Work time is a salad that mixes productivity with breaks. Undeniably, breaks can make you more productive, yet many of them eventually turn out to be ineffective or simply unnecessary. By default, work time is expected to be productive. Markedly, either by doing more or better or both. So far, these are the two main approaches to boosting productivity. And most types of work require a mix of the two.

In the work time salad, productivity should be the main ingredient. Yet, this salad is often seasoned with the wrong spices. Explicitly, all the usual suspects – from interruptions to low energy.

One of the worst interruptions is clutter. Clutter is what gets in the way of doing things. By allowing clutter to happen, you’re piling up all sorts of distractions. You’re letting interruptions in. You’re stuffing your salad with work-time burners.

This article will teach you to maximize your work time by building flow and decluttering. You’ll learn how to be productive, how to make the most of your work time and end the day with enough energy to spare.

#1 Simplify your information flow

Building a “flow” is the way to go. This may serve you as a productivity mantra.

In part, it has to do with decluttering,  material as well as virtual. In a different sense, it has a lot to do with energy. Building a flow is saving energy through partial automation.

Being capable of quickly finding information and managing communication saves you a lot of time that you can use for actual work. With an instant team communication platform like Hubgets, your entire communication is automatically indexed. Every file and every piece of information shared with team members becomes a resource that you can instantly retrieve and make use of. This team communication solution allows work information to flow quickly and transparently. So that you no longer waste time digging for knowledge buried in meeting rooms and inboxes.

On the other hand, developing a process for each task conserves your energy. Without a flow, you will be struggling to keep up. Everything will feel tiresome, and you will slack off. So go with “less is more.” After all, you need to make sure that nothing blocks the flow. Such as meetings that don’t make sense.

A “flow” is a natural, inertial movement. It’s things happening with ease. It saves you energy and work time. It’s how the best way of doing things meets habit.

Flow is getting yourself in the zone. Stripping away the unessential.

#2 Figure out your own work time flow

Rather than struggling, figure out what your flow is.

Firstly, spot the regular activities. Simply ponder on your past few weeks. Or maybe even months, but only if you need to go that far back. You can’t simply start using a system that’s already in place. For the most part, you need to create one so that you can comfortably use it. Some ways to do it, however, are strikingly common.

Take a look at what sort of tasks you’re regularly busy with. With this in mind, figure out what sort of activities these tasks demand. Are you dealing with reports? How often, how complex and how necessary.

Now that you figured out your items, “box” them. That’s right. Take a box or crate of any kind and group items into “activities.”

Simply use this system to group items based on when or where they’d most likely be needed. And when they’re needed, you will make them show up.

This is not just a metaphor. It’s an actual way to do things.

#3 Declutter your work space

Another way is to use common means that declutter your work space. There are claims suggesting decluttering is therapy.

Any sort of mess is distracting. It will affect your focus. And without focus, you will not reach set goals.

Start by clearing up your space at the end of the day. In the same way, keep an eye on clutter. And eliminate it as soon as it happens. Anything you are not working on at the moment should go. Your space should always be about you and what you’re working on.

Clutter is evil. Even mere visual clutter, such as messy cables running all over. After all, there are hundreds of solutions to organize your cables. And you can easily find all sorts of solutions to organize your shelves or drawers.

Then create a habit out of decluttering. Simply stick to a 3-week challenge to declutter your workspace.

#4 Declutter your devices and your computer

Take a first step and say good bye to all the apps you’re not using. Simply do away with them without delay. It’s a cleanse.

Now, head to your desktop computer. Create a new folder. Select everything on the desktop. Except for the new folder, obviously. Move everything to the new folder. Name it “clutter”. That clutter folder is your new best friend.

You’ll always find a mess to sort out. Simply drag it to the “clutter” folder. Meanwhile, leave out everything you’re actually working on. Writing a report? Simply leave the report on. In short, nothing else but what’s essential.

Remember to set a half-hour break to sort through your “clutter” folder. The second rule of the “clutter” folder is that there can be only one. To clarify, never create a secondary folder for the same purpose. That’s how mess starts to pile up again.

#5 Don’t misestimate your work time

In truth, most people make this mistake. They’ve committed their tasks to a list. They’ve set proper goals. All in all, they’re set and ready to cross each and every one of them. Yet by the time they’re finished with the first, it’s already too late. Something happens.

Sometimes it’s just an interruption that takes you out of gear. We’ve covered interruptions before. Other times it’s more than that, it’s running out of steam. To be sure, we spend at least eight hours a day at work. For five to six days a week. As much as fifty weeks every year. Indeed, some of us might work a lot less than that. Or perhaps a lot more. In any case, that is a lot of work time.

In spite of it, however, productivity is often soaring. Set goals are trekking behind. In the long run, some things need to change. Maybe you’ve tried to change at least a few things in your daily routine. But overall, it’s the long-term change that matters most.

Productivity has to do both with time and energy. Work time is not limited to working hours. Your brain ponders on work problems later in the day. Your personal life comes at play while at work. Hence, flow is not something you make happen at work. Rather, it’s something you carry with you throughout the day. So get it all in sync. To be sure, extending flow to cover all your life will provide you with solid gains.