Everyone wants to be highly efficient and effective in the workplace and in their personal life. Learning ways to improve your skills and get more done in the same amount of time.
Focus on Importance
The most important tasks must be the main focus in your life. Select one or two items from your list that are important and ensure that you complete them that day. Then you can fill in the rest of your day with lesser tasks that can make you feel productive and successful for the day.
Deep Work
Spend a chunk of time involved in deep work. This means you may need to schedule this time, when it is most likely you won’t be distracted. Allow yourself to be bored and try and push away distractions. Make yourself harder to contact, so you are only bothered when it is absolutely necessary. Learn your working habits and how you perform best. Reward yourself with a little break when you hit a milestone or maybe a small treat if you complete a large task.
Distraction List
Often times, we get stuck searching for things to keep us entertained. When we are working, we need to avoid as many distractions as possible. Every time a thought comes into your mind regarding a task or to-do list, write it down and save it for later. This will allow the thought to be put to rest for the time being so you can focus on the task at hand.
Prioritize
Make sure to work on tasks that are either important or at least urgent. Delegate tasks that are not extremely important, but urgent. Anything else can go by the wayside and should not be getting any of your precious time.
80/20 Rule
Work on an 80/20 rule where you spend 20% of the time on major projects and try to get rid of the other 80% that is not as important in your daily work so you can be more efficient and still highly effective.
Break it Down
When you have a large piece of work to complete, it can be extremely stressful thinking about its completion. However, if you break the task down into smaller pieces, it becomes more manageable. Bite-sized pieces of work that can be easily digested are great ways of getting work done and not being discouraged or overwhelmed.
Schedule Breaks
When you are in deep work you are only effective for a chunk of time. Schedule breaks every 30 minutes or so to ensure that you are working effectively. This scheduled distraction will actually help you in the long run.
Automate
Look at your daily tasks and learn if there is a way you could automate and reduce the time it takes to perform a task. Finding shortcuts that can benefit you will save you time and money.
Learn
Learn from successes and mistakes to save time the next time around. Don’t get discouraged when you fail, just learn what works and what doesn’t and move on.
