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5 Ways to Improve Productivity Without Depending on Tools

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Kiara Miller


In this digital world, dependency on professional tools is prevalent. But, what do you lose while relying on these tools? Productivity. Yes, the increased dependency on technical tools can restrict your creative mind in the organization. Your ability to brainstorm for a project, and work on your weak areas can get hampered by it. Further, leading to decreasing your overall workplace productivity.

Keeping this in mind, a report by Forbes says there is an increase of 27% in “excellent” performance ratings with employees who are highly engaged in the workplace.

Talking about improving your workplace productivity or on an individual level, one must not entirely depend on productivity tools that are widely available nowadays.

Going one step deeper into this topic, it is right to say that increasing productivity isn’t a hack. Yes! You heard it right. There are no hacks. However, you can develop new techniques that can play a part in improving your productivity without depending on tools. Whether you are working from the office or home, learning these strategies can make you more productive.

Know These 5 Effective Strategies for Increasing Your Productivity

The first step to improving your productivity is to introspect. Identifying your unique strengths and weaknesses can help you understand the impact of both on your work. Once you have self-awareness about your shortcomings and positive aspects, you believe to align goals for future tasks in a way to enhance performance.

For better understanding, reflection models (crowjack dotcom) come to play an essential part. One can choose the best approach from various reflection models. These models help in knowing one’s knowledge, past experiences, and beliefs. Further, by relating new knowledge to your previous understanding, you can learn innovative strategies to crack the code and improve or fix it in the future.

Along with that, focusing on the L&D in those specific areas gives a chance for improvement. The best to recognize lies in the key element of no one-size-fits-all theory. Invest in yourself and improve your practices by consciously thinking. This involves past experience, what is currently being done, and what is needed to do in the future. Ultimately, this will boost your productivity without depending on any tool or technology.

Harris conducted a poll on behalf of New CareerBuilder on 2,175 employees to understand the different factors of employee time thieves. The top factors were cell phones/texting with 52 percent followed by internet surfing with 44 percent.

It is a noticeable fact that multiple things act as distractions leading to consuming time and making you unproductive. For instance, jumping from one meeting to another, conference meetings involving non-business conversations, or a battle with bulk emails involving spam emails.

To explain further, there is a difference between being at work and working in the office. The business environment involves tasks that can act as a time killer. One research says that 33% of people spend 1-2 hours checking their emails.

Understand your tasks that involve productivity killers. The moment you realize those tasks that are unproductive can surely throw a ball in your court and will make you more productive and sane at the workplace. Remember, there is no 100% set rule to block out all distractions. Yet, distractions are avoidable. Count your time on the completion of a task, and keep your routine stress-free.

Companies always appreciate employees with upgraded skills. Linking upgrading skills with productivity can reduce your dependency on technology. It is no rocket science to improve your productivity skills.

An employee needs to be more careful in the organization for managing time and focusing on high-productivity tasks. On professional grounds, an increase in productivity can be influenced by many factors, such as respect, meaningfulness, and salary.

This further benefits the holistic development of the organization and employee satisfaction. Having said that, it can be intact by the McKinsey study.  The study says employee satisfaction is significantly correlated with business enhancements. This includes higher profitability, reduced churn, and improved customer relationships.

Moving further, organizational development and employee satisfaction increase performance levels. This leads to upgrading soft and hard skills as well. To explain, time management skills can assist you in organizing your tasks that need much attention. Nobody is born with time management skills. However, one can learn skills to boost productivity.

Not only time management skills but also soft skills can enhance your performance at work. Soft skills can help increase the understanding of inter-departmental tasks. Along with that, other tasks include

  • organizational skills,
  • planning skills,
  • decision-making abilities, and
  • problem-solving skills.

Upgrading all these skills can be beneficial for you and your company.

Business grows best when employees work with a clear vision. The performance is increased when there is clarity in mind. Therefore, it is better to seek feedback to excel in your career. There are tools like paraphrasing tools or proofreading tools that hamper your productivity. However, once you start working on your own while showing less dependency on those tools, it will provide you with actual results.

Having said that, you would be seeking feedback for the weak areas that need improvement. Feedback is the fastest route to improving productivity. This way you can focus on your efforts, correct them, and achieve your goals on time.

It is a two-way street where your performance helps you as well as your organization. An increase in the exchange of feedback provides deeper insight and better clarity of work. Remember, positive feedback helps in adapting to the environment, improving performance, and reaching better decisions for the success of the company.

