Staying Productive

[rfnel]

Good Morning All

I'm sure we've all found that we can be super-productive at times, but at other times, we can work for hours on end without achieving much. I'm starting to think that it's impossible to stay on top of your game all the time.

So, here's a nice and simple question - how do you stay productive?

[Justloadit]

I have noted that I work in cycles. Usually every 3 months or so, I have an incredible creative week, where ideas just cannot stop flowing, for the rest of the time, well what can I say- not much flows. In this slow time, I usually try and get some of the ideas into a product. Not always successful, as they are many challenges as it is usually ground breaking stuff. So I have development products at all stages, even as far back as years. Every creative stage, adds a little more onto it.

There is no way that you can be creative 24/7.

[Mark Atkinson]

I tend to agree with Justloadit.

We go through patches of zero creativity and productivity. Since we're trying to create a more "social" image for our business, a lot of this time gets spent participating on various social media platforms (kind of like I'm doing now! ). This is not only fun, but it helps to grow awareness and rep for our business.

Make sure you're always doing something that can help further your business/work/self.

Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still. - Chinese Proverb

[Dave A]

So, here's a nice and simple question - how do you stay productive?

My recipe has the following ingredients:

• A goals list
• A to-do list
• A start-up routine for the typical day, and
• Time allocated to rest as a priority.

It doesn't always work out and I still have days where I'm not convinced I achieved that much, but I would probably be much less productive if I didn't have those elements.

[SilverNodashi]

Microsoft has (had?) this policy where all their top employees got leave every 4 months, for 2 weeks long. Apparently it takes the average person 1 week to "switch off" from work, so the 2nd week was the actual holiday. And apparently this is what keeps them very productive.

I have thought of implementing such an option for our company as well, but don't yet know what the financial impact could be for doing so.

[rfnel]

I tend to agree with Justloadit.
Make sure you're always doing something that can help further your business/work/self.

That's one of my goals as well, but I tend to get distrac... hey, I wonder what Wikipedia says about productivity!

(This applies to pretty much everything - I start by looking up something insignificant on Google, which links to something else, which links to something else, etc, etc.)

On the upside, at least I usually learn something in the process.

[rfnel]

I have noted that I work in cycles. Usually every 3 months or so, I have an incredible creative week, where ideas just cannot stop flowing, for the rest of the time, well what can I say- not much flows. In this slow time, I usually try and get some of the ideas into a product. Not always successful, as they are many challenges as it is usually ground breaking stuff. So I have development products at all stages, even as far back as years. Every creative stage, adds a little more onto it.

There is no way that you can be creative 24/7.

I've noticed that I can only be productive/creative about 40% of the time, especially when it comes to brain-storming sessions. The really 'good' days are enough to make up for the bad ones, but it still feels like wasted effort to spend a whole day working without doing anything worthwhile.

There are a couple of prerequisites before I can get into 'the zone' - these include getting a good night's sleep and having a neat workspace. Even something as simple as meeting in a restaurant instead of an office can help to get the creative juices flowing.

[wynn]

For productive brain storming.

Think about the problem that is bothering you, just analyse the problem for a while, don't try solving it.

Then take a really boring book and start reading, after a while the creative half of your brain is released to work on the problem because the analytical half is busy reading the really boring stuff and tends to fade into the background.

You probably won't be aware that this is happening because you are following the analytical half but the creative side is busy and before long a number of solutions to your problem will usually present themselves unanounced.