5 Tips to Increase Productivity in the Workplace

Being productive is the key to a healthy, and happy work life. As attainable as it seems — when you’re working smarter, not harder, you’re achieving your personal and professional goals.

As the world starts to ease back into their normal life pre-pandemic, employees are also busy adjusting to the return of workplace. Hence, it is pivotal to have the time to take care of your health and wellbeing whilst juggling work or even adapting to a hybrid work mode. Here are 5 tips to increase productivity at work by altering the way you approach your routine duties.  

1) Find Passion in Your Work 

It keeps you inspired, concentrated, and driven to constantly perform well. Your workload can be lightened by passion since you'll spend more time on the things you enjoy. At some point, if you feel your passion is waning, take a break so you can reflect on your values, credit what you’ve accomplished, and give yourself time to rest and recharge. Reconnect with your purpose and find what motivates you to do your best. 

This is also important as a company’s most precious resource is its people. Fulfilled, motivated people are the key to a company’s ongoing success. 

2) Choose to be Productive, Not Busy  

Productivity put simply, is the name we give our attempts to figure out the best uses of our energy, intellect, and time as we try to seize the most meaningful rewards with the least wasted effort,” Charles Duhigg. Productivity is a process of learning how to succeed with less stress and struggle. Try not to multitask even if it seems easy and small or we get bored of a current task on hand. The best thing to do is stay focused on one task at a time, and you’ll end up completing it more efficiently. Every 3rd Friday of the month is No Meeting Day for Sodexo employees in Asia Pacific. It allows employees to engage in uninterrupted, deep focus work sessions and have a productive day ahead of the weekends! 

3) Form Habits and Routines 

It takes a lot of discipline to sit at a desk, or at a workplace and focus for hours on end. Try to identify and manage your weaknesses, like writing down your to-do list, avoid taking too many social media breaks or even finding a quieter space to focus on your work. Also, learn what food drains your energy, and which foods give you energy. Forming habits around what you eat, and how you manage distractions all contribute to your productivity, so do not be passive about your habits!  

4) Take Your Breaks 

“We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to-do’ list.” —Michelle Obama, former First Lady of USA. It is easy to lose track of our health and wellbeing when in midst of all the work, tasks, and errands that we have on hand. Knowing how to take breaks and pacing your work allows you to be more productive and less likely to face burnout. Being ambitious is good until it is overwhelming because you end up feeling more stress and anxious and less productive. If you ever need a break while you’re in the office, grab a cup of fairtrade coffee from Sodexo’s very own house brand, Aspretto, for a midday perk me up!  

 5) Start the Day Right and Keep the Night Light 

How you start and end your day plays a huge role in your productivity. Remember a day where you overslept? You’d jump out of bed and feel “off” during the remainder of the day. Or the times you stay up way over work time and end up feeling lethargic and restless the next day. 

What you could do is establish habits and routines that will set you up for success. In the morning, don’t just leap into your day. Spend some time easing back into a work mindset by reviewing your tasks, priorities, and calendar so you know where your attention and focus need to be. 

In the evening, reflect on the day you’ve had and make a light plan for tomorrow – such as picking out your clothes and preparing your meals. Learn how to set proper boundaries from work to spend quality time with your family or do something that gives you a chance to relax and detach from work, such as volunteering! Sodexo’s volunteering leave allows teams to make time for volunteering, such as distributing food items to support those who lack access to quality food and good nutrition.   

  

Returning to the workplace and coping with new challenges and changes may seem daunting, yet having the right mindset, habits and support ensures that we can work more productively and be more passionate in what we do. 

At Sodexo, we prioritize the well-being of our employees. Hence, we provide services that support our employees’ priorities and challenges. These include our professional Employee Assistance Program, “Sodexo Supports Me”, that provides free, 24-7 confidential counselling to employees and their families when they need it. Our well-being program also gives our employees access to webinars conducted by professionals to provide our teams with the tools and resources to cope with the various challenges of our new normal. 

Ready to embark on an exciting, meaningful and fulfilling career with us? Connect with us today!