5 ways to work smarter and not harder
1. Start the day with your hardest work
If you start your day with the hardest task and concur you are already setting your day up for a win! This is also called “Eat The Frog” which is also a whole book in time management and recommended by many. To identify what your hardest or most productive task is we come to number 2
2. Prioritise prioritise prioritise
What's on your to-do list are you procrastinating about some of it and are they your big tasks? I know sometimes I find this the case and justify to myself that "at least I'm being productive" but to really move the needle or push that project forward you need to know your clear goals and priorities. I personally have a list in Trello and the top of the list is the most important and the bottom of the list which I can't see anymore is the least important.
3. Distribution free work time by blocking distractions
Emails, calls, visitors unless it's an EMERGENCY then set aside time to really buckle down and get some deep work done on whatever you are working on. If you are in the flow and you do get interrupted study shows it can take an average of about 20 minutes to get back into that great flow state. So, lock your doors and windows, throw the phone away, turn off all notifications and unlock that mega concentration that lets you burn through the work with magenta flying (you know... since you are going that fast)
"We found about 82 per cent of all interrupted work is resumed on the same day. But here’s the bad news — it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task." https://www.fastcompany.com/944128/worker-interrupted-cost-task-switching
4. Don't multitask
People just aren't good at it as they think they are. In fact, a study shows that "Meyer has said that even brief mental blocks created by shifting between tasks can cost as much as 40 percent of someone's productive time." So even though you feel more stressed and productive you may be losing time and just more stressed.
5. Time tracking
This can be as simple as having a diary where you write down what you do every hour of your day to see what you spend your time on. We here at quick-time-management.com have made this simple process a website that is very easy to use and sets an alarm for you to remind you to capture your day.
I hope these tips where helpful and have a great day