Here are changes workers can make to improve their performance and lower their stress in 2023
Although many people see the beginning of the year to begin exercising better or drinking more fluids, productivity experts recommend it’s also an ideal time to reset your workplace.
The beginning of the new year provides workers with an opportunity to review their year’s progress so that they can assess the good things that happened or not so well, and what they’d like to do to achieve in the coming year and create plans for their progress according to experts. It could be more crucial than setting goals for personal health since most workers work most of their daytime hours working, as they say.
It’s essential to set aside time to reflect on the past year and then look ahead,” said Jono Luk, Vice President of Product managing on Webex through Cisco. “It’s easy to jump back to that same clip and pace [you had before].”
The experts said the meaningful change could be easy and manageable. Small changes can have a significant impact on the way that someone performs their work.
I’m a firm fan of minor incremental adjustments,” said Joshua Zerkel, the global engagement head in the field of productivity and marketing at Asana. “It’s never a good idea to upend everything.”
These are ways that workers can be set up to be successful at the start of the year.
Reestablish your boundaries.
Luk said the pandemic has blurred the boundaries between home and work life for the last few decades, so it’s the perfect time to strengthen the edges. It could be anything from ensuring you have a designated workspace to knowing when work can be scheduled and when it shouldn’t—your work schedule.
“Share your goals and boundaries with others,” He stated. “So something like, ‘If you see me online at 7 p.m., kick me off.’ Others will hold you accountable.”
Articulate your goals.
One method to consider what you’re looking for is to keep a record of what you’ve accomplished and then apply it to what you’d like to achieve shortly, according to Akhila Satish, the CEO of Meseekna. This company is a tech firm that employs simulations to assist in the assessment of talent. Be sure to make your goals as concrete as possible within a limited timeframe so who can achieve them? She said. You should collect feedback from your customers to aid you in achieving your goals, according to Anita Williams Woolley, professor and vice dean of research for Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. She suggests you take some time each day or every week to reflect on your work and ensure that they align with your goals.
“Be intentional and specific on what you need to be doing so you make progress,” she said.
Assess your priorities.
Woolley said that what’s urgent will only sometimes be essential, so ensure you know your priorities. Once you’ve established that, you can sketch out precisely what you want to do and repeat it until you develop new habits. It could be as simple as creating calendar entries to create blocks of time to concentrate on particular tasks. “Focus on things that are important,” she advised. “Don’t let them get derailed by non-important, urgent things.”
Communicate intentions.
Your intentions and promises for the coming year, public Experts advise. Your thoughts can help the rest of your team members who could be able to contribute or modify their expectations. “It might reduce the number of things that could derail you,” Woolley stated. “And if you make a public commitment, you’re more likely to do it.”
Evaluate your productivity.
Examine your calendar and determine your productivity levels and when you were the most productive and when you were not, Satish said. It could help you identify patterns when you’re most fertile and least to help you plan your future meetings and schedule them. Also, Luk said you should consider the calendar items you’re interested in maintaining. This could mean reviewing recurring sessions to reduce, eliminate or restructure the arrangements to emails, or any other types of communication, Zerkel said. “It turns out most people could eliminate 25 percent of what they do without any impact on productivity,” said Harry Kraemer, clinical professor of management and organization at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. “We do some things only because that’s the way we’ve always done them.”
Find your balance.
Think about how you will spend the 168 hours you have each day, Kraemer said. Determine the amount of time you’d like to pay in 6 areas, including career and ongoing education, families and friends, religious and spiritual viewpoints, health, enjoyment, and social accountability. Compare that to the amount of time you’re spending and adapt accordingly, he explained. “We have this bizarre concept of multitasking,” the expert declared. “But have we confused activity with productivity?”
Leverage digital tools.
Saving time might be as simple as copying and pasting a frequently used email message from your laptop’s notepad, according to Satish. Is there more you can do to optimize your workflow by digitizing tiny tasks? According to Zerkel, you may need to minimize your digital toolset to be more successful. Instead of working from your email, there may be a work management system that is better appropriate for teams to utilize on specific projects where they may wish to interact, exchange resources, or establish deadlines.
Plan for time off.
Start arranging your vacation time immediately, even if it’s only a rough estimate, Luk recommended. If you know you want to go to the beach this summer, choose a few weekends and note them on your calendar to ensure you remember to plan. You may strengthen your plans as you get closer. “You’re not going to get it done unless you at least write it down,” he added.
Reconnect with people.
Satish believes the new year is an excellent opportunity to reconnect with your professional network. So set aside some time to go out to previous mentors and contacts. “It’s difficult [to stay in touch] during the year,” she said. “However, it’s quite simple to re-engage with a happy new year message.”
Adjust your notifications.
If you’ve been using the default notification settings on your devices and applications, you’ve undoubtedly been bombarded with distractions all day, according to Zerkel. Satish recommends using concentrate and work mode settings on iPhones and Android smartphones to filter out noise when working. On iOS, you can also set time limitations for each app under Screen Time. Woolley suggests turning off your email or switching off your Slack or Teams notifications for focused time.
Organize and archive.
According to experts, you should manage not only your physical office but also your digital workspace. This includes cleaning up your desktop, relocating icons for programs or documents you frequently use to more handy locations, archiving projects, and organizing your email, according to Woolley. “Clear away the crud so you can get to the crucial stuff,” Zerkel said. “It could help you feel better.”
Get a head start.
Spend the first 15 minutes of your day or week reading through your inbox, schedule, and other messages and building a priority list for vital tasks, according to Zerkel.
“By allowing yourself a little space at the start of each day, you can put yourself back in the driver’s seat,” he stated.
