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We all know that having a productive team is vital if you want to have a productive, happy, healthy workforce that can achieve all they set out to do, such as building trust in a brand, increasing company profits, and streamlining operations.
It’s true that you can learn skills to increase your productivity, such as working on your time management or learning to take notes super-fast. Nonetheless, some of us may already possess specific traits or qualities that highly productive people share.
In the rest of this piece, we’ll highlight some common qualities of highly productive people. Later, we’ll look at the importance of cultivating high emotional intelligence and maintaining a positive mindset. First, let’s find out why having an effective organisational system is crucial if you want to be productive.
Let’s jump in.
Quality 1: They Have an Effective Organisational System
Highly productive people usually have an organisation system in place to help them stay on track, meet their targets, and accomplish their targets for the day. Typically, productive people:
- Use a form of storage to keep their desks neat and tidy, to reduce the amount of work-related stress they experience, and to cut down on time spent searching for things they need.
- Follow a set routine, so that they can hold themselves accountable for staying on top of their tasks and meeting their targets. Following a routine also makes it easier to delegate tasks to colleagues and teammates and thereby helps improve the team’s efficiency.
- Use a notebook or some form of project management software to help keep their plans in one easily accessible place.
Remember, having clutter around you, even digital clutter on your computer, can distract you and hamper your productivity and performance. An organised workspace gives you structure, which is likely to improve the quality of the work you produce, and having routine affords you the flexibility to experiment with different things to see what works for you and helps you stay productive each day, instead of trying to take each day as it comes and end up wasting more time than you would if you had a routine as a framework to guide you.
Next, let’s look at the quality of emotional intelligence.
Quality 2: They Have High Levels of Emotional Intelligence
When we talk about someone’s emotional intelligence, we’re referring to their ability to identify and manage their own emotions and to perceive the emotions of those around them. This is a wonderful skill to have in the workplace because if you’ve got high emotional intelligence, you should be able to work well alone and in a team. Highly productive people commonly have high emotional intelligence and can be assertive and attentive to others’ emotions. They can therefore create a sense of harmony within a team, have good social skills, and can adapt to almost any situation that might crop up.
Here are the 5 key components of emotional intelligence.
- Motivational skills – using your emotions to motivate yourself, particularly in the face of challenges and setbacks.
- Self-awareness – the ability to identify your emotions and recognise how they affect others.
- Emotional control – being able to manage your emotions will, adapt to various situations, and not give in to every impulse.
- Empathy – being able to relate to and understand the emotions of others.
- Social skills – being able to manage relationships with others.
You might be wondering what advantages being emotionally intelligent can bring to a workplace. Cultivating emotional intelligence can help you handle stress better, build better, more productive relationships with clients, form more productive, cohesive teams, and become better at giving presentations. People with high levels of emotional intelligence are often well-equipped to give and receive feedback and make good, productive leaders who can get the most out of people too.
Quality 3: They Take Initiative
A key element of being productive is the ability to start something without delay. Productive people are self-starters, persistent, and proactive. They will not give up easily in the face of challenges or problems. People who can dive into a task without pause are likely to be more efficient because they can start something new or act on something without always having to okay it with their superior, manager, or supervisor.
Taking initiative in the workplace can have many benefits. It can:
- Lead to improved relationships between colleagues.
- Help you solve problems and therefore improve your productivity.
- Bring about general improvement within a company.
- Lead to higher job satisfaction if you feel that by taking initiative, you can do what you do best.
- Make you more enthusiastic about the task before you.
Often, it’s those who take initiative who turn out to be the best performers in a job, role, or company.
It’s time to discover why having a positive mindset can help you be productive.
Quality 4: They Maintain a Positive Mindset
A 2018 study published by the British Journal of Health Psychology indicates that people who write down their positive thoughts experienced significantly less anxiety 4 weeks after the study was concluded than those who did not record their positive thoughts. It is reasonable to suggest, then, that if you make writing down positive thoughts a habit you follow in the workplace, you’re going to be able to cultivate a happier, more engaged team who are less likely to allow stress and anxiety to overwhelm them.
If you can maintain a positive can-do attitude, you will be able to work more efficiently. Most of us know from experience that even one person in a bad mood can have a detrimental effect on the whole team and whatever project you’re working on. If you are someone who can bring positivity to the workplace and give others confidence, you will be able to boost morale and productivity, as well as make it easier to work together. It is likely that you will become more productive on an individual level too.
Quality 5: They are Self-Motivated
The drive to succeed is crucial if you want to succeed and being self-motivated is a quality most very productive people share. You can’t learn the desire to produce work of a high standard, nor can you make people work hard. If you and the people you work with are self-motivated, you will need only minimal management, because this will mean that you and your team can all delegate tasks in a sensible way that will lead to increased levels of productivity. People who’re self-motivated are also more likely to learn more about the business they work for and will seek out new knowledge proactively so they can improve their performance.
Self-motivated people want to do well in a job, and so strive to be productive, and work to develop and cultivate skills they need to progress in their chosen field. They will work harder and are better able to adapt to challenges and tricky situations when they arise. These people will often also work to develop skills valued in a leader so they can achieve greater success.
Wrapping Up
It is true that you can learn to be productive, but there must be a desire to do so. Qualities, on the other hand, are for the most, part innate. The 5 qualities of highly productive people that we’ve discussed today can help people become efficient. If you’re an employer, you’ll want to look out for these great qualities in potential new hires, because they will want to prosper within the company. If you work for yourself, you now know which qualities to cultivate if you want to be productive —whether you choose to focus on developing your emotional intelligence or a more positive mindset.
Good luck!
Like this post? You’ll also enjoy our post on the top traits of very productive people.
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