5 Easy Tips to Increase your Productivity in 2020

After speaking with a lot of our lender partners over the past couple weeks, one thing stood out to me: everyone is excited to introduce some new healthy habits to take into 2020, and I’m one of them. One thing you can never be is too productive! However, according to a new study, most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions by January 19th. If you’ve started struggling with your goals this is the perfect time to reevaluate your work habits and look for areas of improvement so you can take better habits into the new year and beyond. As your strategic partner, I want to help you in every aspect of your work day, so I’ve compiled these 5 productivity tips that have rang true for me and my colleagues.

1. Turn big jobs into smaller ones

It’s important to remember that huge tasks can be mentally taxing and lead to procrastination in even the best workers. In the face of such big jobs, it is effective to split them up into smaller tasks. As you complete those smaller portions, you’ll eventually finish the entire job, but will be less likely to procrastinate on the way. Your brain also releases endorphins once you accomplish tasks, so by breaking it down you’ll become even more motivated.

2. Take advantage of your productivity cycle

We are all different, and as a result, we all work different. Some people are more productive in the afternoon while others get most of their work done in the mornings. A great way to increase your productivity is taking note of your most productive hours and getting your hardest/most complicated work done then. Taking advantage of your most productive hours and structuring your work around them will ensure that you’re working to the best of your ability.

3. Save your brain power

Studies have shown that willpower and decision-making ability don’t have infinite reserves. Every time you make a decision or put effort into a project you’re using energy. Therefore, it can be very beneficial to limit your decisions throughout the work day and your personal life when they aren’t necessary. Lean on assistance from your colleagues and try to automate your easier tasks as much as possible so that you don’t use up all your energy. Steve Jobs famously wore the same outfit to work and Tim Ferriss eats the same meal for breakfast every day in order to lower the mental burden of decision making. These are some extreme examples, but look at your daily life and try to find ways to relieve yourself of your everyday decisions.

4. Don’t waste your commute

Your commute time every morning might be one of your most underutilized resources. For those who drive, putting on a podcast (particularly one that focuses on the mortgage industry) can be a great way of getting your brain ready for the work day while giving you ideas that you can implement later. If you don’t drive on your way into work then you have even more options! Try brainstorming solutions to issues that may have stumped you yesterday, use the time to organize your emails/files, or even write a to-do list for your upcoming work day. You’ll be amazed how much this small amount of time can set your whole day up for success!

5. Reflect on your progress at the end of the day

This step brings all of your productivity efforts around full-circle. It puts the day’s efforts into perspective and reminds you of what you’ve been able to achieve. Keeping track of your efforts also allows you to measure what works and what doesn’t from day to day. If you weren’t able to get as much done on a particular day, you’ll be able to compare it to others and look for trends. Alternatively, if you’ve had an extremely productive day you can look for what caused that as well. Try recording your progress in a spreadsheet and color code your days based on productivity to make this easier. Lastly, it never hurts to have a running list of your daily work achievements!

About the author – Jon Tallinger is the Chief Growth Officer at Class Valuation. Since helping to start Class as its first employee in 2009, Jon has played several key roles throughout the company. Now, his primary focus is planning and leading the company’s growth initiatives. Under Jon’s direction, Class’s Sales & Marketing Team helped the company grow by over 250% since the start of 2016. Jon and his team are planning for even bigger growth and success in the years to come. He credits the continued growth to the company’s dedication to constantly improve and find new ways to make their processes better. Jon graduated with a BA in Advertising from Michigan State University and has been a State Licensed Appraiser in the State of Michigan since 2002