Zack Rippy

I have recently been involved in several discussions about workplace productivity and motivation. This can be very hard when you work in an office in front of a computer. There are many things I try to do to stay focused.

1. I always assume there is someone better and more qualified waiting in the wings for my job. If I don’t do my job well, somebody else will.
2. Keep busy, even if it is busy work. Allowing myself to get bored will kill my productivity, morale and motivation. When I leave work after a dead day, I really don’t like my job very much. I like to be busy.
3. I try to come up with quick, repeatable processes for common activities. I hate getting bogged down with the mundane. I like to knock it out as quickly as possible first thing in the morning and then move onto something more interesting.
4. Never do a job in two steps when it can be done in one. Same idea as above.
5. Having friends at work helps. The day goes much faster when there is someone to laugh with or break up the monotony.
6. I try to enjoy what I am working on, but if I don’t, it motivates me to complete the task so that I can move on to something that I do enjoy.
7. Don’t be stuck in your ways. If someone has a better way to do what I am doing, I want to know about it.
8. I always set goals for the day. I write down things I want to accomplish and track them throughout my workday. Yes, I said “write them down.” I don’t use any online or PC-based task tracking system. My workplace requires we use our trouble management ticket system, and I do use that, but I personally track everything I accomplish and hope to accomplish using a high-tech system consisting of a pen and pad of paper.
9. I am competitive with my co-workers, but in a good way. I look at the people who excel in various areas and try to learn from them.
10. As cheesy as it sounds, attitude really is important. If I go into work expecting the day to be terrible, there’s a good chance it will be.
11. Music! There’s nothing better for me than to put on some earbuds and block out the world and rock through some work. It helps me focus and minimize distractions.
12. I also like getting paid, so that’s an excellent motivating factor!

Of course, if you’re just lazy and have no work ethic, none of these will be of any use to you.

I’m fortunate in that I like what I do most of the time, but working at a desk all day can suck the life out of you.

I know many of my readers spend a lot of time behind a desk. What do you do to keep things moving?

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at 8:45 am and is filed under Commentary, Off Topic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.