We all want to be as productive as possible. The lingering dread that things could be done better, faster, with fewer mistakes and greater accuracy. All of these things haunt the waking dreams of even the most successful businessmen. And while there isn’t a surefire recipe for perfect productivity, there are numerous tips that can help you – and your workforce – to become more efficient at what you do. Here are but a few of them:

Organize Your Activities In Advance

We “lose” a lot of time by not having a schedule and sticking to it. For example, if we know that the big meeting will last from 10 am to 12 pm, we can get ready for it and know what part of our workloads we will be able to complete after it. But, if it’s simply an indeterminate “Big Meeting that will start when it needs to and be over when it has to”, then our entire day is thrown into disarray.

Experiment to See When Your Peak Performance Hours Are

We all operate on slightly different levels of productivity at different times of the day. This is why some people are “morning persons” and why some can’t seem to wake up and function until well into the afternoon. Still, in normal circumstances, we all have at least a couple of hours a day when we are at peak performance. Our minds are fast and clear, we are well-rested, and everything is just a tiny bit easier to do and comes out better.

And it is precisely in these hours that we accomplish the most, and why we should base our work around them. Experiment to see when these hours occur to you most often, and you will be on your way to be much more productive.

Use Project Management Software

Today, there are dozens of tools that revolve around project management and productivity. Some are SaaS, some are free, but there is no reason why you shouldn’t make use of them. With a good Project Management system in place, you will be able to keep track of your projects, how they are progressing, receive notifications, track the time spent on them, and make better decisions based on analysis of various data reports.

Take Regular Breaks

This one may seem a bit contradictory at first – taking a break from work so you could work better? But the truth is, we all need a break to clear our heads every now and then. These can take the form of a coffee break, a water cooler chat with coworkers, a short walk around the block, eating a healthy snack, even just laying back in your chair and closing your eyes for five minutes.

More often than not, this will allow you to find a solution – or a better way – to achieve something that stumped you for hours.

Practice Better Self-Discipline

Distractions are all around us – an off the rails after-work party you want to attend, a funny YouTube video inviting you to watch right now, constant Facebook notifications taunting you to open and see what your friends are doing while you’re slaving away at work.

Learning to “switch off” and concentrate on work can be difficult, but with just a little self-discipline, you will soon see that it definitely pays off in the long run.