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The way you approach your
in-box, workspace, and filing has as much to do with how much you get done in a
day as does the number and size of your projects. Follow these steps to define and then streamline work habits,
patterns, and methods. Optimize Your Scheduling;
Build White Space into Your Calendar. To
schedule your work most effectively, do not schedule enough tasks to consume
every working and waking moment. Plan to about 80 percent
capacity when you’re going to be in the office and about 50 percent capacity
just after returning from a trip. That
means for a 50-hour work week, schedule about 40 hours of work, knowing that
another 10 hours of “stuff” will appear unexpectedly. Avoid Work-and-Wait
Patterns. Waiting for approvals,
opinions, information, equipment, or resources is a major time waster.
Here are some tactics than can minimize, if not prevent, slow-downs:
Escalate the problem to
your supervisor to negotiate the information at a higher level.
Remind everyone involved that you need the information as soon as it’s
available. Be Wary of High-Tech,
Time-Saving Devices. High-tech may mean high-time. Before buying any
“time-saving” gadget, consider the hidden investment of time in its use.
Time to select and purchase the appropriate item.
Time to learn how to operate it. Time
to set it up and store it and secure it. Time
to refurbish or repair it. Time to
insure it and replace it. It’s important to
recognize that low-tech items like the pencil, broom, razor blame, spoon, and
bucket can be real time-savers themselves Clutter Your To-Do List,
Not Your Mind. Your mind can hold
only about seven chunks of information at once.
Why push your luck? Do you frequently have
flashes of brilliance when you’re in the shower, out for a walk, driving the
freeway? Write them down
immediately rather than juggle them in your mind. Those who make lists stay
on target and save time between tasks and ideas without wondering what comes
next. Those who don’t make lists
are at the mercy of events, memory, and mediocrity. Equip Multiple Places of
Existence. Wherever you need to do
work, have there what you need—paper, pen, stamps, stationery, stapler and
extra staples, rubber bands, binder clips, phone, calculator, computer, food.
With the routine tools at hand, you can FINISH all these petty little
projects while you’re waiting in the car, in the line, in the lobby. Get a transport system
for what you have to carry back and forth.
Sorting and packing and then resorting and repacking into your briefcase
can be a time-consuming chore. If
you have several continuing projects, then have a bag, case, or binder for each. Create Systems and
Routines for the Daily Duties. Systems
and routines make things faster, cheaper, better. If you collect the same information over and over, can you
compile a form to hand to your customer or employee?
If you give out the same answers to the same questions, can you prepare a
flyer to make available to visitors and callers? If you give the same instructions for operating the same
equipment, can you post the procedure near the equipment?
If you respond to customers about the same products, can you create
boilerplate letters and proposals ready for customizing?
If you have a typical weekly staff meeting, can you use the same
boilerplate agenda for customizing? Work in Marathons.
Marathons serve two motivations: To
catch up or to get ahead. When you
feel as though you’re slipping further and further behind, decide to do a work
marathon to catch up. Arrive early. Work late. Send
out for food. Don’t allow
interruptions. Don’t rework
anything. Work fast and don’t
look up between projects. Put in
three or four days like that, and you’ll feel caught up enough to face the
world again. On other occasions, you
may have monumental tasks before you and want to get a jump start on them.
Schedule a marathon and make it a big deal.
The exhilaration from what you accomplish will more than reduce the
fatigue from the actual work. When you get things done
quickly, efficiently, and on schedule, not only do you impress your boss and
your coworkers, but you create a sense of accomplishment that satisfies yourself
as well. The next time you feel
like you just can’t get organized, try implementing a few or all of these tips
to build momentum. |
