Back-to-school season is here—or just around the corner. As a productivity expert with years of guiding professionals, I recommend resolutions that help you work smarter, not harder: more comfortably and efficiently, without adding hours to your day. Here are three proven habits to adopt naturally.
Instead of starting each morning unsure of your priorities and reacting to emergencies, plan ahead. At the start of every week, identify key needs and create a task list. This prevents overwhelm and provides satisfaction as you check items off. At week's end, review accomplishments and carryovers—extend this to longer-term goals for steady progress.
In fast-paced work environments, it's easy to chain projects without pause, leading to burnout and undervalued efforts. Regularly note completions—like finished files, major tasks, or wrapped projects. This fosters pride and equips you with concrete examples for annual reviews, promotions, or job changes, drawing from my experience coaching high-performers.
Email is essential but time-consuming—averaging nearly 13 hours weekly, including personal time, per a McKinsey report cited by the Huffington Post. New messages also disrupt focus. Counter this by disabling pop-up notifications and checking your inbox just once per hour. Delete junk immediately (skip those triennial purges), and reply promptly to simple queries. This clears mental clutter, reduces stress from unread emails, and sharpens concentration.
What are your top work resolutions this back-to-school season?