There is no such possibility that states the fact that taking a long hour to achieve a task leads to perfection of work. On the contrary, the longer you take to complete the task the more your productivity will be hampered.

Achieving long-term or short-term goals is equally important within the time frame. Having deadlines can act as a great asset to understanding the importance of your time and work. Finding yourself frazzled and stressed at work? It’s time to set deadlines. This is one of the best ways to manage your tasks and complete everything on time. The question is, how to meet a deadline?

First, evaluate what is required to complete the task. Second,  get your hands on the right resources. Third, think of the potential problems that can impact your performance, and lastly, plan your deadlines accordingly to achieve your goal without any external support of tools and technology. Keep in mind, missing deadlines will impact your productivity and there is a chance that you will lose track of work in the organization. It is better to take responsibility, avoid making excuses and focus on meeting deadlines.

Conclusion:

To conclude, understand that every minute you spend working is to be treated as gold. Business experts claim that you must know productivity techniques to run any business. Of course, that can save you time and effort. It can assist in doing your job in less time.

Moreover, high productivity is a key indicator of a healthy business and work culture. Improving productivity without depending on any tool or technique can add up to profitability, and improve customer service. Along with that, it will lead to highly motivated employees, lower production costs, and better business relationships.

By eliminating time thieves, upscaling your skills, setting deadlines, and having positive feedback, all these elements add up to being more productive. You can implement commonsense tools that can reduce your dependency on different tools. To explain, making to-do lists, taking in-between breaks, and reducing distractions can be a big win to improve your productivity.

Once you’ve understood the importance of productivity without relying on tools, you will implement it to increase valuable business resources. In the continuity of the point, make sure you optimize emailing and meetings, encourage self-awareness and improve office communication. Trying the techniques mentioned in this article will improve your business productivity and performance without depending on tools.

Kiara Miller

“Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.” Wayne Dyer’s thoughts are well suited to Kiara Miller.
Miller has been working as a content marketing professional at “The Speakingnerd.” Her passion for writing is also visible in the innovative joys of material she provides to her readers.

Politics

Fintech Kennek raises $12.5M seed round to digitize lending

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Google eyed for $2 billion Anthropic deal after major Amazon play


London-based fintech startup Kennek has raised $12.5 million in seed funding to expand its lending operating system.

According to an Oct. 10 tech.eu report, the round was led by HV Capital and included participation from Dutch Founders Fund, AlbionVC, FFVC, Plug & Play Ventures, and Syndicate One. Kennek offers software-as-a-service tools to help non-bank lenders streamline their operations using open banking, open finance, and payments.

The platform aims to automate time-consuming manual tasks and consolidate fragmented data to simplify lending. Xavier De Pauw, founder of Kennek said:

“Until kennek, lenders had to devote countless hours to menial operational tasks and deal with jumbled and hard-coded data – which makes every other part of lending a headache. As former lenders ourselves, we lived and breathed these frustrations, and built kennek to make them a thing of the past.”

The company said the latest funding round was oversubscribed and closed quickly despite the challenging fundraising environment. The new capital will be used to expand Kennek’s engineering team and strengthen its market position in the UK while exploring expansion into other European markets. Barbod Namini, Partner at lead investor HV Capital, commented on the investment:

“Kennek has developed an ambitious and genuinely unique proposition which we think can be the foundation of the entire alternative lending space. […] It is a complicated market and a solution that brings together all information and stakeholders onto a single platform is highly compelling for both lenders & the ecosystem as a whole.”

The fintech lending space has grown rapidly in recent years, but many lenders still rely on legacy systems and manual processes that limit efficiency and scalability. Kennek aims to leverage open banking and data integration to provide lenders with a more streamlined, automated lending experience.

The seed funding will allow the London-based startup to continue developing its platform and expanding its team to meet demand from non-bank lenders looking to digitize operations. Kennek’s focus on the UK and Europe also comes amid rising adoption of open banking and open finance in the regions.

Featured Image Credit: Photo from Kennek.io; Thank you!

Radek Zielinski

Radek Zielinski is an experienced technology and financial journalist with a passion for cybersecurity and futurology.

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Politics

Fortune 500’s race for generative AI breakthroughs

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Deanna Ritchie


As excitement around generative AI grows, Fortune 500 companies, including Goldman Sachs, are carefully examining the possible applications of this technology. A recent survey of U.S. executives indicated that 60% believe generative AI will substantially impact their businesses in the long term. However, they anticipate a one to two-year timeframe before implementing their initial solutions. This optimism stems from the potential of generative AI to revolutionize various aspects of businesses, from enhancing customer experiences to optimizing internal processes. In the short term, companies will likely focus on pilot projects and experimentation, gradually integrating generative AI into their operations as they witness its positive influence on efficiency and profitability.

