Tips for Making Productivity a Priority in 2022

The new year is a time for making resolutions. While many of those resolutions focus on personal development, such as eating healthier or practicing mindfulness, it’s also a perfect time to make professional development goals.

One popular professional goal is to improve one’s productivity. But the goal of “being more productive” can seem nebulous and hard to implement into day-to-day life. If you’re looking for more practical ways to implement your resolution, try these tips for making productivity a priority in 2022.

Try Different Productivity Strategies

We’ve all tried different ways to get organized or complete more tasks. But sometimes, the trick isn’t to force yourself to conform to a specific productivity method but to find a method that works best for you.

One way to do this is to try implementing a few different productivity strategies throughout the year. That way, by 2023, you should have a whole arsenal of productivity tools. A few strategies you may try include:

• Create to-do lists
• Utilize a monthly planner
• Try the Pomodoro technique: working in intervals of 25 minutes then resting for 5 minutes
• Create goals based on the acronym S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound)
• Build a routine
• Take advantage of apps like Cold Turkey that will block distracting websites during specified time limits
• Do a social media fast

Even after you find a strategy that works well for you, it helps to have a few extra strategies at your disposal. Our minds change over time, and the strategy that works this year may not work next year.

Focus on Priorities

At times, we feel unproductive because we have so many things on our personal to-do list that we have no hope of getting everything done. If this is you, one of the best ways to make productivity a priorityis to focus on prioritization.

The idea here is to avoid putting every task you need to do on a to-do list. Instead, choose one or two important tasks and focus all your time and attention on finishing them. That way, you’re more likely to complete the tasks and do them well.

Create a Dedicated Workspace

Our surroundings have a profound impact on our productivity. Spaces that are unorganized or chaotic can be difficult to focus in and can lead to feelings of anxiety. This is often an issue for those working from home.

To conquer this, carve out a place in your home dedicated to productivity. For some, this may look like creating a productive home office. For others, it may mean investing in a more ergonomic desk setup. As with productivity strategies, you may need to try multiple setups to find one that works best for you.