Blog

When it comes to workplace challenges, most companies struggle with having a productive staff.  Productivity at the workplace is the efficacy of employees to complete their tasks and reach company goals. Workplace productivity contributes to profitability and noticeable employee determination. 

A productive workplace means a healthy work culture and a successful business. When the employees are delighted, well-assisted, and have the suitable tools to accomplish their everyday tasks, it leads to productivity. When an organization is productive, it boosts financial gain, cuts production costs, and enhances customer service relationships. A more productive workplace is equal to rapid organizational growth.

Understanding Workplace Productivity:

Productivity at the workplace is a perfect blend of speed, time management, focus, enthusiasm to make achievements, and more. Putting it simply, getting your job done in the least possible time without negotiating the work quality and your well-being, implies a productive workplace. Productivity is most about promptness, excellence of work, retaining sharp focus, and strength of mind by avoiding interruptions and accomplishing tasks within a certain deadline.  

As per the research, in a workday that is generally 8 hours, an average worker is productive for just around 3 hours. It’s surprising, employees are not productive for even half of the time they spend in the office. Many reasons are responsible for that, which seems small individually but contributes to a lot of inefficient time together. It leads to a lack of company achievements which is why organizations are seeking corporate counseling for workplace problems to improve workplace productivity.

Encouraging employees is the most essential aspect of staff productivity that also leads to personal productivity. There are various ways to promote motivation and boost personal and organizational productivity.

For instance, 

For personal productivity, you can follow these tips

• Fostering a soothing and inspiring morning routine
• Creating a to-do list for your everyday tasks
• Prioritizing and focusing on the most important tasks

Companies can try these tactics to motivate staff and enhance employee engagement

• Splitting substantial projects into pocket-size tasks
• Improving understanding and skills required for potential upcoming projects
• Making everyday to-do lists for errands that should be get done for better emphasis

Moreover, workplace throughput can decline if there is a scarcity of planning. Trying to carry out a project or task with no timeframe or deadline can be confusing and may cause delays. Each project comprises little steps, making you attain the desired outcomes. 

Why Does Workplace Productivity Matter?

Every efficient and successful organization understands the significance of employee productivity and the value it adds. Encouraging staff productivity that leads to business outcomes is vital for a thriving business. Moreover, when an employee feels personally prolific, encounters more sense of fulfillment and happiness. Everybody knows the knockback feeling when we do not feel efficient after working all day. 

When I say productivity at the workplace, it implies that your employees are using their work hours professionally to carry out significant errands which contributes to reaching goals and generating revenue. When it happens, your company is making use of its human assets’ capability with negligible wastage.

To make it simpler, workplace productivity matters because the amount of wealth an organization spends on employee salaries should be smaller than what the company earns through its undertakings. 

How to Measure Productivity at The Workplace?

Set up standard time obligations for regular errands and utilize them to assess employee performance. To establish the ideal workplace environment let your employees interact, participate, and collaborate liberally. 

Measuring productivity at the workplace must be done in contrast to the count of activities done rather than the count of hours spent—the level of proficiency, time consumed to finish tasks, and count of accomplished tasks, etc. 

For instance, an employee can take 8 hours to complete a task while he could have finished 3 tasks in 8 hours. Recognizing the amount of time your staff spends on assignments allows you to evaluate their whole performance. 

Most Common Workplace Challenges Recognized by Organizations:

Before I tell you about the tips to enhance workplace productivity it’s essential to know about the challenges all businesses face. It is vital to know the struggles that are responsible for the lack of workspace productivity. It helps you counter the glitch better. 

• Emails are time-consuming:

An average employee spends around 20 hours a week checking emails. The problem is, not all these emails are essential but eat up a lot of time. The problem is even worse than you can expect because unnecessary emails contribute to unproductive hours which could be used to complete some important errands. 

• Stress is silently killing the workers:

I have met many people who accept that their workspace productivity is smashed by stress. Today we are always busy, having no time to relax to fight anxiety and stress. It eventually impedes your productivity at the workplace. Many people reported that they feel stressed and anxious because of work pressure impacting their efficiency at work. 

Establishing a stress-free workspace, paying attention to employee wants, communicating company goals well, organizing team-building events, and planning outings are some simple things that can avert workplace stress and anxiety. Other than that, considering the best life coach in India for corporate counseling and guidance can help employees deal with stress and anxiety. 

• Meetings are the productivity destroyer:

As I have counseled many employees, I came to know that most of the workers believe that daily meetings are a major waste of time and a productivity killer at work. They say most of the meetings are a failure, just a waste of time leading nowhere. 

• Interferences, interruptions, and distractions:

Undeniably distractions are killing workspace efficiency. From water cooler conversations to social media, a heap of activities is there that steal employee time making them unproductive. 

The most common distractions that lead to unproductivity are personal gossip, reading news online, preparing hot drinks, texting/chatting on phone, personal phone calls, looking for new jobs, smoking breaks, extended lunch breaks, social media, eating snacks, etc. 

All these distractions can be avoided by expanding productivity skills. When you work with the best life coach, they help you know the obstructions and offer resolutions. They are experts in their field and equipped with problem-solving strategies.

What Are the Factors That Affect Productivity at The Workplace?

Firstly, the tools your staff use in their job, highly influence their efficacy. In this digital era technology is the key component of the workspace. Having innovative technology at a company means greater profit. 

Problems with co-workers, untrained employees, and improper handling of resources lead to poor productivity and financial losses. A lack of realistic aspirations and complicated goals can distort and demotivate employees. Team leaders should chunk out convincing, smaller, achievable, and deadline-based objectives to make the job clear.

Some major factors that influence workspace productivity are:

• Complex targets to achieve:

Targets give direction and enthusiasm to accomplishment, so it is important to have clear targets. Managers should allocate clear-cut and measurable goals for every employee. Simple goals mean better performance. 

