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Producing more without more hours

Feeling a bit pressured at work?

Feel like you are running from one task to another?

At the end of the day you are exhausted, but what did you achieve?

Many people work very hard; they put in the hours but just don’t get the results.

Ideally, you should be spending at least 80 per cent of your work time on your KPIs. The other 20 per cent goes to helping others out in the team, reporting upwards, footy tipping, cc emails etc. How much time would you be spending on your KPIs?

We only have 8760 hours per year to do what we need to do, or want to do. We cannot add more. There is no gift of time. It is simply how we use that time.

Some practical tips on how to use your time effectively:

Energy patterns

• Identify your most alert time of the day and schedule your most intellectually challenging work in that period.
• Turn off your email alert and visit your emails only three times per day in your least alert period.
• Agree with your team for one-hour isolation time. You will get 2 ½ times the amount of work done.
• Get enough sleep – it increases your energy.

To do lists

• Insert everything you need to do on a ‘To-do’ list; prioritise it and then stick to it.
• Do not allow little tasks to queue jump with the excuse ‘I’ll just do it and get it out of the way’.
• Break big tasks into small tasks and insert only the small tasks onto your To-do list. There should be no task on your list that is greater than 1 ½ hours.
• Agree deadlines with every request for work.
• Every time someone asks you to do something, weigh it up against your current ‘A’ priority. If it is not more important, say that you cannot do it now, but give a time when you can do it. Often they will find an alternate way of doing it.

Interruptions

• Have your back to ‘through traffic’ to stop you getting distracted.
• If you have an unwelcomed interruption that is not work related, state that you are trying to reach a deadline and suggest catching up around lunch time.

 

These, along with many other personal organisation tips can help you get control of your time so as you can achieve what you want to achieve.