How to compartmentalize for enhanced productivity

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I’ve never believed people are born productive or organized. Being organized and productive is a choice.

You choose to keep your stuff organized or you don’t. You choose to get on with your work and ignore distractions or you don’t.

But one skill very productive people appear to have that is not a choice is the ability to compartmentalize. And that takes skill and practice.

In this article, I will explain what exactly compartmentalization is and how to comparmentalize time to get more done.

Table of Contents

1. What Is Compartmentalization?
2. How to Compartmentalize to Get More Done in Less Time
3. The Bottom Line
4. More Productivity Tips

What Is Compartmentalization?

To compartmentalize means you have the ability to shut out all distractions and other work except for the work in front of you. Nothing gets past your barriers.

In psychology, compartmentalization is a defence mechanism our brains use to shut out traumatic events. We close down all thoughts about the traumatic event. This can lead to serious mental-health problems such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) if not dealt with properly.

However, compartmentalization can be used in positive ways to help us become more productive and allow us to focus on the things that are important to us.

Robin Sharma, the renowned leadership coach, calls it his Tight Bubble of Total Focus Strategy. This is where he shuts out all distractions, turns off his phone and goes to a quiet place where no one will disturb him and does the work he wants to focus on. He allows nothing to come between himself and the work he is working on and prides himself on being almost uncontactable.

Others call it deep work. When I want to focus on a specific piece of work, I turn everything off, turn on my favourite music podcast The Anjunadeep Edition (soft, eclectic electronic music) and focus on the content I intend to work on. It works, and it allows me to get massive amounts of content produced every week.

The main point about compartmentalization is that no matter what else is going on in your life — you could be going through a difficult time in your relationships, your business could be sinking into bankruptcy or you just had a fight with your colleague; you can shut those things out of your mind and focus totally on the work that needs doing.

Your mind sees things as separate rooms with closable doors, so you can enter a mental room, close the door and have complete focus on whatever it is you want to focus on. Your mind does not wander.

Being able to achieve this state can seriously boost your productivity. You get a lot more quality work done and you find you have a lot more time to do the things you want to do. It is a skill worth mastering for the benefits it will bring you.

How to Compartmentalize to Get More Done in Less Time

Now that you know the benefits of comparmentalization, how do you practice this? Here’re 5 steps to follow:

1. Use Your Calendar

The simplest way to develop this skill is to use your calendar.

Your calendar is the most powerful tool you have in your productivity toolbox. It allows you to block time out, and it can focus you on the work that needs doing.

My calendar allows me to block time out so I can remove everything else out of my mind to focus on one thing. When I have scheduled time for writing, I know what I want to write about and I sit down and my mind completely focuses on the writing.

Nothing comes between me, my thoughts and the keyboard. I am in my writing compartment and that is where I want to be.

2. Block out Any Distractions

Anything going on around me, such as a problem with a student, a difficulty with an area of my business or an argument with my wife is blocked out.

One of the ways to do this is to understand there are times when there is nothing you can do about an issue or an area of your life.

For example, if I have a student with a problem, unless I am able to communicate with that student at that specific time, there is nothing I can do about it.

If I can help the student, I would schedule a meeting with the student to help them. But between now and the scheduled meeting there is nothing I can do. So, I block it out.

The meeting is scheduled on my calendar and I will be there. Until then, there is nothing I can do about it.

3. Ask Yourself: “Is There Anything I Can Do About it Right Now?”

This is a very powerful way to help you compartmentalize these issues.

If there is, focus all your attention on it to the exclusion of everything else until you have a workable solution. If not, then block it out, schedule time when you can do something about it and move on to the next piece of work you need to work on.

Being able to compartmentalize helps with productivity in another way. It reduces the amount of time you spend worrying.

Worrying about something is a huge waste of energy that never solves anything. Being able to block out issues you cannot deal with stops you from worrying about things and allows you to focus on the things you can do something about.

4. Reframe the Problem as a Question

Reframing the problem as a question such as “what do I have to do to solve this problem?” takes your mind away from a worried state into a solution state, where you begin searching for solutions.

One of the reasons David Allen’s Getting Things Done book has endured is because it focuses on contexts. This is a form of compartmentalization where you only do work you can work on.

