and the least important tasks for the worst. All of us are different, for example I always work best in the morning and start to lose my ‘flow’ in the afternoon, so I’m going to arrange that important meeting for the morning, and some database work for the evening.

The 9 characteristics of the Productivity Ninja

Here are the 9 different characteristics that the most productive of people share:

1. Zen-like calm – This is the goal. To flow from one task to the next without feeling overwhelmed. If you don’t consider yourself zen-like calm, try to think about why you don’t.
2. Ruthlessness – You can’t do everything, and having this expectation is just going to let you down. Think about how you might be more ruthless with yourself, your colleagues, and perhaps even your customers.
3. Weapon savvy – You’d be surprised how many people say that email has made their work progress worse rather than better. Evaluate the tools you use based on how they assist you in terms of productivity.
4. Stealth and Camouflage – If you are deep into a work project and a colleague comes and asks for a minute of your time, refuse them. Tell them you will see them later. After all, these situations turn out to be much more than a minute.
5. Ninja Unorthodoxy - What would Batman do? Think of someone inspiring, or a mentor you aspire to be like and think to yourself, what would they do? Get a different perspective on the matter.
6. Ninja Agility – You need energy to be productive. Try different techniques to see what helps you. For example taking a 5 minute break every 25 minutes has been reported to have positive effects. Ever heard of the two minute rule? If it’s going to take two minutes then just do it.
7. Mindfulness – Take time out to reflect. What is going well? What needs adjusting?
8. Preparedness – Attending a public speaking workshop is going to make it much easier to do. Put in some effort to prepare for more difficult tasks.
9. Human, not Superhero – We’ve all got to-do lists, so where are our done lists? I’m sure it would be rewarding to look at your achievements at the end of the week.

There comes a part of the day when the most productive thing you can do is just go home, we’re humans and shouldn’t forget. Take time to recharge your energy.

How to stop email and the internet taking up your whole day

Before you are about to read an email think for a second. Can I call this contact instead? Do I usually have lots of back and forth emails to understand the topic with this person? Perhaps calling this person could sort out the topic of the email much faster and much more effectively. Check out your options before you send an email.

Don’t have lots and lots of email folders to move and categorize emails into. Just have a limited amount including simple folders such as inbox, delegate and priority.

The first thing most people do at the start of the day is check emails. The problem with this is that it’s filled with other peoples priorities, not your own. Hayley challenges us to avoid checking our emails first-thing for the next two weeks.

The session was as productive as its topic. It left us all with new ideas and thoughts that we can implement into our work and personal lives to improve work and fulfilment. Thank you Hayley!

Live blogging by Jake Wharton, Marketing Assistant of IT support business Computer-eyez

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk