Find a Reason to Get Excited and Be Productive – Friday Distraction
I’ve always been a morning person. And luckily, Mr. Bartender is also a morning person. We start our days early and neither one of us is much for staying up late. So, I couldn’t help but laugh at this Time Well Spent from our friends at Kronos. It can be a challenge when one person is an early bird and the other is a late riser.
Not only can it be a challenge at home, but it can be a challenge at work too. Being a morning person, I would show up at the office and be ready to tackle the day. I’ve worked with some people who, when they arrived at work, needed to immediately get some coffee, and you didn’t want to speak with them until around 10a. Somedays 11a. ha.ha.
But there was one thing that, regardless of our morning disposition, we could agree on, that’s getting excited about what we’re working on. Just because some people needed a few extra moments in the morning didn’t mean they were less excited about the projects we were working on. Same goes for me when it came to working evenings. Just because I was showing signs of being tired, it didn’t mean I thought the project was boring.
Understand your optimal working arrangements and share them with your team. Think about those times when you’re at your most productive state. What does that look like? Take a moment to catalog what being productive looks like for you. Then make sure to create those conditions in your work environment. If you haven’t created a personal user manual, this might be perfect information to include. And share it with your boss and co-workers.
Figure out how to keep your energy levels up when asked to work outside of your optimal zone. Once you understand your most productive state. Do the same for the opposite. Think about when you’re least productive. What does it look like? And when you have to work in those conditions, how can you still maintain productivity? While we would all like to always work in our most productive environment, that’s not realistic. We do need to know how to adapt.
Plan projects so all team members can work and can get in their flow as much as possible. Managers and project team leaders should be aware of how their teams like to work and build a project schedule that allows everyone to be their most productive. Oh sure, there will be times when we all have to flex. But that should be the exception and not the rule.
Organizations want employees to be productive. It helps the organization achieve their goals. Managers should be aware of what it takes for their teams to be productive and create a work environment that allows them to get excited about the work. Give employees a reason to get up in the morning – whether it’s at 6a or 9a (or even later).
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