• Appreciation and rewards:

Like I always say, everyone loves to be recognized and rewarded by their managers. When workers are not valued, they feel discouraged and don’t perform well. Employee appreciation is the best way to keep your staff encouraged. It makes them feel that they are valuable to the company. Bonuses, incentives, and promotions are great rewards for employees that make them feel appreciated and motivated. 

• Employee expansion opportunities:

Workers stay and connect with the organizations that nurture their aptitudes and offer them opportunities to expand their skills. Corporations that want to succeed and grow well necessitate employee development as it accelerates growth. So, you need to make sure that they have all the necessary implements to strengthen your business. You can organize training programs, skill enhancement activities, and corporate counseling for workplace problems to maximize the output of your company.

Advantages Of a Productive Workplace:

Greater profit is the most realistic benefit of employee efficiency. The rate of productivity also contributes to the reputation of the organization. Higher productivity means higher employee self-confidence. 

• Greater satisfaction:

When workers are offered the opportunity to contribute to the organization and be valued it gives them a sense of purpose. This feeling and purpose motivate them to make every effort to bring their best to the table. When employees feel fulfilled with their work it leads to success, customer loyalty, and reduced staff turnover. 

• Amended customer service:

Improved productivity promotes enhanced customer service because of challenging interactions. When employees are putting in their best, they are commencing suitable activities to offer an all-inclusive and satisfying experience to each customer. And the result is happy customers who are more likely to add to your customer list. 

• Raised revenue generation:

Employers invest in their employees with the clear aim of earning better profits. If they are productive at the workplace, they are generating remarkable revenue. Productivity in the workplace is directly linked to greater profits.  

• Superior employee engagement:

When your staff is more constructive, they are more interested in being involved and taking part in the business and associated activities. This is called positive engagement which contributes to better customer relationships and increased sales. 

• Build encouraging work culture:

Productive teams are more likely to work together. They are more collaborative and inspiring, building a positive culture in the workplace. Productivity brings a better sense of team spirit that aids employee well-being and complete job fulfillment. 

Suggestions From the Best Life Coach in India to Heighten Productivity at The Workplace:

Ok so now coming to the most important segment, how corporations can boost workspace throughput. Minor modifications to habits, approaches, and tools can significantly better employee efficiency and business productivity. Let’s see how.

• Support routine breaks:

I have seen many organizations that treat their employees as robots that keep rotating in and out. They are not paying attention to workplace challenges that are affecting the efficiency of staff. It makes employees fatigued and stressed causing burnout. These employees are surely not going to stay at your company for long. 

Employers need to understand that workers are also human beings. Encourage workers to take routine breaks to recharge and perform with more energy and a fresh mind.  Letting them recover significantly improves their efficiency. 

• Reduce personal distractions:

Frequently checking social media and attending personal calls are some very common distractions that eat up a lot of time and reduce productivity. You can’t just ban mobile phones because sometimes it could be urgent as well. The better way is to make a rule that workers can use their mobile phones and take personal calls during break time. This way they will not feel restricted. It will save a lot of time that employees can use to finish their chores. 

• Make use of time-tracking tools:

Time tracking implements help you check employee output. With this software, employees can easily plan their everyday tasks and the time required to complete them. It will make them in charge of their schedule leading to better productivity. The employer can monitor the reports to evaluate how they are operating, and you can also take required actions to increase performance. 

• Acknowledge and appreciate your staff:

As I mentioned earlier, appreciation works wonders. Recognizing and appreciating your employees for excellence boost their self-esteem and encourage them to perform at their best. For instance, one of your employees usually finishes his tasks in the least possible time without negotiating the quality. Appreciate him/her and give rewards for their achievement. It will not just encourage that individual employee but also the other to add extra effort. 

• Invest in work productivity techniques:

Having the right tools and techniques in the workspace is necessary to compel employee engagement and enhance business throughput. Businesses are becoming more complex every day so corporations should make sure that their staff has the perfect equipment such as communication and collaboration tools. Acquire valuable workplace productivity practices to ensure employee satisfaction and maximize yield. 

Read: Revamp Work Culture with Workplace Counselling

• Listen to your team members:

When employees are heard by their leaders, they are more likely to devote their best potential. Listening to your team members ensures fairness and equal opportunity in the workspace. Hearing out several opinions at the discussion table is always helpful for employers. Furthermore, you can also know about the discomforts and problems they are facing at work. 

• Eliminate motivation killers:

Workspace productivity is directly linked to motivation. Encouraged employees are more creative so it’s essential to remove the motivation destroyers. For that, first, you need to recognize them. Some general culprits are boredom, feeling undervalued, problems with co-workers, lack of support, work stress, lack of career expansion opportunities, and negative team members who create a negative environment. Once you know the motivation killers, you can take the necessary steps to alleviate and remove them. 

• Cut down on meetings:

Needless meetings waste a lot of time as I told you earlier. Cut down on unnecessary meetings to boost productivity. Before you plan a meeting, investigate if you could communicate the same thing on a call, via quick video chat, or through a collaboration tool. Only organize meetings if it’s essential and you can get the most out of it.

• Prioritize employee wellness:

Well-being is vital for being productive. Mentally and physically healthy employees are more efficient at the workplace. The best way to maintain the wellness of your workers is corporate counseling for workplace problems. An expert counselor can help you diagnose and resolve workplace problems. Other than that

• Make sure your employees do not feel overloaded with work.
• Offer fitness programs, gym memberships or discounts, etc.
• Conduct assistance programs for employees who are facing problems.
• Maintain a hygienic and comfortable environment at the office.
• Organize events and celebrations to rejuvenate your workers.
• Allow regular breaks and personal breaks for relaxation. 
• Make clear and accurate communications:

Miscommunication can create blunders. Effective communication between the team members boosts their excellence. Accurate communication helps your employees understand their duties, diminishing the chances of misinterpretation. Make sure they understand what you say and vice versa. 

• Recognize the strong and weak sides of your workers:

Managers should know their employees well so that they can assign them tasks and projects accordingly. You should be conscious of their skill sets, talents, and weaknesses as well. It will enhance productivity because you are allocating suitable jobs. On the other hand, you can also work on their weak points.

