26th Apr 2017

Our Top 5 Productivity Tips

We’ve all been there; you’re sitting at home, there is work to be done, and all you need to do is either put down Facebook or make the walk to sit behind that desk and start -- if only it was that easy. Now, we have to figure out how to be productive without procrastination or distraction.

Improve Productivity-Houseofinks

Considering you’re hearing the perspective of a small family business, you can definitely guarantee we empathize. Managing work and home has always been hard and probably will always be hard. But, what is important is that we learn to manage ourselves and get done what we need to get done without experiencing all that unneeded resistance.

So here are a few tips from us, an over 10-year-old printer ink company, on how you can focus and maximize your productivity, specifically at home. Each tip is from a different person within our office. Here we GO!

1. Organize or Clean Before Starting

Organize or Clean Before Starting - Houseofinks

The secret is all in building momentum! How can you create momentum for work in the quickest way possible? According to our Office Manager, start cleaning or organizing something. Whether it is organizing a book shelf, some office papers, or just tidying up your son or daughter’s room, you begin to activate parts of your mind associated with productivity. 

Once you’ve put yourself in a productive mood, you can ride that momentum into actual work related tasks. The trick is not burning yourself out with the easy task you decide to do before your actual work. That’s why we recommend just a quick tidy up, not a full blown house cleaning! Think of it like a warmup at the gym – a little organization to get the motivation started, then switch gears and focus on your work. 

2. Utilizing the Old School Desktop

Utilizing the Old School Desktop

Remember when the desktop was your desktop and not the bright screen you stare at all hours of the night? A handy tip from our Customer Service team was to ditch the pixels and organize files and notes physically. Print out your documents to read and edit. Have sticky notes of tasks organized throughout your desk. It gets very stressful on your eyes and mind to have so many windows to navigate through on your screen.

Sometimes our brains like seeing the physical “window.” It makes us feel more in control. To do their work, our customer service reps have multiple windows and tabs open all the time and constantly have to jump back and forth between them all, so writing down reminders and printing out documents can help reduce the stress from computer work and give your eyes a rest from the bright computer screen.

3. Literally. Write Stuff Down

Literally. Write Stuff Down - Houseofinks

What does our Production Manager recommend to make production more efficient? Write the work down! Better yet, write the task and the time gap you have. When you have a lot to do its extremely stressful to just go straight into it without organizing your thoughts first. We are constantly thinking about what future tasks we need to do, but writing down mini goals and deadlines allows you to focus on one single task at a time. 

It will help you feel more productive and remember the goal better. Instead of the task just being a thought that you could easily forget, writing down the goal allows your body to easily remember the productive feeling you got from the physical action of writing it down. Because of all these reasons we become more committed to the task at hand which of course means it is more likely to get done. If you can’t write it down, type up your schedule and print it out – you are reading ink company’s blog after all.

4. Change Your Environment

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That does our Production Manager recommend to make production more efficient? Write the work down! Better yet, write the task and the time gap you have. When you have a lot to do its extremely stressful to just go straight into it without organizing your thoughts first. We are constantly thinking about what future tasks we need to do, but writing down mini goals and deadlines allows you to focus on one single task at a time. It will help you feel more productive and remember the goal better. 

Instead of the task just being a thought that you could easily forget, writing down the goal allows your body to easily remember the productive feeling you got from the physical action of writing it down. Because of all these reasons we become more committed to the task at hand which of course means it is more likely to get done. If you can’t write it down, type up your schedule and print it out – you are reading ink company’s blog after all.

5. Train Your Focus

Train Your Focus - Houseofinks

The Last One is From Me! I’m the social media manager here at HouseOfInks and that job comes with a lot of focus and organization. One thing I would recommend implementing in your life is meditation. Whoa! Meditation? That’s too “woo woo”. But it’s not. Meditation, simply put, is a focus exercise. 

Keeping attention on your breath for 10 minutes everyday will have amazing effects on your focus and concentration - it is almost as if you are strengthening your willpower. The trick with meditation is not to get mad at your thoughts that are distracting you and not letting you focus. Simply recognize you are getting distracted and refocus to your breath. This repetition of refocusing when losing focus is where all the magic happens. With practice, this will get easier and easier and the benefits are outstanding.