Understanding Productivity through procrastination
#remotework
The pandemic has brought us to peak procrastination.
-Piers Steel from the University of Calgary, a business professor and author of “The Procrastination Equation”
The workplace, an office full of your colleagues rushing about working, printing things have been the majority of our environmental cues. Going from this to suddenly sitting at home — your new workspace, a space you would spend time in only to relax, spend time with family, host parties, etc. Trying to work from your bedroom or living room with limitless distractions from the physical and the virtual space — the social media.
Instead of looking at your to-do list and staying true to your focused work, many of us wander through our Instagram feeds to find out what’s happening out there in the world! In the lives of our people. How are they coping with it, how are they facing the day. More than the news, we are more interested in looking for something interesting!
And this eats out of our not just work hours, even worse — our waking hours! Which is one of the reasons for our burn-out.
Some of us though are powering through this situation. How are they constantly being productive? Well, let’s understand productivity by eliminating the causes that lead to procrastination.
- Lack of workplace/office cues
- Lack of routine. The familiar get up, get ready, commute, and arrive at work routine.
- Lack of workplace-related interruptions like talking to teammates and grabbing lunch together
YUJ Designs, a UX design company has been working remotely for over a decade now. This is a reason why YUJ employees did not face much difficulty in working remotely, from diverse locations. Here are some of the tips from YUJ’s experience that can curb your procrastination and enhance productivity.
- When working remotely, you are not working in silos. Collaborate with a partner, a teammate on prioritizing your work. Accountability and feeling a sense of purpose are crucial in not swaying away from work.
- Power through. It is essential to keep doing your work, keep doing something that adds value to your contribution.
- Set and follow a routine. We humans are a creature of habits. Keep up your good habits, form a routine. Add meaning to your before work and after work hours.
- Manage your projects like a pro. Follow processes like the triage method, where you determine the priority of your tasks by their deadlines/ severity.
- Redefine productivity. Set your expectations clearly and achieve towards working those. The definition of productivity in remote times may not be working 9 hours every day, but actually moving the projects along each day, phase by phase will make you grasp the true nature of your productivity.
All in all, you and your co-workers need to be equidistant from the goals and efforts. This requires clear and effective communication. And a lot of motivation, and a structure to the teams.
If you have worked out a different way to beat procrastination and enhance productivity, share with us in the comments. If you wish to work in a place where work, people, and culture matter the most, visit our career page and connect with us!