For instance, if a piece of work needs a computer, you would only look at the work when you were in front of a computer. If you were driving, you cannot do that work, so you would not be looking at it.

5. Choose ONE Thing to Focus on

To get better at compartmentalizing, look around your environment and seek out places where you can do specific types of work.

Taking your dog for a walk could be the time you focus solely on solving project problems, commuting to and from work could be the time you spend reading and developing your skills and the time between 10 am and 12 pm could be the time you spend on the phone sorting out client issues.

Once you make the decision about when and where you will do the different types of work, make it stick. Schedule it.

Once it becomes a habit, you are well on your way to using the power of compartmentalization to become more productive.

The Bottom Line

Compartmentalization saves you stress. It is a skill that gives you time to deal with issues and work to the exclusion of all other distractions.

This means you get more work done in less time and this allows you to spend more time with the people you want to spend more time with, doing the things you want to spend more time doing.

As freelancers, it’s easy to become consumed with the constant development of our businesses, production of content, and networking. However, it’s important to remember that life as a freelancer consists of many different aspects, and our priorities should reflect – to some degree – all of these categories, especially purposeful productivity.

Some categories may differ from person to person, but you should treat every single commitment as if it belongs on a calendar – even personal relationships! The result is that your life will be more balanced and you will be less prone to burnout.

However, compartmentalization, even more than “balance,” is important because the categories of our lives can become enmeshed and seem to flow together seamlessly. The reality is that aspects of our lives are separate, and we should create boundaries that respect the various functions of our daily activities.

It’s more than just fulfillment or work-life balance. Separating our priorities into categories actually aids in productivity, because this activity helps us to gauge the importance and urgency of different tasks and how to address them.

Work should be broken down into sub-categories of income-producing tasks, prospecting, networking, and development.

You need to have an ongoing list of goals that is diversified. In other words simultaneously, you should be delivering quality content to both current clients and leads, making new contacts, and continuing to learn and grow as a professional.

The work category should probably be refreshed on a daily basis, or at least on a weekly basis.

The second category should encompass anything ranging from household bills to doctors’ appointments to planning vacations. This category should be addressed on a weekly or monthly basis.

Having a “home” category is often tricky for freelancers who work from home and for very small businesses, because the two can become enmeshed. However, it’s important to separate family finances from business finances.

The “home” category can allow freelancers to take care of the odds and ends of life in a way that prevents emergencies that derail work. It should also be noted that, if you take time to focus on the “home” category and you find that it was neglected because you literally cannot prioritize it, you should consider hiring help!

Personal

Finally, a “personal” category can include relationships, hobbies, book-reading, personal growth, and healthy lifestyle choices like cooking well and exercising.

While we may focus intensely on “moving forward” in our business, we may forget that the rest of our life is happening simultaneously, also “moving forward” as well! More than staying on top of our bills or household management, which can all be outsourced in an impersonal manner, the “personal” category allows us to get in touch with why we want the lifestyle of a freelancer in the first place.

If we want the freedom of not having a boss or a set schedule, we need to make sure to take advantage of that freedom and cultivate healthy relationships and enjoy our lives to the fullest. Having a satisfying personal life, educating ourselves culturally, and taking care of our bodies can go a long way to promote a successful work life!

Categories: Business Tips, Freelance

William Lipovsky

William Lipovsky owns the personal finance website First Quarter Finance. His most embarrassing moment was telling a Microsoft executive, “I’ll just Google it.”

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Grow Your Business, Not Your Inbox

We are facing some troublesome challenges today. The economic effect of COVID-19 is being felt on all fronts. It could be directly affecting you, your business or your family, and the uncertainty is scary. You might be lucky to have been moved to remote work, but that presents its own difficulties.

Compartmentalizing might provide a solution to that stress. This is the process of singling out an issue and applying all your energy and attention to it. In the psychology world, compartmentalizing is considered a defense or coping mechanism, but when used correctly, it can be an effective way of solving problems. Here are a few ways compartmentalizing can help you.

