Over a decade ago, Microsoft got curious about how many hours per week workers are actually productive. They ran a survey prompting people to rate their workplace productivity, and the findings were pretty alarming.

In the US, people work an average of 45 hours a week and consider 16 of those hours unproductive.¹ That amounts to more than just bathroom and coffee breaks. When you consider the opportunity cost of 35% of work time being unproductive, employers and employees need to take notice.

If you want to boost your productivity, it’s not by working longer, it’s by working smarter. It’s about learning how to squeeze more out of every working hour.

Emulate these 5 traits of uber-productive people and you’ll be amazed by how much more effective you will be:

1. They plan their day. 

Life is demanding. There is a steady stream of emails, texts, calls and ads screaming for your attention. If you are not able to focus on a set task, you’ll spend all day doing things that are not productive to your goals.

To be uber-productive, you need to be vigilant about planning your day. Either the night before or first thing in the morning, make a short list of key tasks that you have to accomplish and map out when you plan to complete them. Without a concrete, specific, measurable plan, you have no way of knowing if you moved the ball forward or not.

2. They lead with the pain.

Uber-productive people don’t push off the daunting tasks on their to-do list until the end of the day. If they procrastinated, these projects would never get tackled.

Do the least appetizing, most dreaded item on your list first because that’s when you have the most energy. After you conquer the task, you’ll not only feel relieved but motivated to tackle another. Otherwise, you spend the day with that task hanging ominously over your head.

3. They never touch things twice.

How many times have you “flagged” the same email to review later? This is the biggest time-suck. You give the email, project or task your attention, but not enough to do something about it. Productive people don’t push things off until later.

As soon as you turn your attention to something, act. Do it, delegate it or delete it. Remember, procrastination is a productivity killer. The “right time” rarely comes around, and when you push things off they build up. A molehill quickly becomes a mountain, and it’s easy to procrastinate when you have a mountain to climb.

4. They say no.

If you can’t do something, say so. Stop worrying that unless you say yes to everything, people won’t value, or like, you.

Uber-productive people know how to draw boundaries and say no if there’s too much on their plate. Research shows that the harder time you have saying no, the more likely you are to experience stress, burnout, and even depression.²

Stop using phrases like “I’m not sure” or “I don’t think I can.” No is a powerful two-letter word, and if you want to be more productive, you need to get comfortable using it.

5. They don’t multitask.

Multi-tasking is finally out of fashion, thank goodness.

The human mind is most effective when it focuses on a single line of thought. Multitasking challenges us to simultaneously focus on a jumble of ideas. Not only is this stressful, but it’s unproductive.

Switch-tasking is leaps and bounds more effective. Focus on one task at a time without distraction or interruption, and you’ll produce higher quality work more efficiently.

To Sum It Up

Increasing productivity isn’t about moving faster or learning to expertly juggle five tasks at once.

Productivity is about planning ahead, starting your day strong, tackling things head on and learning to say no, and increasing your focus and attention on the task at hand.

The more productive you become, the less stress you’ll feel and the more time you’ll have to take those coveted work breaks.

Productivity will be the best – most liberating – thing that ever happened to you.

Sources

1. http://news.microsoft.com/2005/03/15/survey-finds-workers-average-only-three-productive-days-per-week/
2. http://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2013/03/11/the-art-of-saying-no/#2715e4857a0b17ed09a53c46