Productivity: 4 Steps to Power Through a Rough Patch

When it comes to running membership associations, it’s normal to occasionally find yourself in a rough patch. Workloads can easily pile up, especially when it is coupled with the stress of a day job.

Many people let themselves become swamped with deadlines, hindering their ability to achieve their goals. There is so much advice online about how to plan to avoid getting into difficult positions, but there are no real lifelines or explanations of what to do once you’ve already found yourself in a seemingly inescapable hole.

We’ll run you through a step-by-step guide of how to maximise your productivity and power through a rough patch, making sure you get things done!

List Your Tasks

No matter how long the list will be, it’s important to write down everything you need to get done during your day/week/month. Yes, this also includes a break – when you’re as busy as you are, it’s incredibly easy to overwork yourself, which can ultimately lower productivity levels.

Once you’ve got it all out of your head, take a step back and organise your tasks by their priority. Recognise what can and can’t wait, and how long each task is going to take. From this you can start to plan how you’re going to tackle your problem.

Be Realistic

If you try to take on too much at once you will burnout, leading to increased mistakes and higher stress levels. Assess your list and take on an achievable workload. Delegate work to others if needed – communication is key to a successful team, and you may find that others have availability to help you overcome your hurdles.

By being realistic and approaching your tasks with a calm and collected mindset, you will create a more positive work experience which will have a knock-on effect on your mental health and wellbeing.

Distribute Your Time

Split your day into chunks and assess how much time is needed for each of your tasks. Realistically work out how long you can power through before needing a break and do your best to meet the deadlines you set yourself.

Enable focus mode on your electronic devices to reduce the risk of distraction, tackle each problem one at a time, and inform your colleagues that you are busy, and you would appreciate time to focus.

Crack on!

Arm yourself with caffeine (or other beverage of choice), remove any procrastination triggers from your environment, and see your plan through. As busy as your day may feel, it will be a lot less stressful if you stick to the plan you have created.

Once you have lifted the weight off your shoulders, take a mental snapshot of your thoughts so that you can remind yourself why you don’t want to get yourself in the same position again. For the most part membership associations go through peaks and troughs of busy periods, but it’s important to make a plan of how to avoid getting into the same situation again.