1. Removing distractions.

The biggest obstacle of productivity is the constant presence of distractions. It’s easy for us to divert our attention to our cell phone or social media accounts and waste precious time. When you sit down to get some work done, set your phone on Do Not Disturb. Close any unnecessary tabs on your computer that can get in the way. The more you do to focus on the task at hand, the more efficient you will be and the faster you can get it done.

Your environment plays a big part in your productivity as well. Determine how your workspace should be set up in order to avoid distractions. This might be solved by working behind closed doors. Soft instrumental music and a tidy workspace can prevent your mind from wandering, dramatically improving your focus on the important tasks at hand.

2. Scheduling your day.

A daily schedule can help bring order to your life and ensure that you’re devoting plenty of time to the most important things. Plan out your day so you can focus on what needs to be done by the end of it. Having those things on your schedule makes sure that you’re giving time to the most pressing tasks that day. Using a productivity app helps you visualize your day more effectively. These apps also give you statistical feedback on how you are spending your time, which can help you make adjustments for the following day.

As part of your routine, you can dedicate a time specifically for planning. Maybe take your Friday afternoon to review the upcoming week and organize it as necessary. This includes adding information and ranking your tasks by order of importance. Getting this all done at once removes the need to stress over your calendar at the end of each day.

3. Make time to clear your mind.

While getting work done is necessary, it is equally important to make sure you are making time for family and scheduling much-needed breaks.

Without supervision in your home, it’s up to you not only to be productive, but to also make sure you are taking care of yourself. Scheduling a half hour to go on a walk or 15 minutes to take a coffee break helps you block off the time you need for yourself. Consider trying meditation in the morning or setting aside an afternoon to read a book. These productive yet relaxing activities can help you unwind and relieve stress.

4. Leave work at work.

Some days, it’s hard not to think about work when you’re at home. As an entrepreneur myself, my work is frequently on my mind. Leaving work at work, and the stress it often brings, helps me to be more present with my family. It’s very important to me that they get the best version of myself. Worrying about work when I’m at home can actually do more harm than good.

Separating the professional and personal becomes especially difficult when you are working from home. Compartmentalizing projects can help you get one thing done and then focus on the next. After completing an assignment, make the conscious decision to move forward.

It’s time to focus on yourself. If one of these suggestions doesn’t work for you, try something else. The way you work best will be different than the way I do. While compartmentalizing may not be for everyone, trying different methods of success will eventually get you to where you want to go.

As a young entrepreneur I often get asked this question: “How do you deal with ____________ (insert word here: pressure, people, balance, challenges, family, etc)?”

What they’re really asking is, how do you deal with all these things, all at once. It’s a good question; one I’ve struggled with myself.

In the past year I saw my effectiveness increase significantly, while the challenges I needed to deal with were more dramatic than I had ever experienced. How did I deal with losing my stepfather unexpectedly, my mother falling down a flight of stairs a few weeks later (she is still on life support today), being a father to a son diagnosed with autism, and running a company with extreme growing pains (we grew from $20M in Quarter 1, 2011 to $136.7M in sales, Quarter 1, of 2012)?

The answer is compartmentalization.

Psychology defines compartmentalization as a defense mechanism, or a coping strategy, which doesn’t impart a very good connotation. Put simply, it’s how our minds deal with conflicting internal standpoints simultaneously. Some examples would be: a doctor who is religious, but has to separate her belief system from her practice at a women’s health clinic; a man who leaves his office at 6pm, and refuses to think about work for the rest of the evening, so he can enjoy his time with his family or, at its extreme, soldiers who need to file away the trauma of horrific events in their minds, so they can continue operating in battle.

Coping strategies are short-term solutions, and they have positive and negative aspects. You want to compartmentalize, but not push out. For instance, those soldiers I just mentioned; pushing out trauma works in combat, but once they come back to their regular lives, they often find those pushed away memories coming back to haunt them, like in cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Isolating and focusing on difficult issues separately is something I’ve used my entire life to get through trauma as a result of my upbringing; so one could say this skill was innate, however I never really noticed its implications in business until recently. Last January I first saw its effectiveness as a tool for entrepreneurs when I got hit with having to close the biggest deal of my career that would make my cofounders and I the second largest shareholders inside a public company (NYSE:BTH). I was also fully engaged in learning how to make progress with my son’s autism, fighting the courts to get my mother released from the hospital so I could take her off of life support, and institutionalizing culture in my company while adding hundreds of jobs to our growing employee base.

