When Work Floods: How to Find Scarcity After AGI
Flavio Aliberti·9 min
Business & Strategy
Productivity is a Matter of Time
Jim Katzaman
April 29, 2019·4 min read
Lack of motivation and procrastination are the enemies of productivity. Trying to overcome such obstacles keeps Denis Asamoah in business. The author, productivity coach, business leader and consultant are committed to getting entrepreneurs started on the right track while showing them how to increase productivity.
He explained in a We Talk Biz conversation the best techniques to massively increase productivity and related topics.
“There are so many techniques that you can use,” Asamoah said. “One of my personal favorites is the Pomodoro Technique. Just set a timer for 25 minutes to focus on one task. When it goes off, take a short break for five minutes to stretch your body, grab a snack and recharge.
“When you plan the night before, you avoid wasting time and deliberating about what you should do the morning,” he said. “I also subconsciously start dreaming about solutions to tasks or problems I need to solve the next day.”
At best, Asamoah sees email as a mixed bag.
“Unless your job involves replying to emails, I encourage people to avoid them,” he said. “They’re a distraction. You’re reacting to what’s coming into your inbox rather than focusing on more valuable tasks. My suggestion: Schedule three times in the day when you check your inbox.”
Asamoah has found top reasons why people typically avoid difficult tasks:
He favors time management steps to manage daily tasks:
- Bad habits.
- Wanting to do the easier tasks first.
- Motivation: Not passionate about work.
- Mindset: Trying to avoid or escape doing the work because you know it requires a lot of focus and time you would rather put elsewhere.
He favors time management steps to manage daily tasks:
- The night before, list your three most important tasks.
- In the morning, avoid emails and focus on those tasks.
- Ensure there are no distractions in your working space. Turn your phone off if necessary.
- Use the Pomodoro Technique to break down work into intervals when tackling tasks.
- Listen to a motivation video, podcast or audible book.
- Go for a refreshing swim.
- Unplug from social media and the phone to have time to reflect on goals.
- Set weekly, monthly and yearly targets so you can track progress.
- Put deadlines in place.
- Use the Pomodoro Technique.
- Reward yourself for getting past different stages of a project.
- Break down larger tasks into smaller tasks.
- Remove any environmental distractions and obstacles.
Jim Katzaman
Jim Katzaman is a manager at Largo Financial Services. A writer by trade, he graduated from Lebanon Valley College, Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Arts in English. He enlisted in the Air Force and served for 25 years in public affairs – better known in the civilian world as public relations. He also earned an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science in Public Affairs. Since retiring, he has been a consultant and in the federal General Service as a public affairs specialist. He also acquired life and health insurance licenses, which resulted in his present affiliation with Largo Financial Services. In addition to expertise in financial affairs, he gathers the majority of his story content from Twitter chats. This has led him to publish about a wide range of topics such as social media, marketing, sexual harassment, workplace trends, productivity and financial management. Medium has named him a top writer in social media.