Post Summer Productivity

by | Aug 23, 2022

As summer draws to a close and schools reopen, there will be many of us returning to work feeling refreshed and motivated after some much-needed rest and relaxation.

Taking a summer break to spend time with friends and family, or just getting away from it all, can give people a different perspective of their work, as they are able to take a step back, de-stress and return to the workplace motivated to be focused and productive.

Even for those who haven’t been away, summer can often have a different ‘feel’ and September brings a ‘back to work’, New Year-like energy.

Keen to hit the ground running, it serves us well to capitalise on this positivity, allowing momentum to build that will carry us through the rest of the year and into 2023.

Equally, for some it may have been a less-than-idyllic summer and, especially given the overriding news narrative at the moment, the autumn may be faced with a sense of dread and despondency.

Either way, the key to starting well and maintaining momentum through this crucial time of the year is productivity.

What do we mean by productivity?

Everyone yearns to succeed; to feel that their efforts are valuable in achieving some worthwhile purpose. When we can see that we are investing our time, energy and resources in ways that are producing results in line with the success that we desire, that is productivity.

This definition applies as much outside of work as in. Feeling productive is as important as being productive when it comes to generating a success > motivation loop that is good for business (results and culture), as well as good for people (fulfillment, energy and wellbeing).

Here are three suggestions for starting off and remaining on the right path.

 

Define your goals

For most people, getting back to work often involves sifting through an inbox full of emails and accumulating tasks that add to a never-ending ‘to-do list’. This can be a real positivity-sapping activity.

Emails do need to be looked at but it shouldn’t be the main focus.

Starting anything new should begin with a goal. In other words, how do we answer the question ‘What does success look like?’

This quarter. This month. This week. Today.

In line with the big-picture purpose, vision and mission, this helps create vision for now. What exciting future are we working towards today and how does what I’m doing contribute towards that?

 

Empower others

One of the great things about a holiday is the sense of freedom. I can choose to do whatever I want with my time. The sense of autonomy is something that can be very enjoyable.

Amongst all the challenges, this has also been something positive for many people over the last couple of years with working from home/hybrid working – the increased sense of autonomy over when they worked, with less intense supervision from their managers.

The start of a new season is the perfect time to double-down on this in the workplace and create an environment of trust, demonstrating that you believe in your colleagues’ ability to successfully carry out their responsibilities with as little external constraint as is feasible given the kind of work they are doing.

Clear goals, regular reporting and supportive coaching provided by leaders helps to make the workplace a vibrant and energised place to be, with self-motivated people giving their best efforts to do the best job possible.

 

Look for and celebrate small victories

The period from autumn to end of the year can, for many, feel like a long-haul, taking us from the warm, light evenings of summer through the onset of cooler, shorter days and ultimately to the dark mornings and early evenings of winter.

In order to maintain post-summer productivity and punctuate the coming weeks with positive experience, keep confidence and momentum high by looking for and celebrating small victories and rewarding positive outcomes. Giving achievements the recognition and credit they deserve will help reinforce a positive culture, with colleagues staying more motivated to achieve for themselves and the team.

No matter how small these victories may seem, recognising them will help build positivity around the progress you have made, giving you the encouragement to stay on task and keep pressing forward throughout the remainder of 2022.

If you’d like to enhance and maintain business productivity levels, then contact our in-house team and see how the Effective Personal Productivity programme could benefit you. https://lmi-uk.com/epp-online/