One of the key reasons I had such a successful year, despite the private and professional paradox, is that I accepted the fact that I had several fulltime focuses, but only a limited amount of emotional and mental energy to devote to each one. Normally entrepreneurs think about their businesses all day long and therefore focus on nothing else. In the past I would have worked on a long list of projects. Instead, I had all these other things that were demanding attention from my mind and heart, and there were only a few events or priorities I was humanly capable of focusing on per day. I learned prioritizing is saying “no” and focusing on only the few things that matter most.

So, to sum it up, here is a five-step system for dealing with adversity and extreme challenges while running a business:

1. Compartmentalize it. Isolate the issue from all the other challenges you are dealing with.
2. Apply extreme focus on each compartment, but only for a short period of time.
3. Move forward in incremental steps. And once you see progress…
4. Close the compartment and open the next one.
5. Say “no” to things that don’t deserve a compartment.

As an entrepreneur you’re going to have to compartmentalize your entire life. The stress of being a father (or mother), potentially running out of money, being rejected by an investor (or several investors), getting involved in lawsuits, or having public opinion suddenly sway against you or your company—even balancing your dating life with everything else (I fail at this one, miserably). In short, as a business owner, you’re going to get hit by big traumatic, potentially harmful, or life ending events, sometimes in succession. Your ability to compartmentalize, prioritize, and focus enough time on each area in order to make incremental progress towards a conclusion will be your most important skill set to achieve significant success.

This is my leaving advice to my fellow entrepreneurs: open, focus, and then close the compartment. Most entrepreneurs cannot open up a compartment, see slight progress in it, and then close it. They’re too emotionally attached. They fail to accept small incremental steps in matters that weigh heavy on the heart. Like entrepreneurs that blow up their business when their marriage fails, or quit working when things don’t go their way. My favorite excuse is the economy, and I know this excuse very well. It actually forced me to shut down the “Excuse Department” in my company. If your Excuse Department is still open, and you’re letting traumatic events affect your business, it will kill it.

Here’s a visual for compartmentalization; pretend as if everything you’re dealing with in your life is a room where you have to walk in and solve an equation on a white board. You have a countdown clock with less than an hour to get the problem solved, or take a single step in the right direction, and then shut the door and go into another room equally as important. You spend your entire life going from compartment to compartment.

Sounds sleepless, doesn’t it? A lot of you are probably asking—with this strategy how do I sleep at night? Is there a bedroom in this compartment analogy? In my system, yes there is, and that compartment gets about four hours of my time every night…and it tends to dream about all the other compartments.

The ways in which we think and behave are formed by the spaces we inhabit. These spaces affect our psychological health, creativity and productivity. Seeing as most people spend the majority of their time working in the same space, it is important for this space to be arranged and optimized as constructively as possible.

Eliminate clutter

Get rid of superfluous items that accumulate in your workspace. These things divert your attention, which minimises your capacity to get work done. It is difficult to focus on the task at hand when you are in a cluttered and messy space. Once you have narrowed things down to those you really need, make sure all these items all have their own allocated homes. You can make use of organizational devices like cups, trays and folder holder to compartmentalize the items on your desktop.

Personalize your workspace

A 2010 study showed that workers who were given the chance to organize a small workspace in any way they liked were up to 32% more productive than workers who were not granted this opportunity.

There’s no need to clutter your space with unnecessary objects to make it feel like your own. You can personalise it with a few simple touches like adding a plant, a photograph, your own lamp or anything that motivates you. You will produce more and better work if you surround yourself with things that inspire you.

Pay attention to lighting, colour and space

It is imperative to work in a space that is well lit, even if you don’t have access to natural light or a desk near a window. Task lamps or table lamps can help lighten up your space, and will also add design elements that customize your space, providing it with a personal touch.

Since different colour and light levels have different effects on your state of mind, it is recommended that you adjust the hue and brightness of your space according to the kind of work that you do. It has been found that both green and blue enhance performance with work that entail coming up with new ideas. On the other hand, the colour red has been associated with better performance on tasks that require attention to detail.

