Work Smarter, Not Harder

Many people at some point in their life, whether it is to be successful or to simply make ends meet will need to exert their efforts into working hard.

However, working hard all the time and exerting effort levels of a hundred is simply not sustainable, not enjoyable and will lead to burnout.

This involves stellar time management and knowing when to prioritise which tasks.

Today’s post will break down some easy steps you can follow to allocate your time wisely and to work smarter.

Delegate Your Tasks

I know this may seem like a hard one, especially for those of us who are obsessed with maintaining control and micromanaging. But knowing when to outsource and delegate to other people is an integral feature of a successful worker. This means that you are spending time working towards tasks that you are specialised in and will thus reap the best and most productive results.

Speed Up You’re Typing and Use Shortcuts

This is a quick, easy yet practical tip that can save you a lot of time in the long run, as well as some effort. Figure out your most commonly typed words and phrases, which can be utilised for email and report writing. Or simply when your text is in a specific format, having a keyboard shortcut that performs this function is a small yet noticeable way to save time and effort.

Direct Your Focus on High-Impact Tasks

Stop trying to focus on accomplishing all the tasks on the day frantically, leading to burnout at the end of the day every single day. Instead direct your energy towards completing the tasks that are most important and will move you further along your progress.

Batch Activities

By time blocking a chunk of your day, dedicated to knocking off a couple of items on your to-do list. This is a more productive way of completing tasks that otherwise would have taken a lot of time if done spread throughout the day, will occupy too much unnecessary time.

Learn How To Use Productivity Tools

Tools like the pomodoro timer, a time management tool, are a great way to block time off. Whereas tools such as notion are a great workspace and task organiser. Knowing which tools work the best for you and the nature of your work will help with organisation, and thus save time.

Be concise

In your emails, any form of written communication ensuring that you are concise and straight to the point will cut down your writing time in half. Meaning less work to read over, edit for spell check. And hopefully a shorter response that you would need to read!

Don’t Wait For Motivation

It is really important that you do not waste any time thinking about your work. And spend the most of your time actually executing your tasks. Simply just starting, will eliminate the mental block that comes with procrastination and will mean you end up completing more in less time.

Practice Self Care

Remember you can only ever pour from a full cup. Ensuring that you are well taken care of, and your personal needs are being addressed. Taking the time out to have a break and truly rest means that when you come back to your work you are refreshed. And spend less time trying to get into the flow of things. And instead, get straight into work mode.