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Putting in more hours may not be the best path toward increased productivity—it could even be counterproductive, suggests Deb Giffen, director of Innovative Learning Solutions at Wharton Executive Education. To improve staff productivity by working less, Giffen suggests these strategies:
Schedule downtime. Build short breaks into the work schedule, so employees can take a brief walk or stretch. Workplace research “shows overwhelmingly that scheduling downtime actually makes you more productive,” Giffen notes.
Plan it out. Encourage staff to start each workday by developing a brief plan of what they need to accomplish.
Parlay the “Zeigarnik Effect.” In the 1920s, Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik proposed that the human mind craves closure and tends to focus on unfinished tasks. To capitalize on this tendency, Giffen suggests starting a project one day and continuing or finishing it the next. For example, if you write the first paragraph of a report you’ve been putting off in the late afternoon, you may find it much easier to complete the next morning.
Establish work habits. “Think of habits as outsourcing yourself: Your more routine, less complex, and repeatable tasks can be easier to get through if you do them at the same time and in the same place,” she advises. Examples: check email only at designated times and set aside the last 10 minutes of the day to clean off your desk and get organized for tomorrow.
Prize wellness. Aetna introduced an employee mindfulness and yoga program that was so popular and effective that it now offers this option to help customers lower health care costs. “A mindful employee is not only more productive, but also healthier,” Giffen adds.
These productivity tips are offered via contributors Margaret H. Greenberg and Senia Maymin, Ph.D., as part of Wharton’s Nano Tools for Leaders, “leadership tools that you can learn and start using in less than 15 minutes,” in the March 2015 Wharton@Work e-newsletter.
The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Philadelphia, is home to CUES’ CEO Institute I.