In a similar vein, dimmer spaces have been linked to enhanced creativity with regard to idea generation, whereas brighter environments have been shown to be more favourable for evaluative and analytical thinking.

Furthermore, a 2007 revealed that higher ceilings go hand in hand with the feeling of freedom, along with a way of thinking that is more abstract and relational. This helps people to recognise and understand links between concepts and objects.

Take advantage of plants and windows

Certainly one of the easiest and most effective ways of optimising your workspace is to invest in a plant or two. Research has repeatedly proven the various benefits of having plants in office spaces. The presence of plants helps people to manage stress levels and recover from taxing or challenging tasks. It has also been shown that plants tend to reduce pollution levels in workspaces.

The importance of the look and feel of your workspace can easily be overlooked, especially when you are under a lot of pressure and struggling to meet deadlines. People who aren’t really interested in interior design are also inclined to neglect this important factor.

Working in a space where you feel content and comfortable is essential for optimizing productivity and psychological well-being. Anthony Manas, the CEO of Cube Workspace, established the premium office letting company inspired by his 23 years of experience as an interior designer. As a result, Cube Workspace is driven by innovation and design, and has embraced a look and feel that maximises creativity and productivity.

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Productivity coach Carl Pullein is in deep work mode. His computer screen is dark, his phone is on silent, his email is off. For the next two hours, he’s focused solely on the task ahead.

It’s a mode of work known as “compartmentalization,” where he focuses solely on one thing at a time, he says.

“In a productivity sense, what it means is that you actually treat different types of work that you have to do as if you have separate rooms,” Pullein tells NBC News BETTER.

Pullein, 48, lives in South Korea. He teaches English classes in addition to online productivity and time management courses. He says compartmentalization saves him time and reduces stress. Here’s how it works.

Block out time on your calendar for deep work

Each morning, Pullein blocks out periods of time — usually between 6 and 7:30 am — which he dedicates to deep work, whether it’s video editing or writing blog posts.

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“You can look at your calendar and say, ‘Today, it’s early morning for me, and I can see what appointments I’ve got, and I’ve got maybe three appointments this afternoon,” he says. “And this morning, I’m relatively free to do writing work or video production or whatever. So I can now allocate time this morning to actually getting down to doing that work.”

Turn everything off

Fear of Missing Out, or FOMO — the anxiety that we are missing out on something big when we’re not on social media — has made it difficult for the modern worker to focus, according to Pullein.

“A lot of the reasons why our work seems to take a lot longer to do these days than it used to be is largely because we allow ourselves to be distracted by — it could be colleagues, it could be mobile devices and computers pinging all the time — anything like that can just take your attention away from what you’re working on right now, and so it’s really important to just focus on that one thing.”

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Work Hacks Need a more mindful note taking method? Try the bullet journal

To get into deep work mode, Pullein says, it’s important to turn off all unnecessary devices for a specific period of time. If you’re a social media junkie, weaning yourself off your phone will be a challenge, he says. He advises shutting off your devices for 15-30 minutes at a time to get started.

“You will need to start small, say with 30 minute segments, but gradually you can increase that time,” Pullein says.

Stop worrying

One of the biggest obstacles to productivity is anxiety, says Pullein. Compartmentalizing your day, he explains, reduces that sense of feeling worried about everything.

For example, when you block out specific time on your calendar to deal with a specific concern, you can better focus on the task in front of you.

“That’s where the calendar comes in handy, because I find scheduling things like that really helps me to take my mind off it,” he says. “If it’s scheduled, I don’t have to worry about it because I know I will be dealing with it at some time.”

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Another way to get focused, Pullein says, is to ask yourself: “Is there anything I can do about it right now?”

Asking yourself this question is a powerful way to compartmentalize, he says.

“You can answer ‘Yes,’ in which case just do it,” he says. “Or ‘No,’ in which case you have to put it to one side and figure out a time when you can deal with it.”

Once you have it scheduled, you can focus on what you need to do right now, Pullein says.

“If you’re doing a very important presentation, you do not want to be thinking about the problem while you’re doing the presentation,” he says.

In other words, compartmentalization is really about reducing anxiety so you can focus on the here and now, he explains — whether you’re working on an important project or enjoying your weekend off.

