Google Workspace: Bringing Productivity and Well-being Together

In our current series of posts we are taking an in-depth look at the Google Workspace Guide to productivity. The main theme of this series is impact over output. When discussing productivity, people often think it’s about getting everything possible out of the day. Google argues differently, they think it should be more about getting things done you set out to do and making an impact. This requires you to understand yourself as a whole person and focus on balancing the things that make you happy, productive, and efficient. During the global pandemic of the last few years, these productivity discussions have become more important, as a hybrid work environment has forced us to balance working from home with aspects of homeschooling and caregiving. In our last post, we talked about making meetings more meaningful(link). This time we will discuss bringing productivity and wellbeing together.

Our well-being directly affects our performance at work. If we have a better well-being we are more likely to have more productive workdays. No example better demonstrates this than the book challenge that Google’s Executive Productivity Advisor runs at Google. Laura Mae Martin has been working at Google for over ten years and in a productivity executive role for the last five. Her challenge is to read one book per week.

She runs the book challenge because some of the most productive people in the world develop a habit of reading one book a week. This challenge may seem daunting for some, but it has a number of benefits. One of the benefits is that six minutes of reading per day is known to reduce stress by up to 68%. Now, we are not going to be able to read an entire book in a week after reading just six minutes a day, but the study shows that the short amount of reading every day helps clear the mind and reduces tension.

We highlight this great example because it shows how well-being and productivity can go hand in hand. Lower stress levels lead to higher brain capacity and more productivity. Some of the members of Laura’s book challenge even say that this is their most productive time of the year.

Let’s dive deep into some of Google’s other wellbeing tips for enhancing productivity.

Find your whitespace at work (and in life)

A whitespace is like a blank slate. It allows us to create something from nothing. It allows our brain to wander and open up new doors, think about things we don’t usually get time to think about. According to Google, our productivity comes down to our ability to open and close loops. We typically spend most of our time closing loops, like responding to emails or finishing tasks that come across our desks. It is imperative that we find time to open loops as well, not just in our work life but also in our personal lives. More directly, Google suggests finding the time and even blocking time in your calendar to go for walks, think of new ideas, brainstorm with our team, or even eat lunch alone without your phone. Try to find some whitespace (time) and see what new loops open up.

In the office, put your phone in a secure place at your desk when you go get water, use the restroom, or go for a short walk

A lot of us work in front of a computer. It’s important that we get away from devices from time to time during the day. Moving away from your desk is the perfect opportunity to get off devices. Picking up your phone when you go anywhere away from your desk is counterproductive and will only distract you more. Give your brain a break when you do these simple activities. You can apply this at your home office as well.

Try “one tab only” working for a week

This one is tough, but the fewer tabs you have open, the more focused you will be. Are you reading a Google doc? Make sure you only have that tab open. Are you in the middle of your email block? Close all the other tabs other than Gmail. Writing some code? Make sure that your editor is the only screen you can see.

When you’re struggling to get something done, find your point of least resistance

Start with what feels easiest when you say a goal. Trying to run 5 miles today? Does that sound scary? Try 3. Thinking about closing out fifteen tasks this week and your palms start to sweat? Maybe reduce that number to eight tasks. Whatever feels comfortable, start with that and add to it if you have capacity.

Turn off notifications for work apps after work hours

This one is fairly straightforward and easy to implement. It will take discipline to not check those apps in the first few days though. Get in the habit of detaching from work after you leave the office or your desk at home.

While working from home, pick your hotspot and your not spot

Speaking of working from home, find locations in your house and tape them off. Well, maybe don’t go this far, but have distinct areas of your home where you work and where you don’t work. Your hot spot is where you work. The consistent light, smells, and sounds of that spot will allow you to focus better. Your not spot is where you never work or think about work. Google says it best “treat your work at home like a guest”.

Learn to meditate, take a mindfulness course, take up yoga, or enroll in that cooking or creative writing class you’ve always been curious about

The richer and better rounded your personal life is, the more productive you will be at work. Having something to look forward to outside of work might make your workweek more enjoyable.

Making hybrid work connections

If you are working from home, it’s hard to make connections with people at the office. Google recommends that we pick a few emails each week to NOT send. This means, if you have a hybrid work environment where you get to go to the office sometimes, save those emails for casual conversations in person. Go grab a coffee with that colleague and talk about it rather than sending another email.

Find 3-5 things to be grateful for every day and write them down in your daily plan

Achieving work-life balance takes some time and testing. It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight. You should also revisit your work-life balance from time to time, to reassess if you are still on point. Writing down 3-5 things that you are grateful for each day will help you discover this work-life balance. This activity will bring on the best from work and life. Remember to write down things that make you happy AND things that give you energy.

Bring it home (well not actually)

Don’t bring your work home. We aren’t talking about that when we say “bring it home”.

What we mean is, in these past four pieces we’ve talked about productivity and now we need to bring it all home. The home in this statement is Google Workspace. If you and your team want to experience high productivity like millions of other teams across the globe, Google Workspace is right for you. Teams on Google Workspace are more productive because they don’t have to wait for software updates, avoid document version collisions, and no longer see server glitches. Instead, they obtain flexibility for real-time teamwork and collaboration from anywhere at any time.

If you are interested in Google Workspace reach out to us at Seibert Media.