Most people struggle through deadlines and entangle themselves in the habit of procrastination. The delayed work drains their energy to a point where all their work becomes inefficient. This includes me as well. You become inefficient at work if you postpone things or pile too many tasks together. To avoid this, we need to seek efficient ways to work to improve work performance. In a nutshell, we need to work smarter, not harder sometimes, and why is that? Because even if hard work pays off, it will be much more difficult in this fast-paced world for anyone to survive like that. Let’s take a sneak peek to know some easy ways to work to accomplish our goals.
10 Tips On Systematic Ways to Work to Improve Work Efficiency
Whether you are the type to plan your next day or organize a to-do list, start making one today, you can start adding some habits from these tips into your daily routines.
1. Plan Your Day The Night Before
Set up what you want to accomplish before starting your day. The best way to work is to plan your entire day the night before as a closing routine. This way, your subconscious mind will start working on your plans and goals while you are asleep. You can save much of your time executing your plan for the day.
2. Cut Your To-Do List Short
Put down on a list everything you want to do that day. Having a to-do list puts your mind at ease, making you more productive after a night of sound sleep. When it comes to making your to-do list, you need to make sure that you are working by the famous “80/20 rule”. It means that if you have ten tasks on your list, two of them are certainly more important than all eight put together.
3. Work In Certain Time Blocks
Distribute every single task over 90 minutes and take a break of 10 minutes in between. Studies have shown that our brain focuses best when we work in 90 minutes. Keep your phone away and relax your brain. This will increase your productivity. You will accomplish more by working smart this way than sitting and working hard all day long.
4. Eliminate Time Wasters
Many people spend half of their valuable time doing nonwork-related things while being at work. You should avoid getting too comfortable with it when you take a break because it welcomes distractions. Browsing and constantly checking social media are time-wasting habits that drag you down from your path.
5. Quit Multitasking
Knowing the right ways of work can help you combat any difficult chore. When you take on too many tasks at a time, you often lose your focus on the one you are doing at that time. This usually happens with working moms when they try to create a balance between work and home. Multitasking is a myth. It only harms your brain and causes you even more mental distress when you can’t manage to get at least one task right.
6. Compile Similar Tasks Together
If the tasks are as simple as sending and replying to emails or receiving phone calls, you can stack them together to perform simultaneously. Meanwhile, you can checkmark the tasks you have done throughout your day. Similar tasks don’t mean multitasking as they are not draining your energy but allowing you more time to perform other tasks.
7. Celebrate Your Accomplishments
Keep yourself motivated at times of workload. See yourself reaching higher through every step you take. When you see your daily results and accomplishments, you will know what to do first and what goal do you desire in your near future. You can better judge how long such tasks would take in the future.
8. Do More Challenging Tasks First
If you have a whole week of tasks all set, make sure you keep the more pressing and challenging tasks at the first half of the week. As you perform your work with much motivation and inspiration early on, you will feel relaxed later. As the week goes by, you will feel accomplished when you know efficient ways to work.
9. Make Realistic Plans – Know Your Limit!
You need to know what time is best for you to work and how much time you take for a single task to finish. When we make plans, we often ignore our productivity and pile up the work regardless of our energy level. Find out your most and least productive times and manage your work better.
Also Read: If you pile up your work, it will lead you to bring unfinished work home, which ultimately causes stress.
10. Manage Your Stress
Working all the time has devastating effects on your nerves, and you ultimately start losing your focus. The work which seemed easy once has now become a tiring job. To work smart, you need to manage stress at your workplace. Try meditating every morning, taking a stroll, or practicing yoga for a relaxed mind and healthy body.
Why Should One Work Smarter Instead Of Harder?
“There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.”
– Brian Tracy
You should work your way to your success by the SMART rule and get on the fast track because:
- Hard work exhausts you and drains all your energy into one task, and you can’t focus on the rest of the tasks.
- Working smarter increases your productivity every coming day simply because it saves labor.
- You learn how to manage your schedule, be creative with your assignments and do things the right way.
- Your self-esteem rises when you see yourself working towards your goal and progressing day after day.
The most successful people try to develop certain habits on a daily basis to take one step closer to their success. Everyone comes across their terrible performance someday; they struggle to make a noticeable effort and want to be more productive but knowing impactful ways to work can make their lives easy.
Also Read: You need time to grasp how to work smarter, not harder. But once you do, you become that successful and mentally strong woman everyone aspires to be.
