Productivity is a comparative term, for some it might be 4 hours of straight work and for other’s it could be 15 min sit down. It varies from profession to profession. But one thing about it is remains the same, output. If your output in work is good means you are being productive. It’s as simple as that. Being productive is a skill and an art, it is not something which will come naturally to you. Your personality, work ethics and environment all contribute to it. Roughly a person would judge his/her productivity by seeing work output they have given by investing how much time. Some of us might be investing lot of time and energy in some work but their productivity be very low and some might be having fun all the time and still doing very good.
Productivity is tricky, to achieve it one have to manage time, resources, skill and surroundings. We will look at all of these things categorically.
TIME: It is the most crucial of all. Time management is crucial because giving excess time to one task means you have less time to give to other tasks. Best thing to do is to time your tasks and set reminders. This way you can know which task has what time limit and the priorities won’t get confused. Having a know-how of the time frame available to you is the key to managing your work priorities.
RESOURCES: While working one need certain resources to execute the task at hand efficiently. It is always a good practice to make sure the resources that you might need are readily available. Otherwise trying to get your hands on something at last moment would result in distraction and wastage of time. This situation is much comparable to the frenzy we go in when at time of desperate need something goes missing from the drawer.
SKILLS: Skills are the tools we need to carry out the tasks. When someone not good with words is given a task to write he/she might not be able to carry out the given task at an optimal pace hence risking productivity. When you have a task, first figure out the skills required for it. In a team, work should be optimally divided based on the individual skills, this will add up to the overall productivity. If you are faced with a task which require skills that you do not have, then it is always a good practice to get know how first, it will help you smoothly carry out the task.
SURROUNDINGS: Last but not the least, your workplace matters more in our productivity then we think. A comfortable and neat surrounding will not only be comforting but also be less distractive. Keeping things in order in your workplace or work desk will keep you safe from annoying moments of not finding something you desperately needed or spilling your coffee over the paper work.

Hence!

Productivity is a not a one day thing, one has to craft and change the working habits to best of his abilities. It’s a continuous process and one cannot be productive enough there is always room for improvement. Keep things simple and your brain free of cluttering thoughts and see the magic work.
 
 
Author’s Bio:

Ahsan Abdullah