The past couple sections have brought up some things that I have found to be more productive. Why these ideas help will be more explained below. (Note that while most of these concepts are applied to computers and a technical realm, the ideas can be applied elsewhere).
- Good keyboard support (and skills) are important
- Many people are much more comfortable using a mouse than just a keyboard. This can be ergonomically damaging and just not as productive. Learning how to use a keyboard does carry a learning curve, but it allows you to progress from one piece of software and action seamlessly into the next. Certain tasks cannot be handled this way (for example, image manipulation), but many can. This can help you to be more productive with any task almost immediately
- Be ergonomic
- Many companies have an interest in ergonomics so that their employees don’t experience injuries from repetitive motions. Just because you don’t do something often enough to hurt yourself does not mean that they way you do it is actually as comfortably and therefore productively as you could. If you do not have to shift your weight or adjust your position as often, you can continue to work. Learning to treat your body correctly can help you to work more effectively
- Stay focused
- In this day and age (especially on computers) becoming distracted is very common. This can be as simple as looking something up on the internet turning into browsing or always checking on instant messenger conversations compulsively. Keeping yourself on task is very important to being productive. If you find yourself just surfing the internet, you may want to put restrictions on where you can go. Blocking yourself from a website is not difficult to do and can stop time wasting caused by reading something such as reddit. Using virtual desktops effectively to move distractions away from focus can help you to stay working on what was intended. Additionally, finding a way to inform yourself appropriately without having to change your focus can help you to stay on task for longer without feeling left out
- Let tools help you (and learn to use them a lot!)
- Computers are very powerful tools that really can make your life easier. They can only do as much as you ask them, though. This is particular important when discussing task lists and calendars. If you are still tasking yourself with remembering half of your tasks, your stress level probably has only been reduced by a small bit. Moving everything over to a tool and just looking at the tool can help you to relax. You never have to question if something happened or you went somewhere. If you check your tool, it will help you to know. This can include adding tasks and later canceling them (but not deleting them so they aren’t seen). This can be important to realize that you thought about it and decided against it.
I hope that this provides you with ideas on how to make your life more productive. If you have any questions or want more details, leave a comment! My ideas have helped several of my friends, and I would love for it to help you.