Three Tips for Working Smarter

Stever Robbins in the article “Productivity Means Working Smarter, Not Longer” provides some helpful tips on working smarter, not harder.

“Working smart means getting the same results in less time. To do that, you must change how you work. You’ll get the most by changing your speed, increasing focus, and organizing to do things in parallel.”

1. Increase focus: “….Another way to work smarter is by distinguishing busy from productive. Oh, we’re busy, and we feel productive, but we’re only productive if we’re producing the results that are most important to moving the company forward. … E-mail is a great way to waste time feeling productive. And we get so much of it, so surely those two hours a day reading and replying is time well spent. But if you spend two hours of an eight-hour workday on e-mail, that’s 25 percent of your time. Unless that 25 percent of your time is producing at least 25 percent of your total income, it’s a low-value-added activity, no matter how many one-shot, ad hoc contracts you get that way…. The same applies to any activity. The 80/20 rule says that 80 percent of your results come from just 20 percent of your efforts…. you’ll find most of your output comes from a few of your tasks. So what? Well, look at the math. If you double the time you spend on real-output-producing activities and stop doing the others, you’ll double your output and spend 60 percent less time!”
   
2. Say no: ” …Most of us take on more than we can handle. …. Once you’re concentrating on your high-output work, you can get another boost by streamlining…. If someone proposes a project that will fall in 80 percent-work-for-20 percent-results category, just say ‘no.’ Face facts, my friend: There’s a limit to how much you can do. You can manage that limit and do things well, or you can ignore the limit and do a lousy job on everything. The choice is yours.”
   
3. Work in parallel, but don’t multitask: “When you multitask, you do many things at once. Bad idea. But you can find ways to arrange work so many things are happening at once. Good idea. If you are collaborating on a report and writing a marketing plan, you could write the plan and then work on the report. But look closely! Your colleague must review the report. So first draft your report and send it to your colleague. While she’s reviewing, you get to work on the marketing plan. Work moves forward on both at the same time.”
   

How productively are you using your time? Are you focused enough? Are you saying no? Are you doing work in parallel?