Healthy habits to boost productivity

Limit working hours, turn off notifications and be kind to yourself

Caffeine regimens and perfected email headings are among some of the chirpier personal
productivity hacks that have faded during the pandemic — with many workers struggling to stay sane
as the lines between the professional and personal blur.

Studies have shown that while office workers are generally working well from home, some groups
have found it harder to adapt to new and sometimes isolating job conditions.

Mothers who juggle careers with disproportionate responsibilities at home are among the hardest hit
groups. But women without children have also reported lower productivity levels, which researchers
at the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for economic research say could be due to
“other demands placed on women in the domestic setting”.

A study from the UK think-tank Economic and Social Research Council last year linked difficulty in
performing one’s job well to lower mental wellbeing.

With homeworking expected to remain commonplace for many — even as the pandemic recedes —
executives recommend habits that can promote healthy bursts of work, and leave enough time for
rest.

Claire Darley, vice-president at software company Adobe’s Europe, Middle East and Africa business,
manages 120 people in several countries. “Everyone has struggled with the day getting longer and
stretchier,” she says. “I certainly have, too.”

To ensure she stays “fresh and on fire” Darley has become stricter about observing the hours in
which she will not take calls or join virtual meetings: “People don’t think you are a flake . . . actually,
they respect you for it.”

But while she advocates for professionals setting boundaries on day-to-day tasks, her top advice to
young women wondering how to achieve more is to identify potentially career-enhancing
opportunities, and take them.

“One of the things I often say to women, especially those at the beginning [of their careers], is it’s all
about chances, making and taking chances,” says Darley. She points out that she secured her first
internship at IBM 30 years ago by networking with a graduate from her university who had already
done a similar work placement.

“I made my own chance by being cheeky, asking questions and getting myself on the interview list.”