Everyone has a lot on their plates these days. We could all use an extra hour or two, even 15 minutes are like found gold in our busy worlds. There are some super easy ways to save time on the job and here’s how:
1) Batch Your Email.
Remember Pavlov’s dog? The one who was conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell? It’s the same with a human’s auto-response to the incoming email chime on the computer. Our first instinct is to immediately stop what we are doing and check the incoming message. Talk about an intense form of FOMO. To save time, try this: turn off the sound notifications and schedule times throughout the day to check your incoming messages. While we’ve certainly progressed beyond the era when we could get away with checking emails once a day, there is no reason for it to consume every waking minute.
2) Schedule a ‘No Meetings Day’.
Head down and focus. Everyone needs at least a day a week to be super-efficient. Not in a job that allows you to say no to randomly scheduled meetings? Contribute to an efficient agenda i.e. get the discussion over and done with as soon as possible. People who speak up in meetings and offer innovative, diplomatic solutions are often appreciated by the rest of the team. No one wants to sit through a 90 minute snooze-fest when a time-saving solution can be figured out in 30 minutes.
3) Leave a Tidy Desk (and Desktop) Behind.
It’s not fun starting a new day by staring at a messy desk. You’ll likely waste the first 30 minutes figuring out where you left off yesterday and rummaging through paperwork to get it into some kind of order. The same goes for the computer; don’t leave for the day without saving, closing and backing up your files. A few minutes today will save a ton of time tomorrow.
4) Stay Organized.
All those electronic reminders and various scraps of paper? Combine them into a single To Do List. The format doesn’t matter. Just ensure you have one current To Do List for easy reference. On a related note, make sure you have a good electronic file folder system. Time spent searching for the correct file is time wasted. Name your folders properly, including a numerical date if that helps. If you’ve misplaced a file on your computer, then use the search function with a more unusual file content word to help locate the missing item.
There you go. Four simple, inexpensive and elegantly easy ways to save time.
You’re welcome.
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