“The whole process of actually starting to take action on something is what actually can relieve a lot of the stress and that feeling of overwhelm that many, many people feel today,” Pullein says.

How to compartmentalize your day:

• Make the time: Each morning, block out time on your calendar where you will work only on one project at a time.
• Shut out distractions: Turn off any unnecessary devices that might distract you. If you’re addicted to social media, this might be difficult at first. Start by turning off your devices for short amounts of time — say, 15-30 minutes — and gradually add more time.
• Ask yourself this question: One of the biggest obstacles to productivity is anxiety. Again, this is where your calendar comes in handy. If you are worried about a problem, ask yourself: “Is there anything I can do about it right now? If the answer is ‘Yes,’ take action. If the answer is ‘No,’ block out time on your calendar for when you will deal with it, so you can focus on the here and now.

More Work and Productivity Hacks

• Use micro habits to boost productivity and reach your goals
• How to use one daily ritual to tackle a big goal
• How to make failure a key to your success

Want more tips like these? NBC News BETTER is obsessed with finding easier, healthier and smarter ways to live. Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Lifehack |

I’ve never believed people are born productive or organized. Being organized and productive is a choice. You choose to keep your stuff organized or you don’t. You choose to get on with your work and ignore distractions or you don’t.

But one skill very productive people appear to have that is not a choice is the ability to compartmentalize. And that takes skill and practice.

What is Compartmentalization

To compartmentalize means you have the ability to shut out all distractions and other work except for the work in front of you. Nothing gets past your barriers.

In psychology, compartmentalization is a defense mechanism our brains use to shut out traumatic events. We close down all thoughts about the traumatic event. This can lead to serious mental health problems such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) if not dealt with properly.

However, compartmentalization can be used in positive ways to help us become more productive and allow us to focus on the things that are important to us.

Robin Sharma, the renowned leadership coach, calls it his Tight Bubble of Total Focus Strategy. This is where he shuts out all distractions, turns off his phone and goes to a quiet place where no one will disturb him and does the work he wants to focus on. He allows nothing to come between himself and the work he is working on and prides himself on being almost uncontactable.

Others call it deep work. When I want to focus on a specific piece of work, I turn everything off, turn on my favorite music podcast The Anjunadeep Edition (soft, eclectic electronic music) and focus on the content I intend to work on. It works, and it allows me to get massive amounts of content produced every week.

The main point about compartmentalization is that no matter what else is going on in your life — you could be going through a difficult time in your relationships, your business could be sinking into bankruptcy or you just had a fight with your colleague; you can shut those things out of your mind and focus totally on the work that needs doing.

Your mind sees things as separate rooms with closable doors, so you can enter a mental room, close the door and have complete focus on whatever it is you want to focus on. Your mind does not wander.

Being able to achieve this state can seriously boost your productivity. You get a lot more quality work done and you find you have a lot more time to do the things you want to do. It is a skill worth mastering for the benefits it will bring you.

How to develop the skill of Compartmentalization

The simplest way to develop this skill is to use your calendar. Your calendar is the most powerful tool you have in your productivity toolbox. It allows you to block time out, and it can focus you on the work that needs doing.

My calendar allows me to block time out so I can remove everything else out of my mind to focus on one thing. When I have scheduled time for writing, I know what I want to write about and I sit down and my mind completely focuses on the writing.

Nothing comes between me, my thoughts and the keyboard. I am in my writing compartment and that is where I want to be. Anything going on around me, such as a problem with a student, a difficulty with an area of my business or an argument with my wife is blocked out.

Understand that sometimes there’s nothing you can do about an issue

One of the ways to do this is to understand there are times when there is nothing you can do about an issue or an area of your life. For example, if I have a student with a problem, unless I am able to communicate with that student at that specific time, there is nothing I can do about it.

If I can help the student, I would schedule a meeting with the student to help them. But between now and the scheduled meeting there is nothing I can do. So, I block it out. The meeting is scheduled on my calendar and I will be there. Until then, there is nothing I can do about it.

Ask yourself the question “Is there anything I can do about it right now?” This is a very powerful way to help you compartmentalize these issues. If there is, focus all your attention on it to the exclusion of everything else until you have a workable solution. If not, then block it out, schedule time when you can do something about it and move on to the next piece of work you need to work on.