Summing Up:

Happy, healthy, and motivated workers are vital for any corporation that wants to heighten productivity. Productive staff can boost your revenue and build the company’s reputation. Organizations should maintain a stress-free and positive environment in the workplace without any kind of distractions. 

Managers can only do that by comprehending the importance of productivity and the roadblocks which are affecting it. You need to identify various workplace challenges and take steps to overcome these challenges. Try to implement the above-stated recommendations to maintain fulfillment to increase the efficiency of your employees. 

From the time you were a  small kid, you are taught to thank others for their nice gestures, compliments, or gifts. You automatically learn to express thanks. 

But then how long do we extend thanks for small things that give us happiness in our daily life? 

Believe it or not, there is a definite connection between gratitude and happiness. Deciding to be grateful can be the easiest way to upshot your happiness. We generally think that happiness is a sense of feeling joyful but it’s more about feeling good and satisfied about your life. 

In our daily lives, we all express gratitude by saying thank you when someone helps us or gives us some gifts, etc. Simply make it a habit to be thankful for every good happening in your life. This positive reaction assists biological persistence in your body encouraging good mental and emotional health. And I do not need to tell you that good mental can do wonders in many aspects of your life. 

Highlights

• Gratefulness is a humble tool to improve your own as well as others well being.
• Gratitude is unarguably more than being thankful, it is a profound appreciation for something or someone that delivers everlasting positivity. 
• There are sundry explanations for gratitude but living through gratitude at its mainstay demands a mindful effort.
• Whatever you have, be appreciative of that and it will turn that into enough and more. 
• Gratitude transforms denial into approval, mix-up into clarity, and disorder into order fetching peace for today and creating a dream for tomorrow.

I am sure you want to learn more about gratitude, how it works, why it is important, how to practice thankfulness, and how it contributes to improved happiness. In this blog, I am going to talk all about gratitude and how it contributes to your mental health. 

Read: Mental Health: The Matters That Matter

Understanding Gratitude with Life Coach Ritu Singal

We all are familiar with conveying appreciation by saying thank you when something good happens or someone helps you, gives you a gift, wishes you, etc. Still, gratitude is a more refined concept than just a simple assertion of goodness. It comprises both the appreciation of the positive and its result. 

For instance, you have been to someone’s house and they served you tea. You like the tea but instead of appreciating you said that you gave me tea but you haven’t given me biscuits with tea. Then you asked for one more cup of tea, the person may serve tea but not with their heart as they served you the first time. However, if you have said that the tea is very tasty, can I have one more cup of tea with biscuits, the person would have served you gladly with all their heart because they have been appreciated. The problem is, just a few people do that. 

Gratitude is defined as the appreciation of meaningful and valuable things in our lives. We recognize and acknowledge that higher powers (if you are a spiritual person) or other people help us in many ways to help us attain the heavens in our lives. Thankfulness involves much more than presenting good manners. The practice requires accepting others’ humble gestures toward us and the good events in our lives.

Gratitude allows people to recognize the goodness in their lives, and as an outcome, gratitude also connects them to something great be it nature, other people, or higher power. When you receive something expensive, unexpected, and purposefully decided benefits, typically an emotion evokes within you that is thankfulness. This thought plays a major role in regulating the instigation and preservation of social relationships and happiness. 

Gratitude is A Feeling or Emotion?

The simple answer is gratitude is both a feeling as well as an emotion because we can be, feel and act grateful. It can also turn out to be a  trait with other emotions. You can also take it as a multilayered emotion as it contains your thought of thankfulness. For example, I am so lucky to have you in my life. What a lovely gesture. So, it’s a feeling and also an emotion. 

The Purpose of Gratitude

People practice gratitude to strengthen their relations and to make new social relations. Acts of thankfulness can be expended to ask for forgiveness, make amends and resolve other issues. Simply feeling grateful for your existence, being alive, and living a good life is a notable way to encourage yourself to take hold of the day. 

Suppose you have Amrit (immortal drink) and you add one drop of poison to it. Now what will happen, just one drop of poison will finish the value of Amrit. Similarly in our relations or our daily life events, a lack of gratitude ruins the value of all other efforts. Suppose someone has done something very good to you. You are thanking them by saying thank you but you could have done this, this would be much better, or something like that. These words will spoil the worth of your thankyou. Whereas if you have said, thank you so much, I am grateful for your efforts. These words of thankfulness work magically, improving the quality of your relationship with that person. The person would feel appreciated. 

Gratitude allows you to know your connection with humanity and be aware of other people’s roles in your life. It initiates stronger relationships with family, friends, partners, and colleagues as it allows the acknowledgment of our interconnection. 

Phases Of Gratitude

While understanding the concept of gratitude, it’s important to know about the stages or steps of gratitude. These two stages of gratitude help you determine how you can incorporate gratitude as a habit in your daily routine. 

• Recognize the positive aspects of your life even if things are not going well

It’s human nature, you tend to think more about what is happening wrong. It helps you identify issues that need to be fixed to get solutions. However, you need to get a better understanding and let yourself enjoy what is happening well.

For that matter, take a moment every day to visualize all the good things happening. The more you do it, soon you will detect the virtuous kinds of stuff and genuine feelings of gratitude and happiness. You will begin accepting and appreciating the many facets that make your life worth living. 

• Identifying that some causes of these good things lie in external 

Once you identify the beauty and goodness in your present, you can vigorously access the next phase of gratitude which is understanding that the good stuff is coming from the outer world.  As you start experiencing this delight and gratefulness, at that point recognizing and thanking nature, people around you, luck, and a religious figure is a natural practice. 

Why Does Gratitude Work?

Gratitude is a selfless and unconditional act to express appreciation. To understand these acts let’s take an example when you get a gift, you feel thankful and appreciate the giver because they are not expecting anything in return. 