Goldman Sachs’ Cautious Approach to Implementing Generative AI

In a recent interview, Goldman Sachs CIO Marco Argenti revealed that the firm has not yet implemented any generative AI use cases. Instead, the company focuses on experimentation and setting high standards before adopting the technology. Argenti recognized the desire for outcomes in areas like developer and operational efficiency but emphasized ensuring precision before putting experimental AI use cases into production.

According to Argenti, striking the right balance between driving innovation and maintaining accuracy is crucial for successfully integrating generative AI within the firm. Goldman Sachs intends to continue exploring this emerging technology’s potential benefits and applications while diligently assessing risks to ensure it meets the company’s stringent quality standards.

One possible application for Goldman Sachs is in software development, where the company has observed a 20-40% productivity increase during its trials. The goal is for 1,000 developers to utilize generative AI tools by year’s end. However, Argenti emphasized that a well-defined expectation of return on investment is necessary before fully integrating generative AI into production.

To achieve this, the company plans to implement a systematic and strategic approach to adopting generative AI, ensuring that it complements and enhances the skills of its developers. Additionally, Goldman Sachs intends to evaluate the long-term impact of generative AI on their software development processes and the overall quality of the applications being developed.

Goldman Sachs’ approach to AI implementation goes beyond merely executing models. The firm has created a platform encompassing technical, legal, and compliance assessments to filter out improper content and keep track of all interactions. This comprehensive system ensures seamless integration of artificial intelligence in operations while adhering to regulatory standards and maintaining client confidentiality. Moreover, the platform continuously improves and adapts its algorithms, allowing Goldman Sachs to stay at the forefront of technology and offer its clients the most efficient and secure services.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Google DeepMind; Pexels; Thank you!

Deanna Ritchie

Managing Editor at ReadWrite

Deanna is the Managing Editor at ReadWrite. Previously she worked as the Editor in Chief for Startup Grind and has over 20+ years of experience in content management and content development.

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Politics

UK seizes web3 opportunity simplifying crypto regulations

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Deanna Ritchie


As Web3 companies increasingly consider leaving the United States due to regulatory ambiguity, the United Kingdom must simplify its cryptocurrency regulations to attract these businesses. The conservative think tank Policy Exchange recently released a report detailing ten suggestions for improving Web3 regulation in the country. Among the recommendations are reducing liability for token holders in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and encouraging the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to adopt alternative Know Your Customer (KYC) methodologies, such as digital identities and blockchain analytics tools. These suggestions aim to position the UK as a hub for Web3 innovation and attract blockchain-based businesses looking for a more conducive regulatory environment.

Streamlining Cryptocurrency Regulations for Innovation

To make it easier for emerging Web3 companies to navigate existing legal frameworks and contribute to the UK’s digital economy growth, the government must streamline cryptocurrency regulations and adopt forward-looking approaches. By making the regulatory landscape clear and straightforward, the UK can create an environment that fosters innovation, growth, and competitiveness in the global fintech industry.

The Policy Exchange report also recommends not weakening self-hosted wallets or treating proof-of-stake (PoS) services as financial services. This approach aims to protect the fundamental principles of decentralization and user autonomy while strongly emphasizing security and regulatory compliance. By doing so, the UK can nurture an environment that encourages innovation and the continued growth of blockchain technology.

Despite recent strict measures by UK authorities, such as His Majesty’s Treasury and the FCA, toward the digital assets sector, the proposed changes in the Policy Exchange report strive to make the UK a more attractive location for Web3 enterprises. By adopting these suggestions, the UK can demonstrate its commitment to fostering innovation in the rapidly evolving blockchain and cryptocurrency industries while ensuring a robust and transparent regulatory environment.

The ongoing uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrency regulations in various countries has prompted Web3 companies to explore alternative jurisdictions with more precise legal frameworks. As the United States grapples with regulatory ambiguity, the United Kingdom can position itself as a hub for Web3 innovation by simplifying and streamlining its cryptocurrency regulations.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Jonathan Borba; Pexels; Thank you!

Deanna Ritchie

Managing Editor at ReadWrite

Deanna is the Managing Editor at ReadWrite. Previously she worked as the Editor in Chief for Startup Grind and has over 20+ years of experience in content management and content development.

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