Are you getting the most results from your day? by Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC
We all have the same 24 hours each day. Yet, I’m sure you’ve noticed that some people seem to get much more done in a day than others. If you feel that you have room to improve in the area of productivity, try these tips designed to help you maximize your time.
- Organize your day. Plan out your day by prioritizing your to-do list. Have a category of things that must get done today, and organize other tasks into less critical categories. At the end of the day, if all of your “must do” items are completed, you will feel that you’ve been productive. Take the rest of the items, and categorize these for the next day, moving these up in priority as needed.
- Work in “time buckets.” Combine like tasks into the same time frame so you can zip through them. For example, if one of your tasks for today is to make calls to customers, do all the customer calls back to back and then check that off your list for the day.
- Work backwards. Some of the most productive people go home every day at 5:30. This is because they plan when they are going home and work their day backward from that. It’s not always about spending more time in the office, but about using the time you have more wisely.
- Plan for interruptions. There will always be unexpected issues that pop up. Don’t pack your calendar so full each day that one of these issues ruins your whole plan. At the same time, work to manage distractions by keeping your door closed for part of the day and planning when you’ll meet with staff so that people don’t just pop in.
- Delegate when possible. Take a look at the tasks you are handling and determine if some of these can be delegated to others. Freeing yourself up to handle the most important tasks will help you to focus on the areas of your business that most need your personal attention.
Keeping these five tips in mind will help you to make the best use of the time you have every day. In addition, it will give you great satisfaction knowing that you’ve increased your productivity so dramatically. With a little time spend maximizing your time, you’ll find room to take on all those projects and programs that can move your business forward more quickly than you ever imagined.