Do you ever find that there’s more work to be done when the day is over?  We live in a fast-paced world and it seems that there’s so much to be done, and so little time to do it in.  With that in mind, I thought we spend a few minutes looking at some common pit-falls to success… we hope they help you out!

5 Time-Saving Tips

1. Organize your work space — offline and on

How much time do you waste every day trying to find a pen or a notebook or that site with all that important information that you found last week? Getting these things ogranized will make you much more efficient.  It may seem like a daunting task but if you take a few hours to organize your work space and make sure you know where everything is, it will pay dividends almost immediately.

This is as true of your online resources as it is of the things you have on your desk. You can take a moment to create a few bookmark folders under the “Favorites” tab in your browser, and you can even make new ones “on-the-fly” as you need them.  Name these folders according to subject (the goal here is to create a simple set of folders that will be easy to find what you’re trying to find).  Then every time you find a site that offers valuable information, save it in the appropriate folder. You’ll be amazed at how much time this will save.

2. Remove distractions

Distractions are easy to come by and a bit more difficult to ignore.  So if you have work to do, make sure there’s nothing that will divert your attention from the task at hand. Even things like keeping your email program running can be a big distraction, so close that down as well.  Trust me, those messages will still be there when you decide to go back to them.  Also be sure to close your Internet browser so you aren’t tempted to take any web surfing breaks. You may think you’re “only going to spend a minute” checking out the latest developments on your favorite website, but those minutes add up all too quickly.

3. Break down large jobs into manageable chunks

There are times when we only have an hour or so to spare but al lthe tasks on your plate may take days to complete.  If that’s the case, how are we to start to whittle down those larger projects.  Simple — by breaking those large jobs into smaller chunks. Instead of being overwhelmed by a big job, break it down. You’ll be surprised at how much you can accomplish in a half-hour, or so, if you just sit down and DO it.

4. Set yourself “unbreakable” daily goals

When the events of your day are crowding in on you, it’s all too easy to look at the work you wanted to doand say, “Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow.” Don’t give in to that temptation! Let’s be realistic — tomorrow is also going to be a busy day, and the best time to get something done is NOW. Create a work schedule that identifies a clear and achievable task for you to do every day. Then do what you must to make sure you complete each daily task on your list — don’t go to bed until it’s done.

5. “Reward” yourself for each task you accomplish

As you cross each task off your list, reward yourself with something fun — maybe five minutes to check your email or 10 minutes of surfing your favorite website. Just make sure you set a timer so you don’t lose track of time.

These tips will take minimal effort to implement but can save you hours every week.  Give them a try and let me know how they work.

Roger

This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 1:37 pm and is filed under Time Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.