The Top Eight Strategies For Boosting Productivity
The quality of our life is determined by how we spend our time. Approximately 80% of us waste 10-15 hours a week on unnecessary interruptions, procrastination, and clutter. Think about how much additional money you could make if those 10-15 hours were used productively. Or think about how much more fun you could have if you had an additional 10-15 hours off each week. Start with these simple strategies if you are ready to maximize your workweek.
1. Create a time management system that fits with your values, preferences, and lifestyle.
Find a successful time management system that works for you. We each prefer to complete certain tasks and activities in different ways, places, and at different times. By honoring your specific preferences, it will make accomplishing more in less time much easier.
2. Establish visiting hours.
You can reduce unnecessary interruptions while offering people the opportunity to communicate with you in a relaxed setting but establishing and enforcing visiting hours. My recommendation is to keep your office door open during established visiting hours and closed at all other times.
3. Optimize your creativity.
People who are creative need a space and a place to record sudden ideas, inspirations, and thoughts that can be distracting during task mode. Keep a tape recorder, notebook, or file nearby to record both simple and complex ideas. The iPhone and many of the other smart phones offer a voice recorder application that makes it simple to record an idea or thought and then quickly get back to the task at hand.
4. Assign a dollar value to the total time wasted in one day.
How much time do you spend per day: Locating papers? Looking for misplaced items? Duplicating efforts? Being annoyed because you can’t find things? Dealing with interruptions that are unnecessary? Total this time. Next, determine what your time is worth. If you earn $50,000 per year and work an average of 40 hours per week, your time is worth $24 per hour. If you’re wasting 10 hours every week, that is worth $240 to you. Type up a sign to post above your desk that says: “Is what I am doing right now worth $24?” You could also word it like this: “Would I be willing to pay someone $24 to do what I am doing right now?” Just looking at that sign throughout the day will shift what you spend your time doing. You will automatically start spending your more time on productive revenue generating tasks and less time on minutia.
5.Think “worst in, first out.” Or delegate unfavorable tasks.
Procrastination is one of the biggest enemies of a well-managed day. Often, we procrastinate because we do not like the task, do not have the right equipment, or we do not have enough information to make a decision. Handle the worst problems first. Get them done, and then move on to the fun stuff. If you continue to procrastinate, delegate the task or hire someone to complete the task for you.
6. Schedule in your tasks.
Make sure you set up specific time slots every day to return voice mail and e-mail, work on important projects, etc. By organizing your work into batches you will get more done in less time. First, make a list of all tasks that need to get done and separate each task by daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually. Write them down on your calendar in batches. For example, make two “appointments” every day to check and return voicemail and e-mail. Choose one appointment time each week to send out client invoices and so on.
7. Limit distractions.
When important projects need to be completed, close the door, turn off the phone, and place a sign on the door that reads: “Man or woman at work. Please return at *insert your visiting hour*.” Use this valuable time to complete important projects. Make an appointment with yourself each day to work on important projects. Treat the appointment as your would an important appointment with your doctor. If something else comes up during that time, reschedule the appointment with yourself in the same way you would reschedule a doctor’s appointment.
8. Each day, practice saying “NO” at least 10 times.
Often, saving time means saying “no” to other people. If this is difficult for you practice a variety of responses at least 10 times each day. For example, “I would really like to attend, but I cannot make it this time,” or “I am unfortunately too busy to do your project justice to your project at this time but am flattered that you thought of me,” or “no, thank you,” or simply “No.” Just remember you are honoring your own life and goals by saying “no.
Heidi is a professional organizer, creator of The Fast-Filing Method home filing system, & publisher of Life Made Simple e-Magazine. Heidi energizes her readers’ lives by teaching effective organizational systems to help you accomplish more & GAIN peace of mind! Visit ClearSimpleLiving.com to get a complimentary subscription AND a FREE Home Organization Kit.
Tags: Organizing, productivity, Time Management, time management tips