There are certain things involved in our day-to-day routines which slow us down, and not in the good \u2018slowing down to enjoy life\u2019 kind of way. I\u2019m talking about the types of things which slow us down and ruin our efficiency. In business and at home.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s go through a few simple things you can do to improve your productivity at work and at home:<\/p>\n
1) Audit your time:<\/strong> For your personal life, if too much of this time goes to watching TV, then it\u2019s time to wake up from your trance and take back up your personal interests and hobbies. Or swap that TV time with reading. Although if you\u2019re reading this and a part of the blogosphere (observer or participant), you\u2019re probably not the average TV freak.<\/p>\n 2) Trim the fat:<\/strong> Is there something taking up a huge amount of time but no one can do it but you? Find a better way to do it \u2014 be creative, create a better system. Use technology, where applicable.<\/p>\n 3) Get organized:<\/strong> 4) Take it digital<\/strong> 5) Learn the shortcuts<\/strong> There are certain things involved in our day-to-day routines which slow us down, and not in the good \u2018slowing down … <\/p>\n
\nJust like creating a budget to see where your money goes, create a time budget and see exactly how much time you spend on different things. This may surprise you. Do one separate for work and for your free time. For work time, you\u2019ll be surprised how much time you\u00a0waste<\/span>\u00a0spend in meetings and answering calls\/emails. Yes, I know this may be a necessary part of your job, but a lot of times, they get in the way of getting real work done. Keep meetings to an absolute minimum, try to work through assigning tasks and delegating responsibilities without calling a meeting.<\/p>\n
\nAfter the time audit, it will be clear what your biggest time wasters are. Now you need to go through the process of eliminating the non-essentials. Have you started to accumulate tasks which aren\u2019t really your responsibilities but you\u2019re doing for your co-workers? It\u2019s time to get those off your plate to focus on what you\u2019re being paid to do.<\/p>\n
\nDo you spend your day looking through emails or files to try to find bits of information? Are you drowning in sheets of paper? It happens to everyone. Every once in awhile, it\u2019s necessary to clean house. Don\u2019t be afraid to throw things out \u2013 if you wrote a note about something 3 months ago and have no idea what it\u2019s referring to, you probably don\u2019t need it any longer.<\/p>\n
\nAnalog calendars are nice to have in front of your eyes to refer to a date quickly, but I keep all my appointments digitally now, as well as many important notes and contacts. It\u2019s a whole lot less paper, and it keeps things organized. Bring your laptop to meetings and take notes on that if you can. If you\u2019re like me, you\u2019re far quicker at typing than you are at writing, and it comes out much neater. Create files for everything by date and subject. All your notes are now instantly at your fingertips.<\/p>\n
\nUse a program like\u00a0Google Maps\u00a0to plot a better course to work. Learn all the keyboard shortcuts in Windows, MS Office, or any other applications you use. Create template documents for formats you use frequently. Use RSS feeds to read news from hundreds of publications without ever leaving your homepage. Consolidate your emails to one account. The list here is endless. The point is is that all those little shortcuts add up, it may only be a few minutes here and a few seconds there \u2013 but over the longhaul you\u2019ll be able to effectively maximize your time and get done more important work than you ever imagined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"