We spend most of our life at work; well most people do apart from chavvy socialites! So it’s important to make the most of that time. Here are some tips to save you time when at work!
- Do Less – My fave tip for sure! Do fewer things but focus on the important things first. Make a list of your tasks and order them by which tasks must be done today. Do these first and then you will manage your time better rather than trying to juggle everything!
- Cancel Meetings – Most of the time meetings can be a waste of time. Sometimes they are important. Choose to only go to the meetings that affect your role and that are important. Ask your manager if you need to go. This can save you time and allow you to focus on getting the job done
- Avoid Conference calls – Similar to meetings, conference calls can be a pain especially when there may be lots of people at different levels on the call all piping up at the same time. If you have to join the Conf call and feel like you are not adding value, make your voice heard, ask if you are needed on the call at that time and maybe join later if required.
- Don’t be a Yes Person – People may come round to your desk, or phone you and ask you to do something for them. They are the smart ones who are delegating someone else to either help them or do the work for them! Learn to say no from time to time. If you are too busy, say so as people will understand!
- Delegate workload – As I mentioned above, these are smart people or managers who learn to delegate work to other people saving them time to focus on the priority work they need to do. Try delegating some work you know your colleagues can do. Let someone else be responsible allowing you time to focus on that specific task or project!
- Setup Email alerts and filters – Your inbox could be hammered with hundreds of e-mails everyday making it hard and time consuming every morning going through them. Setup some alerts for important things and filters to put general stuff into specific folders and go through those at your leisure. This will mean you can focus on only reading the important messages and getting on with the job in hand.
- Switch off any distractions – Keep getting text messages from your mates, pinged on IM etc. Switch them off when you are busy and only view your Facebook page or twitter updates in your spare time such as your lunch break!
- Have a clear desk – a Clutter free environment will help you find things quicker. It’s that simple.
The same rules apply if you are running your own company. Follow these and you will be able to build your business up. Saving time will save money in the long run too!