5 easy ways to make your business more productive

Whether you’re a solopreneur or run a big business, you might sometimes feel that there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get things done.

But instead of wishing for more hours, how about making the existing hours work better for you?

Here are six powerful ways to increase productivity in your business.

1. Implement a meeting-free day

There’s a big body of evidence that suggests that having too many meetings can make productivity at a company plummet.

One recent piece of research suggests that as many as two thirds of workers feel meetings interfere with their ability to get their work done.

Another study revealed that businesses that have large amounts of meetings often have lower revenue than those that have a medium amount.

So how do you get the right balance at your business?

Well, research indicates that implementing one meeting free day a week can improve productivity levels by 35%.

Further evidence, from the same study, suggests that if your employees can cleave out three meeting free days a week, the productivity gains are even higher.

2. Embrace the Zeigarnik Effect

When you’ve got plates spinning and you’re juggling multiple tasks at the same time, all you want to do is tick tick tick things off your to-do list.

However, psychologists suggest that if you’re nearing the end of a task, you should take a break before you complete it - think of it as leaving a steak to rest after you take it out of the pan.

If you leave a task when it’s nearly done, the Zeigarnik Effect kicks in. This effect describes the phenomena whereby interrupting a task means you’re more likely to recall it later.

And according to psychologist Adam Gant, these moments of recall are when new insights occur.

3. Try body doubling

Research suggests that procrastination or putting things off costs the UK economy £345 billion every year.

Everyone is guilty of procrastination at some point during the day. Even if you’re not a chronic procrastinator, there will be times when you find it hard to get started on a boring bit of admin or a repetitive task.

This is where body doubling can come in.

Body doubling is the act of carrying out a mundane or unenjoyable task at the same time as another person. The idea is that it’s motivational when you know someone else is in the same boring boat as you – just think how much easier it is to go to the gym with a gym buddy than it is to go by yourself. So next time you have a dull task at work, try to find someone who has a similarly boring bit of work to do, and sit down to do it at the same time. You should find you power through it together!

4. Encourage RAK

According to the University of Oxford, happy workers are 13% more productive than unhappy ones.

There are multiple ways you can make your team happier at work.

However, one of the quickest and simplest ways to put a smile on faces is to introduce random acts of kindness to the company.

Not only do random acts of kindness make others happier, they also cause oxytocin – the happy hormone – the be released in the brain person who’s carrying out the RAK, making them feel happier, too.

Struggling for ideas on how to carry out random acts of kindness? Download this free Random Acts of Kindness in the Workplace calendar from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.

5. Have some Sneek time

Research suggests that lonely workers are less productive workers.

In fact, lonely team members are thought to take twice as many sick days and perform less effectively at work.

As more and more companies introduce more flexible working conditions, including working from home, loneliness levels are on the rise.

One quick and easy way to combat loneliness in the workplace is to arrange some Sneek time.

Sneek is an app that lets you see the faces of your fellow workers as they work, either throughout the whole day or for an allocated part of the day.

This wall of faces is supposed to mimic the way you see your colleagues when you’re in a real-world office.

It’s different to a video meet up, because everyone is getting on with their work. However, colleagues can communicate spontaneously, as and when they want to.

For example, one person may see their colleague’s cat hop onto their lap and strike up a natural conversation about the cat.

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Once your team is firing on all cylinders, you’ll need to be sure your website is, too.

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