Let’s face it, 2021 isn’t off to the galloping start many of us had hoped for. While enduring lockdowns and restrictions can be disheartening, it’s important to maintain perspective. Your business could break exciting new ground this year; you just need to apply a little pressure where it counts.
How do you keep productivity high in a landscape that seems increasingly perilous? Within the scope of a blog post, we won’t be able to wave all your obstacles away. What we can do, though, is share some insight into what has helped us dramatically over the past several months. Welcome to your new year of productivity!
Be Wary of Self-Sabotage
The landscape has changed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t traverse it. Remember that there’s a fine line between being realistic and being pessimistic. Assuming that your first quarter is already a write-off will only set you up for failure. Your targets should be aligned with reality, and this does mean taking stock of the challenging climate, but this isn’t the same as giving up. We invite you to enter into the year with as much optimism as you can muster. This will frame every other aspect of your planning.
Design Your Plans With Action In Mind
If you’ve read any of our content before, you’ll already know the benefits of SMART planning. Ultimately, this leads to strategies that are simpler to implement with more immediately tangible results. At the core of this approach to management is the principle that plans with actionable information tend to do much better.
Wherever possible, avoid staff goals that are too vague or tough to grasp. Get straight to the point and outline clearly what it is your staff can do to help. To get from A to Z, you’ll have to move to B first. Your plans should see the forest without forgetting the trees.
Want to learn more about SMART planning? Download our in-depth guide at the bottom of this post.
Leverage Productivity Tools to Maximise Your Workflow
A bad worker blames their tools, but good productivity software can make a world of difference. Each business is unique, so it’s worth playing the field to see which options fit best for your team. Some of our favourites can be found below.
Microsoft Planner
This is a fantastic organisational tool that makes it easier to visualise your strategies and delegate tasks within them. Sharing the workload and keeping track of your progress is more important than ever in early 2021. In our opinion, Microsoft Planner is one of the best ways to make this happen.
Freedom
It doesn’t work for every team, but it can prove invaluable in the right context. Freedom makes it much easier to restrict your staff’s access to distracting content. If done right, this can significantly boost productivity in a year where remote work setups are likely to continue for a considerable amount of time.
Last Word
It’s worth mentioning that this post really does touch the tip of the iceberg when it comes to maximising productivity in 2021. If you’d like more insight into how best to tackle the year ahead, check out our 2021 Productivity Super Guide.