Suppose you are sad about something and one of your friends sends you a text message of appreciation, your friend is not asking for something from you. He/she is reminding you of your worth and expressive gratefulness for your existence to make your mood better. They are not expecting the same note from you at that time, they know you are feeling low so they just want you to feel good. 

However, gratitude can be spreadable because sometimes maybe a friend is stressed about something and you write them a note of appreciation to make them feel better without expecting anything from them and without putting any conditions. 

I am sure now you know why gratitude works. 

How to Practice Gratitude?

Gratefulness is a tool to appreciate what you have instead of desiring new things. It makes you feel happier about the positive aspects of your life. Practicing thankfulness helps you relocate on what you possess instead of what you lack. With regular practice, you can perceive stronger mental health. Just like other habits and skills, gratitude can be learned, practiced, and strengthened. 

Life Coach Ritu Singal recommends these simple ways to run through gratefulness regularly

• Think of three things that you are appreciative of every day:

Make it a daily practice to envision at least three things you feel thankful for. It directly influences your attitude all day. Do it early in the morning or before you go to sleep. For the best fruits practice it for at least 10 minutes daily. 

Several people visit me for a variety of mental health issues, and psychological,  work-related, or life-related counseling. When I suggest the visualization technique, many people say they can’t visualize because when they start visualizing good things, bad thoughts dominate the good ones. 

Well, it happens with almost everyone when they start. Once you begin with it, with regular practice you can visualize whatever you want to with your mind’s eyes. If you also find visualizing hard, you can go for the next step.

• Write a gratitude note every day:

Start a thank you journal. I believe that writing can be an outstanding self-help practice. I never skip it. When you pen down your thoughts of appreciation, different parts of the brain are involved. You access your emotions and memories with a new perspective. 

You must have heard about organic food and healthy mind. Just like organic food works brilliantly to develop a healthy mind similarly a gratitude note activates your brain areas that are linked to goodness and positive emotions. 

During difficult situations, if you read your own gratitude journal, it can help you feel good and face the challenge better. 

• Meditation and prayers:

While practicing gratitude, meditation can help you go deeper. People who are more into spirituality can do prayers to practice and strengthen the feeling of gratitude. Many types of guided medication allow you to broaden your outlook on life and your connection to yourself as well as other people. 

It encourages acceptance, compassion, detachment, and therefore gratitude. You can also meditate to imagine a particular moment you are grateful for and let that feeling cultivate and be brighter. 

Remarkable Benefits of Practicing Gratitude

Gratefulness has extensive effects on your health. When you are appreciative and satisfied with what you have, it reflects in your physical health. You are more likely to eat better, exercise, and take care of your health. Gratitude has convincing positive effects on mental health and complete psychological well-being. It boosts positive emotions and self-esteem which makes you more hopeful. 

Feeling thankful makes you experience deep happiness and your body produces wonderful chemicals. It activates neurotransmitters such as serotonin regulates mood and dopamine which boosts pleasure. Making gratitude a daily habit can deliver numerous short and long-term benefits. 

Let’s get into some evidence-based benefits of thankfulness

• Alters brain for good:

As per research people who are more grateful, have more activity in their brains that is associated with decision-making and learning. 

• Less negative emotions:

Being grateful increases positive sentiments such as compassion and joy encouraging you to seek goodness and connect with good stuff. It helps you shift your attention from negative sentiments such as envy and resentment. 

• Help fight depression:

You may not believe that a single thought of appreciation gives an immediate boost to happiness reducing depressive thoughts. As you make it a habit, it can help prevent depression and anxiety. 

• Better physical health:

Appreciativeness contributes to healthy behaviors such as exercise and diet. Regular practice is associated with an improved immune system, restored sleep, less illness, and fewer pains. 

• Improved personal and social relationships:

Gratefulness intensifies compassionate behavior, you are more likely to develop compassion for others and help others. It increases trust, and faithfulness and makes you feel happy about your relationships. 

• Boost mental health and well-being:

Gratitude works ahead of just happiness when it comes to your mental well-being. Feeling thankful significantly boosts your mood, makes you more cheerful and lowers stress and depression. 

• Uplift your professional life:

Running through gratitude makes you more content with your job and career. You are more likely to find meaning in your work. 

• Well-equipped to cope with hardships:

When you are happy with what you have in your life, you have improved self-esteem and a clear head. It makes you better equipped and prepared to face and deal with obstacles. 

Moreover, there are some spiritual benefits of practicing gratitude in your daily life.

• You know that god loves you, and it makes you love god more. 
• You feel that gratitude is another form of worship.
• Feeling thankful teaches you how to regulate and control your thoughts.
• It presents you with a posture of humbleness and modesty.
• Reduces anxiety and removes envious feelings.
• Practicing appreciativeness reorients and rejuvenates your heart. 

Gratitude Incites

I know, when you begin, it may not be easy to realize the stuff to be grateful for, especially in tough times. Here are some evident gratitude journals emboldened by Life Coach Ritu Singal that will help you while running through and expressing gratitude.

• Modest delights. Simply think of some everyday activities that bring joy to you. A glass of juice, a cup of coffee, a cozy night suit, a soothing song, or anything that brings pleasure can be rejoiced and appreciated. 
• Contented memories. It’s not essential that you need to think of present stuff or coming ones only, you can recollect any positive memories from your past. Any happy events, memorable moments, or days when you felt extremely joyful are worth feeling thankful for. 
• Valuable persons. Your family, friends, or colleagues can have a considerable role in your happiness. Think about the persons who loved and supported you through your tough times and who have been with you in your good as well as bad times and be thankful for having them in your life. 
• Mother nature. The surroundings and nature around us are full of immense exquisiteness. Think of something from nature that attracts you or that is simply enjoyable for you. The early morning sun rays, lovely flowers, the first bloom of the spring, running water, the smell of soil after rain, moon and stars in the sky, or whatever, and be thankful for nature.
• Kind deeds. Just remember if somebody has done something nice for you, be it small or big, feel grateful for that and it will boost your positive emotions. Similarly, if you have done a kind act toward someone, celebrate that experience and appreciate that you have carried a kind act.
• Achievements and successes. You must have accomplished various things, mastered skills, and proved your abilities. Highlight that success and be proud of that, it will make you feel good about yourself and lift your self-esteem. 
• Peaceful and relaxing moments. Be obliged for the moments when you feel relaxed and peaceful and the things that make you tranquil. I am not saying you need to remember incredible moments or some extra special ones, just small moments are enough to express gratitude for them. 

