6 Shortcuts to Work Smarter Not Harder
1. Tackle the big rock first.
When you start your day, or you’ve got a big project to deal with, it’s easy to try and justify to yourself to get all the small, quick stuff out of the way. But actually, you’re just procrastinating to delay the big challenge. This is not an efficient strategy. As Steven Covey points out in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, you’ve got to tackle the big rock (i.e. the biggest challenge) first.
He uses the example of filling a bucket with big rocks and small rocks. Which do you put in first? If you put in the big rocks first, you can always fill the small gaps with the smaller rocks. Hence start with your biggest challenge, keep your focus on that to get it finished, and then you have the rest of the time to do smaller tasks when you’re mind is freed up from the worry of the big task. It’s a more efficient, focused way of dealing with your various tasks.
2. Create a space where you won’t be interrupted.
You need the time and space to focus on these big rocks (and smaller rocks too). Make sure you have designed your working environment so you’re free of distractions and able to focus on the one task you’re doing. Got a big proposal to get out? Shut off email and all social media. Silence your phone. In the office and worried your co-workers might distract you in your burst of creativity? Put your headphones on when you don’t want to be interrupted. It’s a clear sign that you’re in your zone (or you can even communicate this to them i.e. “When I wear headphones I’d appreciate if you’d keep interruptions to the minimum as I will be in a creative thinking zone).
3. Feeling stuck? Walk away.
Sometimes it’s good to take a break if you’re stuck on a particular part of a project, or the creative juices have simply stopped flowing. Maybe you’re just feeling drained. Simply take a break. Step away from your desk, take some deep breaths, get some fresh air. Get some water, munch on some yummy healthy snacks, have a chat with some of your co-workers. Sometimes the solutions come into your mind when you’re away from the situation and talking about something completely different. It’s good to have a bit of space to open up your mind to new options and to get the creative juices flowing again.
4. Create short term wins.
Break your massive projects into small actions. Instead of having a massive project plan to put together, or all the financial forecasts completed for the next 5 years, split each task into smaller tasks. This makes your to-dos more manageable and digestible. It means you can celebrate completing each task, reinforcing your motivation to keep going at the next tasks to meet the bigger objective.
5. Take breaks during your work day.
Some research has shown that sitting at your desk non-stop for 8 hours eliminates the positive effects your 1 hour morning workout could have created for you. It’s not enough to exercise once a day, you have to keep moving throughout the entire day. Human bodies were not designed to sit on chairs endlessly (no matter how ergonomically designed they are!). The recommendation is to do a 20 second stretch or moving around every 20 minutes at your desk. How about implementing that into your future meetings? What about adding a game of musical chairs or some jumping jacks with some good music? I’m sure it would get people laughing too!
6. Set a deadline to leave work at a certain hour every day.
And stick to it. Yes there will be days when you might not meet it as you have pressing client work or something’s come up, but you should meet it at least 80-90% of the time. Why? You need to detach from work to do other activities which fuel you. More importantly, if you think you have all the time in the world and no rush to get home, you will procrastinate throughout the day thinking you have all day. Choose to create a deadline of leaving at say 6 PM daily, and you’ll know you have to get everything done by then. Try it – and I guarantee you’ll find yourself becoming more productive!