If you’re spending more time on everyday communication and correspondence than on real work, then you have probably not yet figured out the real goal of your job. Well, there’s nothing wrong in interacting with different people, but if the constant lack of success is causing stress, it’s about time to ask - does your work consist only of meetings, phone calls and e-mails or do you also have time for real work? When was the last time you did something you can really be proud of?
There is a huge amount of time saving tips available and hundreds of books have been published on the subject. I have selected the top 10 easiest ones of these to implement. I feel they have really helped me to achieve success in business and balance in life.
Here they are:
- Planning is key.
Don’t be afraid to spend time on detailed planning. It is proven, that every 15 minutes spent on planning will save you 1-2 hours later on. Write down your tasks daily. - Log your activities.
Keep a log of your activities and know where your time is going. This helps you discover time leaks and realize how much time you waste each day. - Plan only a part of your working day.
Don’t plan more than about 60 percent of your working time. There’s a big chance of burning out, when you plan 100 percent of your day, because you will always have unscheduled phone calls, things you have forgotten and unexpected developments. - Set a time range for every task.
When you plan your next actions, estimate the time you are going to spend on every task and write it down. If the duration seems to be too long, split the task. - Handle meetings wisely.
Knowingly decrease the number of meetings and their duration. Avoid meetings with too many attendees. If you still have to have the meeting, ask everyone to be standing during the whole meeting. The results will show a lot faster. - Control your e-mail and Internet usage.
Turn off automatic receiving of e-mails and deactivate all periodic notifications. - Learn to Say “No”.
When someone asks you to do something that you don’t want to or have time to do, just say so. - Use blocks of quiet time.
Block a regular quiet time in your calendar and find a quiet place to avoid distractions. That’s the time you’ll be working on the most important things in your career. - Music helps to concentrate.
To avoid distractions in an open office, put on your headphones and listen to some music. But keep in mind - instrumental music is best for this, because the frequency of human voice and listening to song lyrics can both be sources for even bigger distractions. - Do similar activities together.
Combine several tasks that need the same tools or things to be done in the same location.
Use the time you save to plan your next projects even better. Take time to consider your goals in work and your whole life.
And then finally do something you can be proud of. It’s about time.