Being able to compartmentalize helps with productivity in another way. It reduces the amount of time you spend worrying. Worrying about something is a huge waste of energy that never solves anything. Being able to block out issues you cannot deal with stops you from worrying about things and allows you to focus on the things you can do something about.

Reframe the Problem as a Question

Reframing the problem as a question such as“what do I have to do to solve this problem?”takes your mind away from a worried state into a solution state, where you begin searching for solutions.

One of the reasons David Allen’s Getting Things Done book has endured is because it focuses on contexts. This is a form of compartmentalization where you only do work you can work on.

For instance, if a piece of work needs a computer, you would only look at the work when you were in front of a computer. If you were driving, you cannot do that work, so you would not be looking at it.

Choose one thing to Focus on

To get better at compartmentalizing, look around your environment and seek out places where you can do specific types of work.

Taking your dog for a walk could be the time you focus solely on solving project problems, commuting to and from work could be the time you spend reading and developing your skills and the time between 10 am and 12 pm could be the time you spend on the phone sorting out client issues.

Once you make the decision about when and where you will do the different types of work, make it stick. Schedule it. Once it becomes a habit, you are well on your way to using the power of compartmentalization to become more productive.

Compartmentalization Saves you Stress

Compartmentalization is a skill that gives you time to deal with issues and work to the exclusion of all other distractions.

This means you get more work done in less time and this allows you to spend more time with the people you want to spend more time with, doing the things you want to spend more time doing.

This Article was first Published in Lifehack.

The need to ensure and enhance employee productivity is a reality no business can ignore. If you run a business you’ll want to lean away from doing the mundane and routine when you can. However, it’s inevitable that you’ll encounter factors that may weaken or extinguish employee motivation and dampen productivity.

Obviously, you will need to mitigate these productivity-killers. The first thing to do is identify these factors, so you can consciously prevent them from emerging or aggravating. You should also be able to suppress them if they already exist. However, avoidance is not enough. A proactive stance is always preferable.

1. Get Rid of Motivation Killers

As mentioned earlier, there is a need to identify motivation killers in the workplace. A good manager will find ways to carefully observe the work environment in search of problem areas that adversely affect employee motivation. Typical motivation killers include toxic people, abrasive personalities, lack of organizational vision, absence of opportunities for professional development, poor communication systems, autocratic management styles, and the feeling of lack of appreciation. Addressing each of these requires a variety of approaches but there are ways to kill these motivation-killers.

2. Motivate through Gamification

Motivation is a very important factor in ensuring productivity. Unmotivated employees get bored especially when they are dealing with monotonous routines. Likewise, employees who lack motivation may not have the enthusiasm to complete challenging tasks. One effective way of motivating employees is through the use of gamification techniques. Tasks like completing reports or contributing ideas for projects and policy changes can be gamified to make them more appealing, exciting, or interesting.

Gamification involves the use of badges, rewards, leader boards or rankings, points, challenges, and other game elements to make repetitive and quantifiable tasks more engaging. Enterprise gamification platforms like GameEffective can be integrated with existing ERP, CRM or other enterprise applications, making it easier for employees to use these and get ahead in the game. These can be readily deployed to add a “play” dimension to various aspects of a business operation, like sales and customer service.

3. Set Clear Goals and Provide Feedback

Employees or personnel will be more motivated if they know what they are expected to achieve. Clearly stating goals or having a company vision provides guidance for everyone. Short-term goals, in particular, are effective in encouraging employees to properly manage their speed in doing tasks to meet targets. Additionally, it is important to provide feedback or show that employees are being supervised. Accomplishments should be acknowledged, while errors or failures in meeting targets should be promptly addressed. Good management practices can enhance and help maintain employee productivity.

4. Use Technology Responsibly

Refusing to leverage technology could be considered a grave mistake for any business. There are many technologies that significantly increase productivity in a workplace. To emphasize, using technology is not just about having computers and an Internet connection in the office. It’s also important to study and utilize different hardware and software solutions that can improve employee productivity.

