The Six Best Ways To Save Time At Work
Anyone looking to make some serious progress in the business world will need to zero in on their efficiency and optimize.
Despite a technological paradise that is geared into pressing forward full-tilt, many of today’s busiest executives and professionals struggles with getting the most accomplished in the shortest amount of time and the fewest amounts of resources.
But efficiency is not a modern concept and the time-tested methods of deciding what needs to be accomplished and making it as easy as possible to do so are still in function today.
1. Plan From the Start
Ambition will make you rise early and jump right into the task at hand. But slow down, according to the experts, a few minutes of planning at the beginning of your day saves time later. Furthermore, it gives your actions a sense of structure and purpose. When work begins resist the urge to get right into it. Take a few moments to think what needs to be done and in what order.
2. Do the most important task first.
What is important can be different than what is urgent. You can have deadlines and bills and you always will. But if you don’t take the time for that important stuff like growth, progress, establishing connections and the many other tasks that will bring about your ultimate long term goals. Checking email can be a huge mistake if done at the wrong time or time you may be one of those people who get a hundred emails a day. Software such as “inbox zero” may be a great tool to help you manage your inbox.
3. Delegate everything except your greatest strengths.
How many people have actually sat down and made a list of what they are GOOD at. Even less maximize these strengths by spending most of their time practicing them. But the answer will open more doors than you ever thought possible. Take ten minutes to list out your top 5 or 10 strengths and consider all other tasks secondary. They don’t even need your focus if they are not your specialty so delegate. A well known author, Stephen Covey, has a best seller out called, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Well worth the read.
4. Rush the unimportant.
It is really nice to add that spit and polish that makes a final product a masterpiece, but for trivial tasks you don’t need to waste the focus. You can’t put all your focus into every task, as a matter of fact only about 20% of your tasks will require 80% of your attention. The trick is to place that 80% of your focus into the 20% that counts the most.
5. Compress your time.
Leaving open ended time frames is a recipe for wasting time and getting little accomplished. Always set a time frame and work to complete tasks in the shortest amount of time possible. Working against the clock adds thrills and excitement to a trivial task and an air of professionalism about a work of art. Furthermore, you will be surprised how much you can accomplish when you choose to undergo a little pressure.
6. Have a leaving time.
It is easy to become so caught up in the starting time that the importance of the leaving time fades into the distance. But if you know exactly what time you will be cutting off from the office, you will increase your productivity during your time there. Have you ever noticed how that week before vacation can be one of the most productive in the year? It’s all in the mind and understanding that the end of work is soon to come and it will be time to focus on other things.