10 Ways to Boost Productivity At Work Despite Resource Constraints
- Smita D Jain
- May 28
- 6 min read
If you're leading teams but losing yourself in the process, it’s time to rethink how you manage your day.
Sanjana couldn’t believe herself when she received the second gift of the day. The first was the best employee of the year at the company’s annual party, and the second one made her cry out of joy. Her 4-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son had made her a present to congratulate her, and it read: ‘Best Mom Ever’.
She teared up thinking about her life a year ago. She was promoted to senior executive at her firm. Her days were like a routine: back-to-back meetings, loads of client work, zero breaks and half-eaten lunch. It was past the kid's bedtime when she got home. The weekends were brutal - she still had to work from home to keep up with the deadlines. One day, she was overwhelmed and panicked when her daughter cried for hours, and she cried when she couldn’t calm her down.
With a determination to spend more time with her family, Sanjana looked for ways to manage time and energy as a senior leader. And that resulted in the present.
As an executive coach who works closely with clients to help them manage burnout and boost productivity, I recommend the following 10 proven strategies to manage time and energy for a senior professional like her with limited resources.
How to Boost Productivity at Work?
1. Prioritise
Start by writing down what matters, what doesn’t and what’s taking up most of your time. You will find where you should focus to increase your workplace efficiency. Let it be a progress meeting, family dinner, or your workout - let it be something that actually brings value to both your personal and professional life.
When you have fewer resources(time), doing everything is never an option.
To help yourself identify what truly matters, you can use frameworks like the 80/20 rule, the Eisenhower Matrix, MoSCoW prioritisation and Eat The Frog. Figure out what works the best for you and exploit it.
Workplace efficiency starts with knowing what matters.
2. Set Clear Goals
With too many tasks, you will never finish half of them. When you look at your half-marked to-do list by the end of the day, all you see is frustration. Then burnout creeps in after a week of overworking.
When you want to make the most out of every day, planning is your best friend and success partner.
Take out your diary and write all the goals you want to achieve in a year. Then break it down to small, actionable weekly and daily goals that will take you closer to achieving those long-term goals.
There are a lot of options like Trello and Notion, if you are a digital planner, and if you are an old-fashioned planner, use a diary. Also, don’t forget to follow the previous strategy, prioritise ruthlessly.
Effective goal setting is one of the top productivity habits used by senior professionals and executives.
3. Delegate
If you are struggling with burnout and overwhelm, you are 50% likely to have a mindset of ‘ I have to do it all’ or ‘No one can do it better than me’. It is time to shift your mindset to ‘Who else can take this on?’.
Don’t panic thinking about ‘delegation’. All you have to do is find someone who does the task at least 70% as well as you and delegate it to them. You can always check once the task is fully done.
Delegation helps empower your team, giving them the freedom to learn and building trust in themselves and you.
A smart delegation strategy boosts team performance and prevents executive burnout.
4. Automate Tasks
If you think automation belongs to IT, you are wrong. Automation is a productivity tool for every industry. From scheduling meetings to sending reports, many tasks can easily be automated.
With innovation and technology, there are plenty of free or affordable tools to help you manage your time with limited resources.
5. Deep Work
You get more done when you focus on one task at a time than being a multitasker. By following the previous strategies of prioritisation and setting goals, you will now have a clear idea of what you should focus on.
All you have to do now is block your time to fit into each task and start working on that. Make sure to block a break in between each block so that even if one stretches out, you will have some time to work on that.
If you block your time for books and if you enjoy self-help, then you must try Deep Work by Carl Newport. You can find all the deep work strategies there and pick what suits you the best.
6. The Power of ‘NO’
Taking on more tasks reduces your energy to do the tasks that matter more to you. When you find yourself sitting in a meeting that doesn’t require your input or favours that making it a priority, or emails that want you to reply on a weekend, say NO, politely but firmly.
Be clear about your availability to your colleagues and protect your time ruthlessly.
Start using phrases like: ‘Let me get back on that’, ‘I am sorry, I have to focus on the current project at the moment’. The more you start saying no to things that don’t matter, the faster you will be moving towards your goal.
7. Leverage Your Team
Everyone in your team excels at one thing that aligns with the goals. With limited time and tight resources, knowing who excels at what is crucial and can help you save time.
Observing your team to know them better is a long-term process. To make it quick, you can start by doing a quick skills audit and learn deeper gradually.
Also, encourage open communication so that your team members feel safe sharing what they enjoy or where they need help. This builds trust and helps you distribute work efficiently without micromanaging.
8. Create Workflows
A chaotic work process eats up your energy. That’s why systems and workflows are your hidden productivity boosters. Use tools like Trello and Asana to plan your workflows.
Document your workflow not just to save time but also to make it easy to train new hires or delegate confidently. Well-defined workflows increase effectiveness for leaders managing multiple tasks.
9. Invest in Your Energy
Even if you follow all the above strategies and boost your productivity with resource constraints, you can’t get things done when you don’t have the energy to do it.
Don’t try to squeeze out the last bit of energy you have in completing a task. With you being low on energy, you can find dozens of mistakes in a simple task.
You can be recharged within an hour with a proper break. Take things slowly if you feel tired. If you tried to pour from an empty cup, you would feel exhaustion creeping in and burnout easily.
10. Seek Support
When you find yourself in a position where you can’t handle the frustration and overwhelm by yourself, reach out to mentors, peers or coaches.
As an executive coach, I have seen and helped dozens of executives and senior employees like Sanjana.
Despite the differences in their name, title and company, the problems are the same - burnout, frustration, bad time and energy management and being overwhelmed by taking on tasks.
A well-trained mentor or coach can help you out of your struggles faster than you think.
The Last Word: Prioritise Small Shifts to Increase Your Productivity
If you think productivity is doing more and being busy with tasks 24/7, you are prone to burnout.
The signs are obvious: your performance declines, you feel and look tired all the time, procrastinate about the crucial tasks, and eventually start to despise the role you once fell in love with.
Remember Sanjana? She was in the same position a year back. Her life shifted 360° when she understood her priority and wanted to be the best mom and handle her professional life well. It was not an easy task for her to block time, say no and schedule online meetings. But she made that work. You can too.
Don’t try to change your life overnight. You may get productivity burnout. This will take time, a year or two, but it will take you closer to your goals.
Productivity is doing better with what you already have.
Try this out: Pick a strategy and try implementing it this week.
Your future self will thank you.
Need help to work smart? Take the free 'My Time Management Style' Assessment to enhance your productivity and have a personal life.
Smita D Jain is a Certified Executive Coach, Personal Empowerment Life Coach, and NLP Practitioner. Smita’s ‘Empower Your Edge’ Executive Coaching Programs enable ambitious mid-career and senior leaders to speak with confidence, lead with impact and thrive in careers they love. You can learn more about Smita’s ‘Empower Yourself’ Coaching Programs by visiting https://www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com/, and book a complimentary strategy session with her at https://www.lifecoachsmitadjain.com/booking
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