Work Smarter, Not Harder
According to this Bloomberg article, many people spend approximately forty minutes every day just checking Facebook. Some people will spend a lot more time and some a lot less. No matter how much time is spent, unless your job is to check Facebook, this might be draining a substantial amount of your precious time and your productivity.
Other time-draining activities may be less obvious. Email checking, for example, may seem like something that you need to do, but the way that most people do it actually kills productivity. You feel busy, but you’re actually not getting anything of substance done. You can fill your days with tasks like these—things that seem important but ultimately do not propel you towards your goals, —and yet you feel plenty busy, all while miring yourself.
If you are working hard, but you’re not seeing the results you want, perhaps it's time to stop working hard and start working smart. Here’s some tips to do just that:
Write down what you want to accomplish. Are you an entrepreneur?
Have you started a business or are thinking about starting a business. That’s a noble goal, but owning a business is rarely the extent of that goal. Usually, the goal is to become self-sufficient, to work for yourself, to bring your talents to the world, etc. You want to have a concrete idea of what you want to accomplish before you can start looking for and eliminating the habits that make it difficult to achieve that goal.
Keep track of what you do all day. Before you try to make any adjustments to your work habits, look at how you work. What do you do that actively wastes
time (things like social media, watching YouTube videos, chatting with other workers, etc.)? What do you do that passively wastes time (checking email, answering phone calls, holding unnecessary meetings, etc.)? For a few days, write down how you use your time—try to document exactly how you use it. How often do you let yourself be pulled away from a big project by a text message or email? How often are you distracted by the conversation two other people are having outside of your office.
Determine what activities are not necessary and what activities are necessary, but are essentially busy work. You shouldn’t stop answering your phone, responding to text messages, or checking your email—these are all
important and necessary things. However, most people allow themselves to be distracted from what they are currently working on by the pull of these activities. Every time your concentration is broken, it could take you up to an hour to get back into the right mindset to get real work done. This is time wasted, and that phone call, email, text, etc. can probably wait until after you’re done.
Compartmentalize your time and defend your schedule. If you allow your schedule to be overrun or overscheduled, you’re going to find yourself
harried and far too busy to actually get anything of substance completed. Compartmentalize necessary, but low value tasks like answering emails to specific times of day. Turn off notifications during the times of day you have scheduled to work on tasks that actually do help you progress, so you get neither auditory nor visual pings about those low-value tasks. Don’t let your schedule be eaten up by low value activities. You’ll find yourself being calmer and having far more time to work on the things that really matter.
Learn to say no. Many of us, especially women of the world, find our time being hijacked by others and their agendas. It’s time to learn to say no.
When someone asks you for help, but you legitimately do not have the time or energy to complete that task, it’s alright to tell them that you aren’t able to help them. This is an important part of defending your schedule and working smarter. You’ll be more focused on the things that really matter to you and less distracted by tasks that don’t help you achieve what you really want to achieve.
Practice self-care.
Those who are more productive are those that take breaks when they need to take them. They know when to turn off and call a work day done. They don’t take
their work home with them, because they know that they’ve given their all to the day’s most important tasks. They do things that they love, and they also know when to turn off the screens and stop the over-stimulation that's become a huge part of today's society.
Following these tips can help you cut out the junk from your workday, and help you devote most of time and energy to the top-priority tasks. This will allow you to work smarter not harder, and you’ll find you will get more done by working less. For even more tips, check out this Time article.
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Michelle L. Berns is a hybrid real estate solutions provider at Premiere Estates and Braun, Inc. She is also an author, coach and founder of Strategic Talent Associates (STA), a strategic marketing consultancy.