The Wonderful Connection Between Gratitude and Happiness

Paradoxically, being in quest of happiness itself can make you unhappy. When you are running behind happiness your main emphasis is on what you lack, always chasing delight makes you realize that you don’t have it. However, when you stop seeking and running behind pleasure and start cultivating gratitude for what you have- you will experience greater happiness. As I said earlier, organic food and healthy mind, likewise, gratitude and happiness.

So, after reading it all, you must be clear about how gratitude can boost your happiness. I know, happiness may appear deceptive sometimes, particularly when you are going through difficult situations. But surprisingly, there is a reachable path toward bliss, contentment, and positive- Gratitude. Many studies proved that gratefulness is linked to every kind of goodie-goodie including happiness, satisfaction, health, and well-being. 

When I was in the worst phase of my life, I lost my partner, our financial condition was not good, and our business was suffering. Even after being a spiritual and positive person, it was quite difficult to think about positive stuff and the goodness around me. But after a while, When I saw my daughters, I realized that goodness is still here. I have to make everything right just like before for my kids and myself. So, it may be quite difficult to appreciate the good stuff in your life but it is not impossible. And once you begin with it, you are on the right path. 

Concluding words:

Chasing happiness may not bring you delight but focusing on the reasons you have to be happy and connecting with goodness can make significant changes. Being content doesn’t mean you will be happy all the time, happiness flows. However, being deliberately and uninterruptedly thankful for your life and what you possess develops a positive outlook and offers you a simple route toward more contentment. 

Unquestionably, gratitude is a prodigious emotion to nurture. Making it a habit can make it an incredible trait. Remember that regular run-throughs and patience are the major elements of our intentions and goals in life. 

So what are you waiting for? Start counting your blessings and be grateful for them.

The big bang economic reforms in the 1990s unleashed the hidden entrepreneurial spark among a sizeable section of Indians. The trend became more common thanks to the IT revolution, opened the gates to many new businesses. Thus, today, we find freshly graduates opting out of college placements to do their own stuff. Though many such new generation ventures like Byju, Swiggy and Flipkart turned raging successes, a good enough number fell by the wayside. Do you recall that in the later 90s, there was one letsbuyelectronics.com, which was bought over by Flipkart? Many like these either sank or had to be rescued by others.

Ample research shows that a significant percentage of all start-ups fail within the first three years and it’s not difficult to understand why. The fact is- doing business is getting more intricate due to the constantly changing business environment, role of technology, globalization and fickle consumer mindsets. The environment now is much more complex, the technology more pervasive and the consumers more demanding. That’s when corporate counselling enters the picture to help a business identify the problem it faces, get down to its roots and evolve suitable solutions.

Getting to do one’s own thing is indeed an exciting idea. Having no manager to report to, freedom of work, leading co-workers and the monetary rewards appeal to many with dreamy eyes. Alas! It’s easier said than done.

In the course of my work as a life coach and doing corporate counselling in India, I often face questions on how such entrepreneurial dreams can be fulfilled. In my opinion, entrepreneurship is similar to pregnancy, requiring motherly patience and the fortitude to defeat odds to emerge successful. One needs to cultivate the essential skills to improve the chances of entrepreneurial success – technical, financial, communication and leadership skills, all of which play a critical role.

Corporate Counselling

Running a corporate is no cakewalk, filled as it is with immense pressure and one tends to stress over the short-term deadlines as well. That is where counselling steps in. Professional counsellors helps the employees to improve productivity and motivate them to give their best.

Those working in corporate environments face stress as they have deadlines, responsibilities, and targets to meet. Frequent and long travel skews the work-life balance and only a handful of people can find the right balance between work and personal care. A great many people fail to achieve the balance and end up missing out on one or the other front. Obviously, it is inevitable for the employees to feel stressed, de-motivated and discouraged, which can affect their performance and overall productivity. There is nothing unprofessional or abnormal about it; we need to find a solution to it.

The purpose of corporate counselling is to encourage employees to make healthy lifestyle choices. It provides the company with the resources, knowledge, and tools necessary for creating a healthy work environment. Workplace counselling in India is  becoming popular in supporting and maintaining a motivated and effective workforce. Workplace counselling in India is a way to improve employee mental health and emotional well-being. By providing employees with the resources, knowledge, and tools to make healthy lifestyle choices, a corporate counsellor can help them engage their employees.

The issues in Corporate Counselling cover technical skills, leadership, business management skills and creative thinking. As these skills can be applied in many different roles and domains, developing them means cultivating several skill sets of wide-ranging importance.

What is Corporate Counselling?

Corporate counselling helps improve the employees’ performance at every level through four focus areas:

Strategic consulting

Learning and development

Coaching

Personal emotional and mental health

Reasons behind stress

Some common causes behind mental stress are:

A strict management style

High workloads

Unrealistic targets

Challenging roles

Lack of support

Blame culture

Bullying and Harassment

New team or management

Challenging role

Stress in personal relationships

Fatigue

Long office hours

Competition

It can lead to other serious issues such as insufficient concentration, anxiety, self-doubts, depression, performance decline, careless errors and health problems.

Corporate counselling seeks to help workers strike a balance between their professional and personal life while improving their productivity. Some employees can also face anxiety. A professional counsellor helps them build self-confidence, develop multitasking abilities and improve their cognitive skills.

Types of Corporate Counselling

There are two main types of corporate counselling programmes.

Employee Assistance Programme

A professional counselling arrangement between the counsellor and the employee. The confidentiality helps the employees share their feelings and emotions with the counsellor without any sense of hesitation.

