10+1 ways to be more productive- I

After a short break we are back and to make up for the lost time we will not only publish one article, but a whole series! If you already are a primaERP user, being productive and having an overview of your time is without a doubt very important to you. And if you are still hesitating whether to join primaERP we hope this series will tip the scale in our favor and we will see each other in the app!

The 10+1 ways to be more productive series will be divided into 3 articles, which we will be publishing throughout the whole week. Each article will focus on a different area of techniques and we believe that each of you will find some to suit your needs.

Part 1, which you can read below,  sums up technical tools that can help you with organizing  your time as well as improving productivity when doing specific tasks.

In the next article on Wednesday we will take a look at techniques that require no programs, apps or technology in general, but will show how strong your will is. For that you will be rewarded with completed tasks and a better overview of your time.

And on Friday we will finish our series by talking about the biological aspects of productivity.  You will learn how important sleep is and why you should combine rest with caffeine.

We hope you will enjoy the articles and we are looking forward to your reactions, ideas and experiences!

And now, without further ado, let’s see the first tips!

Rely on technology

No matter what your approach to computers, cell phones and everything inbetween is, it goes without saying that technology has made our lives simpler. So why not use it for organising our day!

1)          Time tracking

Let’s start with perhaps the most useful tool you will see on this list- time tracking. And what other tool to use for Time Tracking than primaERP! It is important to know where and how you spend the majority of your time and where you lose the most of it in order to be able to make changes and improvements to your daily plan. And primaERP is here to help you with all of that.

There are two ways you can make use of time tracking: first when you are still trying to establish what takes up most of your time, where are your weak spots and where you have time to spare. To do this, log your tasks and activities for a week or two without taking any extra measures and after this time look at your logbook and determine where is room for improvement.

To get the most exact picture if your time, track not only your work tasks but also what you do in your free time.

Then, once you start building a new schedule, track this as well. Each week take a look at the past few days and tweak your plans for the next week to meet your expectations and abilities better than the week before.

      2)    The Pomodoro technique

This one has personally proven itself the most effective one. Here you will need props. Namely a so-called Pomodoro timer or simply the timer on your phone. Right before you start working, set the timer for 25 minutes (usually pre-set in specialized apps) and dive into the work. After the 25 minutes you get to have a 5-minute break to relax, check your phone or get something to eat and once the break is up you reset the timer and start another 25-minute segment. After 4 segments of work, you are rewarded with a 15-20-minute gap to properly rest.

With this method, it is easier to stay focused on your work than if you were working several hours in one go and ended up exhausted. This way your brain stays fresh and it is not hard to stay away from distractions.

            3)    Website blockers

One of the most useful plugins for your browser that will save you a lot of time. The website blockers will make sure that you don’t spend an excessive amount of time on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or whichever other websites might be the thief of your precious time. In most cases, you only need to set the pages that you are trying to avoid and the maximum time you want to be allowed to spend browsing them. Unfortunately, this nifty program only works for the specific device and browser you are using so you might need to set up more of them if you are afraid you might just switch to a different one.

Those were the first 3 of our tips that we will present to you this week.  And what about you? Do you use any apps or do you prefer to stick to your paper planner and are still considering switching to primaERP? Let us know in the comments!