The Best Ways to Optimize Productivity

The pandemic has brought with it myriad challenges that will likely continue to impact us for years. But these strange and unprecedented times have also ushered in some unique benefits that are definitely worth noting, especially when today’s twenty-four-hour news cycle is bringing you down. And when it comes to professional progress, this one is a biggie: productivity.

While it’s important to be mindful of burnout with longer days, you also have more opportunities to connect with more people who can help you accomplish your goals. Here are a few ways to optimize productivity in a hybrid working world:

Be strategic about those with whom you’re connecting. 

You may be seeing and feeling the effects of others’ need to connect in the form of more meeting invites and requests in your inbox. And by the same token, you may be flooding others with your own attempts to make contact. While it’s great to engage with people and in ways you may not have otherwise, think twice before you accept and send. You always want to make sure you are reaching out to the right people—and vice versa, that you’re the correct person when you’re on the receiving end of a particular piece of communication. Why? Making sure that your connections are strategic will save you time and increase the likelihood that you’ll get the results you need.

Determine the best format for your interaction. 

The other aspect of ensuring you’re making effective connections is choosing the right format. What kind of interaction is required? Can your question be answered with a quick email? Does it involve some detail, and thus merit a phone call? Or would being able to see your colleagues or clients make a big difference in conveying the information at hand? Choose carefully. Even though we’re looking to make up for some of what we’ve lost via Zoom, no one wants to sit through an unnecessary video session.

Respect their time—and yours. 

Without dinner plans and a plethora of weekend outings to look forward to, you may be tempted to schedule those meetings and phone calls during off hours—figuring that others are probably stretching their days, just as you are. But before you book a dinnertime video session or schedule that quick call prior to eight in the morning, pause. Just because more of us can be available at an unconventional time doesn’t mean we want to be, or that we’re not already occupied with other obligations. Making meaningful connections also involves respecting boundaries and keeping others’ needs and limitations in mind. Trust us, pushing that call an hour, or holding off on having that meeting for another day may make a tremendous difference for someone else…and lead to more business for you.

So, what’s the bottom line here? The best way to optimize productivity is to choose wisely—the who, what, and why still matter. And when you take that into account, you’ll be unstoppable.

Adam Witty, co-author with Rusty Shelton of Authority Marketing: Your Blueprint to Build Thought Leadership That Grows Business, Attracts Opportunity, and Makes Competition Irrelevant, is the founder and CEO of Advantage Media. Witty started Advantage in 2005 in a spare bedroom of his home. The company helps busy professionals become the authority in their field through publishing and marketing. In 2016, Advantage launched a partnership with Forbes to create ForbesBooks, a business book publisher for top business leaders. Witty is the author of seven books, and is also a sought-after speaker, teacher and consultant on marketing and business growth techniques for entrepreneurs and authors. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily and USA Today, and has appeared on ABC and Fox.