Besides, if an employee would like to provide EAP services to their immediate family, they can do so. In many cases, counselling the family members can also help reduce the stress in personal relations and lives that happens due to the workplace stress.

Conflict Resolution

In conflict resolution, a counsellor helps resolve a conflict between/ among the employees or between the management and the workers. A conflict is often borne of different professional opinions between the parties and in such cases, conflict resolution can help you find a mid-way to end the conflict on a good note.

Workplace counselling is important as life is too hectic and people tend to get lost many times while juggling between their family and workplace issues.

In Nutshell

Counselling is helpful in creating and maintaining a conducive work environment to the benefit of all those concerned. Corporate counselling helps not juts improve productivity for organizational growth, but also employees reignite interest and dedication towards work and grow individually.

Corporate counselling empowers you to make healthy life changes, which promote dynamic professional and personal growth. Counselling services help them through unique workplace and home life challenges resulting in a higher performing staff and a more positive organizational culture.

 For Whom?

Corporate counselling in India isn’t only for long-term employees but is also equally helpful to  those who have lost motivation for work. It can be used in many areas and situations to help the employees achieve their fullest potential.

Some of the areas, where corporate counselling services in India may be especially useful, are:

Recruitment

Selecting the right candidate for the right job from the employer’s viewpoint isn’t that easy task.  In recruitment, only technical or hard skills do not matter; otherwise, machines would be able to do all the jobs. Many assessment tools like psychometric profiling, behavioural assessments and projective tests are used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates to select the best one/s.

Orientation and induction

Corporate employee training is another domain where counselling can be greatly helpful. The candidates have to be conscious of their own expectations, their work roles, work responsibilities, and the benefits that they can expect from the employer. Induction and orientation programmes are the best occasions to familiarize them with these things and clear their doubts, if any.

Today, companies conduct ice-breaking, trust games, and psychological team-building exercises and other events as part of their induction programmes. All these things serve to make employees feel more at ease with themselves and the company and relaxed in the new work environment. A corporate counsellor conducts a thorough post-recruitment psychological assessment before the workers are assigned new positions, locations and targets.

Personal Training and Skill Development

Frequently, many employees get too comfortable with their work and resist any kind of change that is brought in. By encouraging employees to participate in training and development, corporate counselling can help them become stakeholders in organizational transformation.

Equally, it would be beneficial for managers to identify worker training needs and shortlist the potential candidates for it. Thereafter, they can then work out a feasible training plan, get feedback and assess the results in terms of  corporate goals. A corporate counsellor can help an organization with team building, conflict resolution, negotiation skills, and anger management.

Promotions and performance appraisals

Some employees may use the semi-annual or annual appraisal to get back at their managers for not toeing the line or being outspoken and honest. Admitted, managers are humans and may not be objective at times as emotions drive human behaviour. Although there are methods and tools available to ensure an accurate and fair performance assessment, managers still need to rely on their own subjective judgements to arrive at a conclusion.

Corporate counselling has developed the methods to conduct an objective appraisal of an individual’s performance. A corporate counsellor also plays a crucial role in inducting a new person for a senior role and making recommendations for transfers.

Developing Leadership

By definition, the leaders must inspire their team. Besides, they also need to have excellent interpersonal skills and their attitude towards employees at the bottom of the ladder determines how they are perceived by others. Corporate counselling can enable the managers to realize their potentials and become leaders in their own right.

Change Management

Many of us find any kind of change challenging to handle. It can have a significant impact on employees if the change in question is a merger, acquisition or a new management team. Besides, there can be economic cycles, layoffs and liquidations.

 As any life coach  would attest to it, sometimes, the intensity and the speed of  a change can be simply dizzying. Only a life coach can really appreciate what it means to face and cope with such tumultuous changes in a professional environment. In such cases, corporate counselling can prove to be a big boon for an organization as no corporate would ever like to lose its employees to such changes. Corporate counselling offers the psychological tools and techniques necessary to keep the employees calm, focused, and balanced so that they can excel even in the most difficult times.

 Improved Work Environment

Happy, productive employees are cheerful and energetic. To give their personal best, the employees need to have a conducive, supportive, innovative, and intelligent work environment. But avoiding bickering, politicking, and back-stabbing may not be possible, always.

Corporate counselling can help create a great work environment (which includes the physical environment too- temperature, lighting, ventilation, work hours and humidity) with effective solutions to reduce friction and improve coordination.

Work-life balance

Today’s Human Resources managers need to ensure the employees have the best work-life balance possible. They have to admit that stress is part and parcel of life and it can affect our work-life balance. Corporate counselling can help managers understand its importance and encourage the employees to be more relaxed in life.

Employee Counselling

Today, the latest trend in the corporate HR circles is Employee Counselling at Workplace. Employee Counselling can help the employees come out of their problems and gives them a new hope and a way to deal with the problems they face. On the employers’ part, it also shows how much the employer cares for the employees.

The Why? Behind Employee Counselling

Employees face many problems in day to day life – problems with subordinates, colleagues, bosses, work systems and personal life. These problems soon start affecting their work, career and job performance. That’s when employee counselling steps in to provide them guidance and advice, sort out the problems and help them solve the problems they face in office or personal life.

Typically, the organizations seek a professional counsellor to deal with

1. Traumatic Events
2. Relationship Issues
3. Physical Health
4. Personal Stress
5. Emotional Health
6. Bereavement
7. Work Relationships
8. Phobias
9. Family Issues
10. Financial Problems
11. Work Stress

A Corporate Counsellor is supposed to make sure that he counselee is healed mentally, emotionally and psychologically. Besides, the counsellor is expected to maintain the privacy of their counsellee, which is a very important feature of such counselling.

 Benefits of Employee Counselling

We all experience various life crises at different stages in our lives.  Experiences like  bereavement and loss, relationship and family difficulties, substance abuse, alcohol issues, and stress at home can preoccupy one’s thinking too much so much so that they distract them from work.  And in certain safety-sensitive industries and settings, it can pose a major operational and safety risk, which has to be guarded against.

