Ask yourself this:

1) Are you looking to become more productive and/or get things done?

2) Do you want to produce quality work of which you can be proud?

Below I offer a few tips to help you produce solid, quality work that will make your heart sing.

Know how you work.

It may seem a bit clichéd but knowing how you work is paramount to producing your best work.

Where and when do you feel you work at your best? Do you prefer to work in a busy, noisy space or quiet one? When do you work best? Is it morning, afternoon, evening or night?

Consider type of tasks, relative difficulty and an estimated timeframe to complete when prioritizing. Perhaps you find it easier to run errands towards end of day with more thought-engaging or creative work beginning of day, or vice versa.

Think about how you feel as you do your work. It might take some time for you to figure out how you work best, but it is well worth that internal analysis in the long run.

Take stock of your less-than stellar work.

In order for you to produce your best work it’s necessary for you to identify work from the…”other spectrum” (gasp!). Seriously though, honesty counts here if you’re to make great future gains. Think back to a time a few weeks or months, where you turned in a piece of work with which you weren’t fully satisfied. How would you describe the overall quality of this work? What led you to this conclusion? Were you not happy with your effort on the project (perhaps your heart wasn’t really in it), maybe you put forth a bare minimum to finish because you were under deadline, or you just weren’t feeling motivated that week. Once you know why your work was less-than stellar you can take appropriate steps to remedy this in future such as adjusting your schedule, seeking out projects that intrigue or excite you, or buckling down and putting in a solid dose of effort and attention.

Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need in order to work.

Asking for what you need and sticking by it shows you mean business. You’re obviously there to do a job and are serious about doing it well. Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself, requesting materials/items/tools you’ll need to meet your expectations of a job well done. Need a bit of inspiration? Just think of all those action/adventure movies where there’s some sort of crisis and an expert is called to help our hero! Our hero then tells the expert they can have anything they need, and the expert rattles off a list of specific requests so they can complete the job. While everyday life is not always as exciting as a Hollywood blockbuster storyline, concept remains: ask for what you need so you can get the job done!