How To Save Time and Get More Done at Work

Now more than ever it’s easy to get distracted at work. Between emails, people coming and going, LinkedIn and Facebook alerts and of course the phone, it’s little wonder that you struggle to accomplish everything you have set out for the day. Sure, you tell your spouse, friends and family that you have no choice but to go in early, stay late and work on weekends. But are you really making the best use of every minute of the day? How much time do you honestly spend in the mental twilight zone looking at your ex-colleagues LinkedIn profile or checking your fantasy football lineup? You might not want to admit it, but there are some small steps you can take to be more efficient with your time and get more done.

Mindfulness

It might be hard to see the correlation, but studies have proven that incorporating the practice of mindfulness into your daily routine helps you stay focused and be more productive. So, what exactly is mindfulness? It can be anything from breathing exercises to a meditation routine to keeping a gratitude journal. The good thing about practicing mindfulness is that it doesn’t take a lot of time. Even just a few minutes practiced on a daily basis can do wonders.

Time Blocking

Maybe you’re good about time blocking. You set aside time throughout the week to check and send email, engage new prospects and get necessary tasks done. But how often are you interrupted? Either by someone else or of your own volition? In short, you know the importance of time blocking, but it often becomes difficult to stick to. Someone walks in your door, the phone rings or you see the email with the big red ! that says it just can’t wait. Which leads us too… Plan your time blocks with a purpose. What do you want to get accomplished during that time block? Having a goal for the time block will help you stay on track.

Setting Professional Boundaries

If you’re in any kind of position of leadership or you manage a team of people, you have to set professional boundaries. Of course, you have to have an open door, make sure everyone has the proper training and resources to do their job and meet the objectives set by your superiors. But what about you? Don’t you need time to do your job instead of everyone else’s? This is why it’s important to make clear to everyone involved that you too need time to get things done. Whether that means locking your door for an hour after lunch or not being available on Wednesdays after 11:00 am, you need to make it clear to everyone that while you’re there to support them, you too need time to do your job.

Define Happy Hour on Your Terms

Who doesn’t love a break for some interoffice levity and time to shoot the breeze? It’s healthy, no one will question that. But when that two-minute check-in about Sunday’s game turns into a 45-minute conversation about more than running backs, you’re wasting time. The last thing you want to do is kill collegiality and morale, but you still need to get work done. If you want to be at the top of your game, define what and when happy hour is. It’s important but, should be dictated on your terms.

Smart Phones Make You Dumb

It’s a bit worrisome to think about how much smartphones dictate your every move. Yes, they are a convenience that allows you to work remotely and always be on call. But have you ever stopped to think about how they affect your productivity? That new Instagram like or Facebook post. Mindless notifications populate your screen constantly and at the end of the day don’t matter. They only serve as a time suck to make you jealous. After 30 minutes in fantasy land, you look at the clock and it’s 3:30 and you wonder where you left off.

If you want to be more productive and efficient with your time, set aside periods of time when your phone is off and tucked away in your drawer. That text will be there in an hour. In the meantime, do yourself and everyone else a favor and get some important work done.

Know When You’re at Your Best

There are certain times of the day when you’re more productive than others. For some it’s before the sun comes up and for others it’s late in the day. Knowing when you’re the most productive is vital to your success. If you’re someone that likes to sleep in until 7:30, read the paper and have a leisurely morning until 10:00 then more power to you. On the other hand, if you like waking up early and getting a pile of work done before most people wake up, all the better. The key is to find the time of day when you’re most productive and structure everything else around that.

The workplace demands a lot from you. There’s the pressure of managing those under you and meeting the expectations of those above. Balancing everything is a full-time job to say the least. There’s a reason divorce rates are on the rise and mental and physical health are gaining traction in the national conversation. If you want to increase your productivity, reduce stress and get the most out of each and every day, try implementing some of the strategies above. You might just find yourself excelling in your job and getting home in time for dinner with those that really matter.