What employees wouldn't give for a few more hours in the day to actually finish all the things they started out to complete. The surprising thing is, there would be enough time to complete tasks if we stopped wasting time on trivial steps.
Learning the art of knowing when you've completed a project will free up time to focus on the other tasks at hand. Time wasted on unnecessary steps is a curse that holds us back from achieving our goals.
“One of the biggest time wasters we all face is spending too much time on those things that don’t require it,” says Jason Womack, author of Your Best Just Go Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More. “When we do so, we lose the time we actually should be spending on more difficult or time-intensive tasks. But when you learn to recognize when you’re done with a task, you’ll have valuable minutes and maybe even hours added back into your day.”
Try these steps to move toward recognition of the things that can be cut out of the daily routine:
Don’t overwrite e-mails. Be concise and to the point, and make sure the most important part of the message is right up top. E-mail recipients tend to lose interest when there is too much text or unnecessary detail anyway.
Quit over-staying at meetings and on conference calls. Stick to the schedule. Start on time, and leave on time so that you can get back to the work that is piled up at your desk. “Pay close attention to how much of your meeting is actually spent focused on the important stuff,” notes Womack. “If you spend fifteen to twenty minutes at the beginning or end of the meeting discussing your coworker’s golf game, then next time reduce the amount of time allotted for the meeting. And always know the meeting’s or call’s objectives before you begin. That way you can get to them right away.”
Stick to your deadlines. Schedule your time based on priority of tasks and don't allow yourself to get distracted by others' requests or pending projects.
Know when it’s time to ask for help. Don't waste time trying to figure out now to do something if you can quickly get an answer from someone who already knows. “You simply might not have the right expertise to completely finish a certain project,” says Womack. “And that’s okay. Wasting time on something you’re never going to be able to figure out is much worse than asking for help!”
Source: Jason Womack Photo: stock.xchng
