No, there is not a typo in the title of this post — I promise!
Have you ever worked like crazy to finish up a task before you left for lunch or at the end of the day? I've done this MANY times and felt super productive as I left my desk — happy that I fully completed one of the tasks on my list and could therefore cross one more thing off for the day.
However, one thing I started noticing is that whenever I fully completed a task right before leaving my desk or my office, it was often more difficult for me to "get back in the grove" when I sat back down to start working again (either after lunch, after a meeting, or the following day).
I had to start new — totally from scratch — and oftentimes, that's a really hard place to start!
I found that it was easier to procrastinate when I was starting on a fresh new project than if I could simply "pick up where I left off" with a previous project. I would often waste more time checking email, perusing Facebook, catching up in Twitter, etc., than just simply sitting down and diving into my work.
Starting a brand new project (even if we know what the project should be) almost always FEELS more overwhelming and intimidating than finishing up an old project — and when something FEELS more overwhelming and intimidating, we are much more likely to put it off and waste time doing other non-important tasks before hunkering down and just getting started.
However, if you walk into your office after lunch, after a meeting, or on a new day knowing EXACTLY where you need to pick up on a task you're almost finished with, you can immediately sit down, get to work, and have an almost instant sense of productivity when that first task is completed.
And if you're like me (and most others) that instant sense of productivity will automatically propel you to move onto the next thing on your list with more motivation and excitement than if you just walked into your office for the day and really weren't feeling super awake or productive.
I know it sounds SO simple… but I'm telling you, it works!
Oh, and just one more thing — this method really works best if you have a to-do list going at all times. There's nothing worse than finishing up a task first thing in the morning… and then not immediately having another task waiting for you to dive into again.
Create a to-do list and a Top-5 List every day so you always have something to work toward. Then, get in the habit of purposely stopping BEFORE you've completely finished the task you're working on.
I know it will seem strange — and it might be really hard to do. But I honestly do think it will help to boost your productivity when you step back into your office!
What are your best productivity boosters?