Boost your work productivity with these tips

For years, the finance world wore busyness like a badge of honour. Back-to-back client meetings, overflowing inboxes and endless reports were seen as marks of productivity in a culture that valued hours spent over real results.

But that mindset is shifting. Over the last decade and through the pandemic, it has become clear that hours alone don’t measure productivity.

Manage energy, not just time

Author and time-management expert Donna McGeorge says the key to productivity in a high-stakes finance world is not managing time, but managing energy.

“The majority of people are what we call early birds,” she explains in a recent INTHEBLACK podcast episode. “They tend to peak, from a brainpower perspective, anywhere between 8.00am and 1.00pm.”

 

"Look at your optimal couple of hours in the day, and make sure you protect that for your most impactful or intensive work."

 

For early risers, morning hours are prime for focused, high-impact work. On the other hand, around 20 per cent of people are night owls, hitting their mental peak later in the day.

“Recognising whether you’re an early bird or a night owl is step one,” McGeorge continues. “Then look at your optimal couple of hours in the day, and make sure you protect that for your most impactful or intensive work.”

Use strategic subtraction

When faced with complex problems, most people instinctively add more — whether it is meetings, headcount or policies. McGeorge promotes strategic subtraction: removing what is unnecessary to clear space for meaningful work.

She illustrates this with an activity called “red brick thinking”, based on research. Faced with an uneven building block bridge, most people add a brick to make it even. But the smarter move? Remove a brick from the other side.

“When you’re presented with a problem,” McGeorge advises, “ask yourself, ‘Is there a red brick I could remove?’” The goal is to ask the right questions and identify what can be dropped, freeing time and energy for higher-value work.

Small goals, strong momentum

Productivity is not just about working harder or longer — it is about working smarter, starting with setting clear goals. One common mistake in this, McGeorge says, is setting goals that are too big or vague.

“If we’re looking for a promotion, the goal wouldn’t be, ‘I want to get a promotion’,” she says. “It would be, ‘I want to learn these specific things and have these specific experiences in the next six to 12 months’.”

Focusing on smaller “micro wins” and tracking progress builds momentum, McGeorge asserts. “When we make our progress visible, we tend to work harder to reach those goals.”