Such Employee Counselling can help

1. Employees tackle the problems effectively
2. Have better decision making
3. Evolve new and healthier ways to look at a problem and change one’s  perspective of viewing it
4. Prevent termination/ resignation
5. Reduces the hiring, training and re-training costs
6. Create smoother and better employer-employee coordination

Do you also think that you could have accomplished much more in a day if you had some more hours? If 24 hours in a day are not sufficient for your daily errands, that indicates you are failing with time management. 

I always say one thing to people who visit me for time management issues, which I realized many years back. Everybody has 24 hours whether that is the Prime Minister of India or the President of America. It depends on you how wisely you are managing your time.

I agree that time is a limited resource that never stops for anyone but that doesn’t mean you need some more hours in your day. However, you need to learn the importance of time management at the workplace. You need to understand the value of time to become efficacious in all facets of your life because if you do not value time and waste it on unnecessary activities, you may fail to create your individuality. 

Many years back when I was a housewife, at that time I also used to feel that 24 hours are not sufficient, I should have a few more hours to perform all tasks because I was not managing my time properly. Later I learned about time management and its value in life from various life experiences. Today, Life coach Ritu Singal is a recognizable name. I am managing multiple businesses successfully, getting awards, and helping other people to learn time management. Today also I have 24 hours in a day.

I will not say that it’s easy to manage your time appropriately, of course, it is challenging but once you learn and implement, it makes an immense difference. Time management skills and time-saving hacks can significantly help enhance the way you accomplish your work, guard you against interruption, secure your concentration and maintain a work-life balance. 

In this blog, I am going to talk about all you should know about time management techniques and how they balance your work life and productivity. 

Highlights

• Time management means allocating the right time to the right activity to manage your time effectively.
• Proper time management allows you to allocate particular time slots for various activities depending on their importance. 
• Always remember time is limited, so make sure you are utilizing it in the best possible way. 
• Everybody knows that time is flying at its speed but only a few people know that we can become pilots if we want. 

What Does Time Management Mean?

Does it mean retaining yourself busy to ensure that you are executing at the highest productivity levels? Does it mean your boss telling you how you should manage your time?

In simple words, time management is mastering your time intelligently to get everything done as required without putting a huge burden on yourself. Time management is all about scheduling and arranging the time you spend on various activities. The major purpose of managing your time is to boost productivity and efficiency. 

For example, You enter the office, open your computer, and come to know that you have 10 tasks for today. Now, what will you do? How will you manage your time effectively so that you can complete all 10 tasks before you leave the office? If you have time-handling skills, you will create a list, prioritize the tasks as per their importance and assign a particular time for each task. Then begin with the most important task and try to complete each task within the assigned time. 

I always tell a beautiful story and I could not stop myself from sharing it here as well. Some years back, I was attending a spiritual event and there I heard this story. There are 3 rabbits in the ground and you have to catch them. How will you do it? If you go to catch one, the other one will run so how will you bring all three rabbits together? If you are not smart enough you will keep going behind one and then another. However, if you are wise enough, you will bring carrots and put them in a place, eventually, all three rabbits will come to the carrots and you can catch them all at once. 

The day I heard this story, it touched my heart so deeply. You need to be smart to perform more in less time. Don’t run behind multiple things at one time, prioritize what needs to be done first and then strategize how to achieve more in less time. Make sure you are spending time where it matters the most.

Do you know, if you are failing to manage your time accurately, you may have to face several negative consequences which can noticeably upset your professional and personal life? 

Outcomes of poor time management skills and attitudes:

• Procrastination and difficult focus
• Missed deadlines and meetings
• Lack of professionalism
• Missed opportunities
• Undesired stress and anxiety
• Deprived performance and incompetent workflow
• Hassled relationships at the workplace
• Financial disadvantages
• Work-life imbalance

Effective Time Management

Organizing several things that enhance efficiency and discover an improved work-life balance. Upskilling time management at the workplace allows you to augment your performance and accomplish your goals with fewer efforts and more efficient approaches. 

Efficient time management necessitates:

• Craving to comprehend the worth of time. When you acknowledge it, it allows you to manage your time better and it gives a boost to your confidence.
• Determination to sidestep distractions because distractions waste your valuable time which you should spend on vital tasks. 
• Fortitude to practice good time handling practices until they become habits. It will help you become successful.
• Discipline is a crucial element for excellent time management. Discipline helps you stick to your productive habits without indulging in useless activities. 

Effective time management comprises:

Managing your time means making sensible and the best possible use of your time for reaching your goals. You should understand the worth of time and allot suitable time to the suitable activity.

For instance, nowadays many people are spending most of their time on their smartphones, watching videos or scrolling their social media, etc. People are so indulged in their mobile phones that they are not realizing the value of time and as a result, they are not able to accomplish their jobs well.

Read: How You Can Accomplish Your Dream With Effective Time Management Coaching

• Efficient planning:

Plan your day, and prepare a to-do list in advance. Just write down the essential activities and allot time for each activity. Top priority work should be accomplished first then jump to the pending tasks one by one. make sure you do not begin with a fresh task unless you complete the previous ones. Tick the finished activities where you have written. 

• Establish purposes and goals:

Working without goals is exactly similar to the captain who is heading the ship without knowing the way into the sea. Apparently, he will be lost somewhere in the sea. That is why it’s highly important to set achievable and realistic objectives for yourself, only then you can walk in the right direction. 

• Set deadlines for yourself:

Just like having purposes, it’s essential to consider deadlines for yourself. Sticking to the deadline makes you attempt to accomplish it early. Don’t wait for your bosses to give you a finish line, set it for yourself because you know better the time required to complete a particular task. 

• Use the right time for the right activities:

If you are using social media during working hours in the office, it is not a suitable use of that time for a suitable activity. If you are doing something after the deadline passed, that is not of much use because you have already created your impression. Keep some separate time for your mobile phone or gossip but use your office hours for the correct activities. 

