Last post I shared four effective ways to get more work DONE and free up precious minutes and hours of your day to invest in the things you love. Kevin Daum from Inc.com has analyzed the habits of extremely efficient people so we can learn from them too. I shared four of his strategies in part one, and here are the rest (starting at number 5).
5. Give Everything a Proper Place
“I was just holding my favorite pen, now where did it go?” We all misplace items happens some point, but hunting for keys/pens/clothing can cause distraction and frustration (especially when you’re in the middle of something important or tedious). This is easily solved by simply being organized. Establish a home for all the items you have. Many factories and businesses create common homes for all necessary tools of the trade. Organize clothes, papers and electronics in a way that you can easily find them, and put things away every time. After two weeks, you will most likely have formed a habit which will save you time, prevent irritation, and make you a more efficient person.
6. Time Activities
Timing tasks is something I have specifically implemented in my office to assist with productivity, focus, and organization. Do you really know how much time you spend productively versus how much time you waste? A bit of introspective analysis may surprise you. Try logging your time on conversations, tasks, and activities for a week. Efficient people set a time for each of their tasks and work to keep the schedule. So after logging your time, determine specific times for the next week’s activities, and see if you can reduce the times with similar output. A stitch in time….
7. Commit to Downtime
Remember the tip in the previous post about delegating? The reason you shouldn’t be inspired by over-scheduled ‘saints’ is simple: tired and overworked people just don’t perform well. People pleasers are notorious for sacrificing their own downtime in an attempt to benefit others, but in truth they detract from productivity. Really efficient people make sure they get rest and recuperation, and as a result they perform at their peak. One amazing employee can do the work of three average employees, so if you want to be one of the top performers, be sure to rest up!
8. Plan Projects
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” -Alan Lakein. Impatience is the direct enemy of efficiency. Successful military leaders throughout history are famous for their meticulous efforts to survey the enemy, gather information, learn as much as they can, and draw up a plan of attack before riding forth sounding the command CHARGE! Efficient people do the same: before they attack, they break a project down into basic steps in order to achieve success consistently. Yes, planning takes a little time. But considering the challenges, process and responsibilities in advance will provide clear direction, allowing everyone to move confidently, efficiently, and achieve all the objectives in record time. To put it whimsically, this is yet another instance where taking some time ahead of time saves you time every time! Well, you get the idea.
As always, at AB&P we are here to help you become more efficient by alleviating your burden of payroll processing and/or bookkeeping so you can get back to doing what you do best. We ALL can use a few more minutes in the day – do you have more tips to share? Let us know!
