Who doesn’t want to be more efficient? Adding minutes to hours and creating more hours in your day is a highly coveted skill. Kevin Daum, best-selling author of Video Marketing for Dummies, points out that some people are actually very adept at efficiency. These people “manage every manageable moment so they have more time for themselves to do the things they love.” Want to be like them? Here are the first four of eight techniques to help you (and me!), originally from Inc.com:
1. Stop Multitasking
Multitasking was once regarded as the hallmark of a productive mom, boss, or employee. Yet very few can solidly focus on more than 1 or two tasks, particularly if they require focus and depth. Don’t fool yourself –spreading out over several tasks and jumping back and forth between them naturally results in poorer quality work across the board. Really efficient people know that concentrated effort with few distractions leads to better work product in faster time. Otherwise the work may not be up to par, which means you’ll be spending additional valuable time and energy going back to fix the mistakes.
2. Delegate
Inspired by those who overload their schedules with millions of tasks and burn the midnight oil? Don’t be. Taking on more than you can handle destroys productivity. Really efficient people are good at breaking down tasks and empowering others to contribute effort. In other words, they are masters at delegating, a topic I have addressed just a few weeks ago (Secret to Productivity). By focusing your energy to tasks that play to your strengths, you (and each contributor) can all crank through those tasks in record time without distraction. And besides, many hands make short work!
3. Use Appropriate Communication
As I’m sure you have experienced as well, I have received many emails and voice messages in my lifetime that were vague, left out key information, came across as blunt and abrasive, or contained mistakes – each of these being the obvious result of relaying instructions too fast. This sort of poor communication is a huge time-waster. The masters of efficiency take a little extra time to think through their communication in the beginning. They consider their objectives before they get on the phone and craft their emails using the exact language necessary to convey messages clearly. Taking a bit more time at the beginning can shave days from a project. Take the time to think twice, and you’ll only have to speak once.
4. Apply Structure to the Schedule
Do you rule your calendar or does your calendar rule you? Despite all the available scheduling and productivity tools we have these days, many people more strongly identify with the latter. Efficiency fanatics create standard routines in their schedule so they can achieve a disciplined approach and be ready for the important events. The more you control the calendar, the easier it is to make room for the unexpected.
Is this helping so far? Wait till you hear the rest! I will be sharing the remaining four tips on the next post, so don’t miss out.