Value Of Time Management at The Workplace

Managing your time properly brings numerous benefits to your professional life. There was a time when I was like, 24 hours are not sufficient and today I am managing various businesses, my personal life, my social life, and many more things in these 24 hours. Once you learn the value of time and how you can make the most of it, success is a few steps away.

Let’s go through the remarkable benefits of time management in the workspace

• You are more disciplined and punctual
• You are more organized in the workspace
• Boost your morale and make you more confident
• You are more likely to meet your goals in less time
• Helps you attain the pinnacle of accomplishment rapidly
• You can plan things better
• You become less prone to stress and anxiety
• Enhanced capability to prioritize tasks and doings at the workplace. 
• You implement a deliberate approach in life
• You have a good reputation in the office
• You are less prone to procrastination
• Rationalized decision-making skills
• Better relationships at the workplace
• Accomplish your tasks before the deadlines
• Deliver improved work quality
• More productivity and proficiency at work
• Excellent opportunities and professional growth
• More time for relaxation and rejuvenation
• Outstanding work-life balance

Effective Time Management Techniques Recommendations by Life Coach Ritu Singal

Plan your day:

Some people ask me why I should plan my day, because plans may change. But it doesn’t mean that you should not plan your days. I suggest that you should plan your every day. There are many ways to make your plans successful, you just need to recognize what works great for you. 

I recommend people plan their next day every night before they go to sleep and strategize their activities for the next day. Most people told me that it worked best for them. It prepares your mind to take the workload every day and move you towards better accomplishments. 

Focus on one task at a time:

I always do that and also suggest the same to people who visit me for life coaching or counseling. It’s extremely essential to accomplish the errand you are holding in your hand. When you are in the office, put 100% effort into your work to make sure there is no chance of error.  If you are doing something in a rush, there are more chances of mistakes and then you have to spend more time working on those mistakes. 

Concentrating on one task at a time improves efficiency. Also do not go for multitasking that may hinder your work quality. I am not saying that multitasking is a bad practice but if it is affecting the quality of the task in your hand then it’s definitely not good. Multitask smartly. 

Off-put email checks:

Do you realize that when you check your emails in the morning, how much time does it consume and is it worth that time?

Checking pertinent emails is important but checking unnecessary spam messages eats more time. Even sometimes it’s struggling to decide on the essential ones. To avoid that wastage of time you can limit yourself from checking emails to only which require an instant response. Rest you can manage during your free time. Try applying filters that junk spam emails and mark important ones. 

Break up big projects into small chunks:

So you have got a large project and the deadline is approaching and the complete picture is intimidating you. Now, what to do? Let me help you make it easier.

I always suggest to people that you can not eat the whole elephant at once because it’s so huge. So you need to break it up into small pieces. Well, don’t misunderstand it’s just an example, you don’t have to eat the elephant. I suggest not eating any animal. Similarly, you need to divide your big tasks into smaller ones. 

This is a great time-saving hack to manage your time efficiently, chunk out your large, difficult projects into smaller pieces, prioritize, set deadlines for those tasks, and start doing them. This way the bigger picture doesn’t look daunting anymore and the impending deadline appears more attainable. 

Avert possible distractions:

If you ask me, today the most common distraction is social media notifications that pull people away from their essential duties. However, you need to prevent such distractions to be more involved in your job. Otherwise, these will eat up your valuable time and you will have loads of work piled up. 

I reduced the most prominent distraction these days, the mobile phone. I only check my social media pages when it is necessary. Well, I was never so indulged in social media but I was spending quite more time on whatsapp. But I realized that it eats up a lot of time. Now I only use whatsapp when it’s important to my team or it’s related to work. 

Turn off phone notifications and stay focused on your task because you have to finish it before the deadline. Try to indulge in your work during office hours to boost your productivity and the day hangs around you so you will have enough time to spend on social media or other activities. 

Line up your tasks daily, weekly, and monthly:

Along with planning each day, you should recognize your priorities for approaching days, weeks, and months. Now again some people may think that weekly or monthly plans may not work because anything can change at any time due to several situations. But let me tell you one thing, you can not control situations, or what will happen tomorrow but you should have a plan ready with your priority errands. 

Prioritizing your tasks for upcoming days allows you to scatter your workload and avoid stress and an overly busy schedule. It improves your time management at the workplace and you will be capable enough to establish a structured daily routine for your goals and productivity throughout the month. 

Get the help of a timer:

It may sound crazy to some people but trust me, it can be the best technique to manage your time suitably. Using a timer can remind you about the necessary breaks, establish time limits and boost your productivity. Taking small breaks and getting refreshed between your tasks is essential to clear your head because you are a human being, not a robot.

Getting help from a timer and setting a certain time limit to accomplish an objective, pushes you to achieve more before the deadlines. You can also try using other time management tools as there are numerous options available. 

Refresh, revive and revitalize your batteries:

It’s highly important to revitalize yourself only then you can significantly stick to these time management techniques. If you are not taking refreshing breaks from work you may get exhausted over time. When you are taking sufficient time to revive your batteries, you can implement these techniques much more efficiently. 

Quick Tips By Life Coach Ritu Singal To Enhance Your Time Management Capabilities

• Prioritize and schedule your tasks
• Set boundaries and learn to say no 
• Start your day early
• Be realistic don’t put up unnecessary work stress
• Put off time-killing activities
• Learn and implement time-saving hacks

Wrapping up

Time management is not that tough, you just need to be consistent because consistency is the key. Don’t let your poor time management habits ruin your career and work-life balance. Once you learn the skill to become in charge of your time, you will get the tasty fruits it bears. You just have to make sure to be consistent with your time management practices. 

All these recommendations are personally tried and tested by me as well as by people whom I helped manage their time appropriately. When you implement these techniques you will see a positive influence in your life. As you learn time management you have complete control of your precious time with a better ability to get things done well, make better decisions and prioritize things. I hope this blog helped you recognize the priceless worth of time management in the workplace.