Collaborative applications like Asana can be very effective in making employees more productive, especially for organizations with geographically-distributed setups. Some employees do better if they are allowed to work in locations they find more comfortable, such as their homes. In other cases, travel is simply too expensive or time-consuming, and telecommuting, remote working or even co-working are viable options.

Increased mobility can break down barriers to productivity. Mobile devices enable access to communication and collaboration tools, as well as work-related documents and information. It is important, however, to prevent overly thinning the line between personal and professional lives. Work-life balance should be respected.

5. Set Standards and Provide Skills Development

In every business, it is important to establish standards. Employees should be familiar with what the company expects from them. They need to know what they should be doing as well as their assigned roles. Without clear or explicit expectations, people tend to find excuses when they fail to achieve targets. Be clear at the outset: define what you expect of everyone, and how you expect people to perform their assigned tasks and responsibilities.

Moreover, address the aspirational needs of employees by providing opportunities for developing skills or advancing professionally. Management should expect every employee to seek challenges, and to not want to be stagnant. It’s not enough that they have mastered the skills needed to efficiently accomplish their current assignments. Let your employees realize that there are other things they can do, so that they can progress to higher positions. If you don’t help employees develop professionally, that may become motivation for them to seek a new company.

6. Communicate Effectively and Efficiently

Communication, without a doubt, is a crucial aspect of business operations. Without an effective system of communication in place, you will have difficulty in achieving goals and even in functioning properly. Communication here, by the way, is not just the simple use of devices, such as phones or verbal and written exchanges of information. It is about designing and using communication systems that are appropriate for the needs of a business or company.

Effective and efficient communication means that employees should know the hierarchy and expertise within the company. They should know who to reach out to regarding their concerns.

In terms of tools, take advantage of modern platforms and applications available. Enterprise social networking tools such as Yammer make it easier for employees to contribute to institutional knowledge and help colleagues with onboarding. Cloud-based office suites like Office 365 help contribute to a culture of sharing and helping across the enterprise.

Maintaining and enhancing productivity in the workplace is not always very easy to accomplish but it can also be boiled down to some simple concepts. Here are three key things to remember: the need for employee motivation, the proactive involvement of managers, and the use of technologies and systems that greatly help employees in doing their work more efficiently. If you thoughtfully execute plans with those concepts in mind, you are on the right track.

In a fast-paced, modern work environment, organizations and businesses require flexibility. The incredible rate at which technology is progressing means that businesses must adapt to be able to work anywhere and anytime in order to maximize efficiency.

In order to help employees be as efficient as possible, many organizations are abandoning conventional equipment in favor of cloud-based technology, such as cloud fax.

By embracing new services your business or organization can streamline workflow and revolutionize its productivity.

Here are five ways you can improve your productivity with cloud faxing:

1) Digitally annotate your documents
Forget scanning, copying and printing documents, you can save time by annotating your documents online or using your Windows or Mac desktop. With a cloud fax service you can more efficiently manage your documents with collaborators by getting straight to the point with text, crosses, check marks and of course legal signatures.

2) Ensure accountability
Take full control of your account and easily manage user permissions within your business fax account. With a full audit trail you can ensure your colleagues are accountable for their actions reducing follow up time. For example, you can assign who receives email notifications for delivered, received or failed faxes to ensure vital documents are dealt with in a timely fashion.

3) Make use of smart devices
Reduce your downtime and boost your workflow by taking advantage of our online fax service and app for mobile devices. Cloud fax services such as Sfax allow faxes to be sent, received and managed on laptops and Android and iOS mobile devices. The surge in availability of 4G and Wifi hotspots means that work needn’t stop when you’re on the go.

4) Compartmentalize
Organize your faxes into folders. By negating the inconvenience of manual filing of paper documents you can enhance your productivity by accessing your digital documents whilst traveling. Also by managing who can gain access to the documents you can allow for the quick retrieval of information.

5) Avoid downtime
Don’t let your equipment let you down. When physical office equipment malfunctions waiting for an engineer can have a detrimental effect on your business. You can avoid setbacks with online support from cloud fax providers, including support desks, webinars and live system status updates.

Now that the workplace extends beyond the desk and into restaurants, airplanes, trains, meeting rooms and beyond, it is imperative your business adapts to the rapidly changing online work environment.