8 Productivity Boosters For Bosses

productivity tips for bosses

Some bosses struggle on a daily basis to get everything done they wanted to do. With all the lists and all the help in the world, sometimes there is simply more on your plate than you can realistically cope with. If you’re looking back on your day at bedtime and feeling disappointed with the amount you achieved, something needs to change. Productivity isn’t just a state of mind though. As a boss of a company, it needs to have a bottom line too. Here are just 8 productivity boosters you can try today to become the better boss you always wanted to be:

Schedule

It’s important to remember that scheduling and refining your schedule takes up huge chunks of your time too, so don’t get carried away with this one. Do, however, give up each day to specific tasks. Anything you need to get done every single week should have its own day that you are committed to completing it. This might include mentoring, signing off the accounts, or having that snooze-fest board meeting you hate. Pick a day and stick to it. It will help you prepare for it better now you have a dedicated deadline for it too.

Your task list might be pretty long, but you need to keep it down to about six things a day. Some of the tasks might take less time than others, so try to balance it out, so the overall tasking for a day is still doable. Make sure they can all be achieved within a half working day. This leaves the other half for all the other things that might crop up. It also gives over either the morning or the afternoon for employees to bring that stuff to you!

Emails and phone calls can all wait until the afternoon if you find you’re more productive with your day-to-day tasks in the morning. Swap it around if that works best. What time of day are you most in demand? Choose the other half of the day to work on your six tasks. Strict(ish) routines help you get your head in gear. Repetition like this helps you speed up the tasks too as you get used to doing it.

Change Your Position

Changing your position can help you regain your focus and your energy. Work from the other side of the desk in the afternoon, or simply close the door for a solid hour so you can focus. Why not go and sit on the sofa to do certain tasks? Or hide out in your car to get those important calls out of the way? Bodies are made for moving, so spend a fair bit of your time each day actually altering your physical position.

Standing desks or treadmill desks are ideal if you want to stay energized. They’ll help you burn off a few more calories and can help alleviate sciatica or back problems. Addressing your posture when you’re seated is important too. The energy can flow through your body better when your back is aligned, and your posture is good. Use a desk that can be adjusted in height that way you can use it as a seated or standing desk. These smart desks give you more choice in the day to suit your mood or physical needs.

Of course, it’s not just your physical position you can change in the workplace. Why not swap your role with someone for an hour or two? This is a great way to give your brain a different challenge, and so you can get to know what your workforce is doing in their role. Managers often check in on employees, but actively having a go at their job helps you to engage your workforce better. Best of all, it gives you a chance to find more efficiencies in what they do to help make everyone more productive. Who knows? You might learn a thing or two as well!

Walk And Talk

If you’re looking to keep the pace going in your working day, then why not encourage your workforce to walk and talk with you? The activity can boost your focus as well as speeding up the process of meetings. Conversations tend to be a bit more purposeful and efficient when you’re active at the same time. It feels like you’re going somewhere, even if you’re only walking around the building. Direction is essential to productivity.

The walk and talk can improve your sense of well-being too. It can help keep you fit and active, so it’s a healthy approach to working. Best of all, there are no donuts on a plate in front of you. There’s no slouching over the desk as someone slowly presents their key facts. And you and your conversation partner are both headed in the same direction. This can have a powerful effect on your subconscious. It can actively feel like you’re heading for the same goals. You’re side by side, so you’re on the same team. People that struggle with eye contact love this approach!

Exercise To Energize

If you want to be more productive, then you need more energy. Exercise boosts energy in several ways. You may think it takes energy to get active, but the act of being active gives your metabolism a boost. Your entire body is oxygenated as you breathe more deeply. The circulation is boosted as you move more, feeding the brain and other organs with a fresh blood supply.

Of course, the more you exercise, the better you will sleep too. Sleep helps clarify your thoughts by neatly filing away and making sense of the different stimuli from the day. Sleeping well every night ensures you have plenty of energy, focus, and positivity for each day at work. Try to fit some extra exercise into every day so that your body can stay fit, healthy and strong.

Eat, Drink, And Be Merry

Eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong foods is crucial to your productivity. You might think the boost from a sugary snack will help push you on, but there is always that dreaded sugar crash to come. This will reduce your productivity and your energy levels. Instead, stick to the foods that give a continuous boost of energy, like nuts, oats, and other cereals. Use fruit for the sugar hit instead of refined or processed foods.

Drinking lots of water through the day gives you an excuse to get up from your seat! It also ensures you’re adequately hydrated to stay focused and attentive, so make sure your office has a high quality office water cooler in the break room. Drinking coffee, tea, chocolate and cola will offer a caffeine hit to keep you alert. However, it might also keep you awake if you drink any of this too late in the day.

Delegate The Smart Way

Do delegate, but do it with careful consideration. After all, you don’t want to have to be checking work or editing it. You might as well have done it yourself in the first place. Instead, offer tasks and projects to those you know can take it and complete it without much input from you at all. Don’t dump all the tedious tasks on someone else, though. Chances are you’ll just reduce their productivity because they’re bored with those jobs too. Share out good and less attractive options fairly.

Don’t Come Back To It – Dare To Delete It!

Lots of magazine articles, blog posts and emails look really interesting, but you don’t have time to read it when it arrives in your inbox. Eventually, you have hundreds of emails unread in your inbox, and your system is running slower and slower. Dozens of web page tabs start causing glitches on your desktop, and something’s gotta give.

Chances are you’re never going to find the time to read that stuff. But guess what? You probably don’t need to. You already know your stuff, or you wouldn’t be the boss. Yes, it’s good to want to better yourself and stay on top of things, but now isn’t the time. Seek the information when you absolutely need it, or you want to find something new out. It’s all there, it all exists somewhere you can find it. Dare to delete this stuff now.

A Change Is As Good As A Rest

Sometimes you need some time off. A rest will help you to recharge your batteries so you can come back refreshed and ready to tackle it all again. If you struggle to enjoy downtime, why not try something different instead? A change is as good as a rest, or so they say. Try a boot camp, go on a course, or attend a few events in another city. These things will keep you busy, but they’ll give you the rest from work that you really need right now.

Doing different things can help you use different parts of your brain in different ways. This too can be refreshing. It might even help you see the things at work in a whole new light. How do you boost your productivity as a boss?

With over 9 years of search marketing experience, Sandra is cross skilled between PPC and SEO. Her experience in search spans across different verticals including Technology, Retail, Travel & Automotive.