Every man can stand to improve his workplace productivity. For those of you who go out of your way to goof off on the job, well, you may be beyond help. But for the guys who strive to deliver a high level of performance day in and day out, there is room to become more capable and without going insane from stress at the same time.
It all boils down to how you streamline, batch, expedite, and execute your tasks. If you have yet to analyze what you do every day at work, as well as how you do it, down to the minutiae, there is no way you can perform at your peak. Without a systematic approach to your job function process, maximum proficiency will not be achieved.
Think about your job; what do you do first thing in the morning, how many breaks do you take and how do you manage your time? Do you have a lot of idle time to contend with or do you rush like a madman to finish task after task and struggle to eat lunch and even go to the washroom? Both of these scenarios are bad news. The first one places the employee in a state of career limbo and lethargy. The second scenario is a one-way ticket to emotional and physical burnout, not to mention an early grave.
So in the spirit of good career health and work-life balance, here are 7 ways to be more efficient on the job:
Prioritize the night before, not first thing in the morning. Expect the unexpected throughout the workday — something is bound to come up and throw you off — but as a rule, try to organize yourself before you take off for dinner. Think about the important tasks you have to take care of, any potential calls or meetings you have to prepare for and correspondences you have to complete. List them in order of priority and make the list accessible, either on a sheet of paper, in your PDA or in your computer. Do the same thing for your week and month as well.
Designate 15 minutes at the end of every Friday to look ahead to the next week and compile a comprehensive task action plan. On a similar note, at the end of the month, take a broad look at the next 30 days and compose a list of professional goals. Sound organization will streamline your job and provide strong motivation to work hard. Remember; people never plan to fail, they just fail to plan.
In the same vein as your new commitment to prioritize, set deadlines for your tasks. Ambitious, but realistic deadlines. If you leave the completion of your tasks open and subject to interpretation, they may never get done. Even if management is not on your back and the company is in a mode of complacency, set an example with hardcore deadlines. If you work in a team, push them to adhere to a schedule. Every company has red tape and bureaucracy to suppress launch dates for projects but nonetheless, it is advisable to do your part and not become part of the problem.
Clutter and piles of paperwork can have a major negative impact on your productivity. Despite the obvious benefits of a clean work area, few take the time to file and organize. I suggest you get on it, pronto . Take an hour at the end of the day to find a place for important items. File them away in a space that is easy to access and remember. If you happen to be a pack rat, break that bad habit by tossing out items and recycling papers you no longer use. Go by the one month rule: If more than 30 days has gone by since your last use of the paper or file in question, purge it from your space. It may be painful but trust me; it is well worth the effort.
Upgrade, get personal at lunch, and more tips to increase productivity.
For some people, more gadgets are akin to more stress. But if you use them with the proper intent and under necessary circumstances, they can be of huge benefit to your workday. A better, faster computer, a new mobile phone and of course, a personal digital assistant, can save time and empower you as an employee. Just make your company understand the long-term benefits of such devices before you ask them to make the investment for you. Keep in mind as well that technology is only a time saver when you harness it for the proper intent and at the suitable time.
We seldom realize the ripple effect that the occasional personal call can have on our day. The impact can be quite detrimental, when you consider the constant interruptions they cause as we try to complete a major task or project. As a result, the best advice is to save personal correspondences and matters for your lunch hour. Think of lunch as a time to scarf down a quick meal and take care of personal business. Be vigilant about it and your work will get done a lot faster.
6- Thought-intensive in the a.m., labor-intensive in the p.m.
Most of us are sharper before lunch, so the advice here is to be done with tasks that emphasize deep analysis and thought without delay. If you have to crunch numbers or write an extensive report, get on with it the moment you sit down at your desk. On the other side of the coin, schedule meetings and conference calls in the afternoon. This is the best time for most of us to interact and share ideas with others. So save the morning for tasks that demand intense examination and scrutiny. Leave the post-lunch hours for less thought-intensive chores.
You may not have a team of people to manage and delegate to but regardless, it is vital to maximize the potential of your colleagues to better perform your job. Take a look at your tasks and find out where your peers can be of use. Self-delegation is important as well. To save yourself time, meet with management on a regular basis to get a clear picture of what your tasks are, what they entail and how best you can execute them. Empower yourself with this knowledge; it will serve you well as you go about your workday and will help you set an agenda. And remember, there are no stupid questions, except for the ones not asked.
These are some of the major actions you can take to increase your personal productivity on the job. There are other small shortcuts, of course, that I recommend:
Implement these tips and your efficiency at work is bound to rise. So what are you waiting for?
Taken from AskMen
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.