Some days, we would like to spend a bit more time away from the computer. So how can you squeeze a little more time out of your hectic day?
Here’s 10 ways to save time at work:
1. Commute at off hours – Not only will commuting at off hours save you time, it may help save your sanity.
2. Go in early and leave early. You might be surprised how much work you can get done early in the morning when no one else is in the office.
3. Keep prioritized lists of things to do and stop doing the non-essential ones. It’s too easy to just do things because they’ve always been on the To Do list. Reassess that list and edit carefully.
4. Minimize multi-tasking. The more things you try to do at once, the more time you spend switching between tasks rather than completing them.
5. Quit smoking and save the time standing in the parking lot. Not only will this one save time every day, it’ll add days to your life.
6. Don’t read spam emails no matter how entertaining they may be. And, don’t spend time getting angry over spam either. Don’t waste the energy over things you can do nothing about.
7. Don’t forward or read joke emails. If it’s a bad joke, no one wants it. If it’s a good joke, they probably already got it from five other people. So save time and electrons and just hit delete.
8. Delegate things that can be delegated. I’m not suggesting that you push all your work off on other people, but make the most efficient use of everyone’s time.
9. Organize the paper flow in your office to ensure that you don’t handle the same paper multiple times. Managing the blizzard of paper can be quite challenging, but efficient paper flow can save tons of time.
10. Keep a log book of where you spend your time for a week to figure out where you are spending and wasting time. You’ll probably be surprised how much time you can get back from unproductive activities.
If you try just one or two of these ideas, you’ll be out of the office in no time.
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Paul Glen is an IT management consultant and the author of the award-
winning book “Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead People Who Deliver
Technology” (Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer,2003). He regularly speaks for
corporations and national associations across North America. For more
information go to: http://www.paulglen.com. He can be reached at
info@paulglen.com.
