Your ability to dedicate time to certain tasks, accomplish them, and conclude a workday with a vital output can be a general measure of your efficiency. Similarly, if there are no methods established for time management, prioritizing, tracking tasks, or organization, your efficiency will be compromised. Organizational skills and time management are commonly associated with general work efficiency. Time management is merely one strategy that you could use to improve your productivity. By making basic adjustments to your day-to-day operations, you will begin to notice changes in your efficiency. The following tips provide you with ways to increase your work efficiency.
Complete Tasks One At A Time
While you could be able to take on multiple tasks or projects simultaneously, focusing on a single job at a time could improve your productivity. The idea behind this is to always work smarter not harder. When you try doing multiple activities at a time, you tend to spend more time transitioning between tasks than actually getting things done. Several projects will remain incomplete or be completed at a subpar quality than if every task had been tackled individually. Focusing on one task would also help with your planning and prioritizing. Always focus on projects in their order of importance so you can complete the more demanding tasks before wrapping up your day with less complicated tasks.
Establish Small Objectives
Instead of setting up large objectives that will need several outlets and a longer time to accomplish them, you could plan out smaller goals throughout your workday. Objectives, such as responding to clients’ emails, filing important paperwork, or organizing the resources that your staff members could use to finalize future projects are minor, daily tasks that you could plan around your hours of work time. All these shorter, simpler goals can be used as milestones to determine your progression towards larger objectives.
Attend to Major Tasks When You Are Most Alert
Many individuals regularly push complicated tasks because they aren’t confident they can accomplish them. By the time they get back to this task, they are too tired from a busy day to give it the concentration it requires. This is how several projects bleed into extra days, making you feel more unproductive. You have to understand how and when you work best. No particular schedule works for everyone. If you work best in the morning, then tackle complicated objectives first thing in your workday.
The Two-Minute Rule
The two-minute rule involves carrying out objectives that are two minutes or lower and also using two minutes to begin smaller objectives that you could have been postponing. For example, it may take you just two minutes or lower to check off the tasks you’ve completed, respond to an email, plan out your next goals, or print out some vital documents for completed projects. Completing these minor objectives can oftentimes ultimately lead to a completed schedule. Carrying out these little tasks in between other more complicated tasks will keep you productive always.
Regular Breaks
When faced with important, time-sensitive tasks, it could be tempting for you to skip breaks so that you can get more done. However, this will do you more harm than good. Doing this will result in burnout or fatigue, which could affect your overall efficiency. When this occurs, you will lack the motivation and energy to make progress on a workday. Planning out multiple short breaks throughout the day should be paramount. Many workplaces have a compulsory programme with allotted break times, so staff members can have some minutes of rest after several hours of work.
Time Chunk Your Schedule
Using time chunks within your scheduled workday can also improve your efficiency. This strategy is all about setting a time limit for every task you are working on. Consider 60-minute or 90-minute time blocks. You may have to print out your daily schedule and highlight the timeframes where you wish to set your time chunks. The purpose of this is to make a visual schedule to aid you to monitor the periods of objectives you’re working on. It also serves as a great way of dedicating yourself to a single task for each chunk of time.
Assign Tasks
Consider assigning tasks to other staff members. For example, if you are swarmed with tasks on your to-do list, you could assign some objectives that can be completed without your involvement to others. Assigning tasks will also allow you to work on other objectives that are particular to your expertise.
Reduce Interruptions
Interruptions can leave us unproductive throughout the day. While you may have a healthy relationship with your coworkers, losing time over informal meetings or discussions can impede your workflow and reduce your overall efficiency. Consider using certain strategies to lower the number of interruptions you have time to deal with during your workday. You may have to shut your office door during certain hours of the day, or if it’s an open-office workplace, you could use headphones to lower the sounds of chatter.
Organize Your Workplace
An organized and decluttered environment can reduce anxiety, improving productivity. Less clutter helps you think clearly and decreases the amount of time you would find important documents. Your organization says a lot about the type of person and employee you are.
Get Out of Bed Early
Many employees don’t know how important waking up early is to your daily routine and productivity. Waking up early will allow you to start your day properly. Instead of rushing out every morning, you will have enough time to carry out the activities you will be too preoccupied to do. You can take out time from your morning to eat breakfast or exercise before heading out to work. This will keep you sharp throughout the day.
Work Remotely
Getting out of the office could improve your productivity by having more done faster. While working from the office could foster resources and collective energy, it could also limit your productivity. You could be interrupted while you are working by other coworkers who think their questions or issues are more urgent. A study by Harvard Business Review reported that people who work remotely are more efficient and unlikely to quit jobs.
Just implementing these strategies won’t improve your work efficiency, you also have to be consistent with them. Always develop your skills, and your productivity will improve also. Every day might not be as productive as you would expect, but don’t beat yourself over it and continue what you are doing.
