Work smarter or work harder?
I apologize for the scarcity of post this past few weeks. I was having some dilemma on managing my time efficiently to find time to blog. Anyway this topic would be relevant.
Do you feel you have been working harder but not accomplishing much? Working on something too hard that doesn’t have a real impact? Wanting more hours for the day to finish a work? Do you feel frustrated or stressed working hard? If you feel the same then we are on the same boat. With the current financial crisis most companies are reducing their workforce, those retained find themselves doing more work and working harder. There has been an increase in time management training for people to work smarter rather than working harder, more tasks are finished rather than burning out and stressing their employees to the additional work load.
Here are some techniques, tips and ideas I compiled from different resources for time management and for working smarter, I would try to incorporate these techniques throughout my work and stick to an optimum work habit that suits me . It is not actually a hard thing to do, it is more like building a habit. This could not apply to everyone for there are some who are really into the details and would eventually lead to more work for them.
1. Effectiveness, aim for effectiveness on the tasks or project given to you, you can work out the neatness later depending on the need. As aiming for neatness itself can eat lots of your time.
2. Build a schedule and segregate the task, allocate specific time for each tasks and enjoy, allocate time to get updated with current events, time to take a break, break down tasks like time for research, planning, coding, designing, troubleshooting etc.
3. Organize, put specific files in one area, like files for your computer, take a little effort to organize your files, trust me it would save you tons of effort later. Put books, supplies, materials and resources in the same area, when you need them you know where to find them. File the paper accordingly, incoming tasks, outgoing task, put them in folders and stack them accordingly.
4. Use a reminder software or an organizer for events, meetings, deadlines, vacation etc.
5. Finish a certain amount of work on one task before jumping into another tasks. Make a note or reminder on what tasks you have stopped on, so you can continue with it without too much effort on retracing your steps.
8. Don’t try to be too perfect,aiming for perfection could be tedious and you may keep going back to one project over and over again.
7. Information overload, when you try to learn alot in a short period of time, you end up with too many ideas that you drift away from the original task. Instead learn one topic in a steady pace, finish one before jumping into another topic.
8. If you find yourself working on a routinary tasks that doesn’t have significant impact or meaning on the overall project. Stop, may just might be wasting time. Have that routine work re-evaluated to something more meaningful.
9 . Adapt to changes and technology, you may find that one tasks you have been doing manually can be automated. No need to keep doing something manual over and over again when it can be automated. Learn and use technology to your advantage.
10. Take some of the ideas, tips and techniques above and find yourself an optimum work habit out of it.
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