Promotional feature with Red Bull How to identify your productivity IQ, and what to do about it…
What is your biggest distraction at work?
A – Emails. Without a doubt, it’s emails. You feel pressured to read and answer everything straight away, so you flit constantly from task-to-task, often forgetting what you were doing in the first place.
B – Other people. You prefer to keep your head down and catch-up with colleagues at lunch, but your desk-mate just won’t stop singing Ed Sheeran in a novelty voice.
C – Your iPhone. You keep it next to your desk and grab it every 10 minutes to check your Instagram feed/WhatsApp chats/wedding blog (delete as appropriate). Social stuff is important too, right?
How do you spend your first 10 minutes in the office?
A – You check your emails and voicemails while scanning dutifully through any documents colleagues have left on your desk.
B – You make a start on the task at the top of the to-do-list (that you wrote the night before, obviously).
C – You make a cup of tea (of course) and maybe run out to Pret for a chocolate croissant. You like to ease into your day thank you very much.
What’s on your computer screen right now?
A – A few different word docs, Tweetdeck, some random Google search tabs and your emails, obviously.
B – A word document (and this quiz, duh).
C – Gmail, always.
Your social media accounts are…
A – The centre-point of your life; you refresh Instagram probably once every five minutes.
B – Embarrassingly unused. You don’t have time for that. You have approximately seven followers on Twitter, one of which is your primary school Head Teacher.
C – A nice distraction from boring work.
In meetings…
A – You listen intently and then rush out to immediately complete the task you have been assigned.
B – You take detailed notes for yourself (you’ll remember everything better that way) then go back to the work that’s most important/time sensitive to you.
C – You listen as much as you can, but wait for the minutes of the meeting to come round via email before taking any action.
When faced with a tough deadline…
A – You stay up all night to get it done. Nothing, <nothing> is worse than missing a deadline.
B – You’ve already moved onto the next task (*cue smug face, thanks*).
C – You ask your boss very kindly for an extension. You are not superhuman.
What your results mean…
Mostly As – You’re a people-pleaser There’s no denying it; you get stuff done. But at what cost? You often flit between tasks and pride yourself on being ‘something of a multi-tasker’. But the truth is, this doesn’t actually mean you focus on the most important things. Instead of always responding to others’ demands and being endlessly reactive – prioritise your most important tasks, stay calm, and focus on the things that are most beneficial to YOU. You’ll be of more help to others if you are switched on, sharp and on top of your own personal workload. Look out for the Red Bull Can Do sessions, a series of events to help you work smarter, not harder. Visit RedBull.co.uk/Productivity for more details.
Mostly Bs – You’re an expert organiser Bravo. You’re an organisational geek. Your desk drawer is probably just full of multi-coloured post-its, right? There are probably even some novelty post-it shapes in there, too (Chickens? Rabbits?). But remember; while it’s effective to block-plan some of your time to make sure you’re getting your own stuff done, take a step back and try not to plan every minute of your day to the nth degree. Having some ‘buffer-time’ in your day means you can deal with unexpected interruptions without sabotaging your other carefully-crafted plans. In fact, you should make leaving work at 4pm on Friday 15th September one of them! Red Bull is challenging workers across the UK to be more productive and get out of the office earlier on National 4pm Finish Day to do more of the things they love. Sign up at RedBull.co.uk/4pmFinish to get involved.
Mostly Cs – You’re a laid back procrastinator You’re just quite chill, aren’t you? Good on you. But you could be in danger of coming across, dare we say it, a bit lazy. It’s worth thinking about what you can do to keep you focused on the tasks in-hand. Try spending five minutes every night before you go to work writing a simple three-point to-do-list, containing the tasks you must complete the next day in order to feel useful. Then, don’t allow yourself any distractions until you’ve completed the first one. Take a short break and move onto the next one, and so on. Still flagging? Head to RedBull.co.uk/Productivity for more hacks, tips, tech and tools to help you flex your productivity muscles. Now go forth and be the organisational hero you’ve always wanted to be (ish).