Of course we don't want to waste time. But we can get into habits that, without our even realizing it, can steal this precious commodity. Here are 3 concepts to keep in mind that should go a long way to helping us get the most out of the time in the day.
Stop Those Phone and Email Interruptions:
As children most of us were taught to answer the phone when it rings. To most of us this action became automatic and has lasted into our adult years. More recently, with the advent of email, many of us have extended this habit to the way we handle our emails. Many folks keep a notification alarm on their computers which rings each time new mail comes in. These systems may check for emails every 5 to 10 minutes. These 2 habits, immediately answering the phone, and handling emails when they arrive can become major time wasters and can essentially stop our production.
If somebody knocks on your door in your office, it is considered polite for them to look in and ask you if you're busy and to come back another time if you are. The interesting thing about phone calls and emails is that they occur without regard to what we're doing. If we saw this in a colleague we would think it rude at best.
Most experts, and most people who get a lot done, agree that it is best to control phone calls and emails and to handle them at times of our own convenience. While this may not always be possible, an attempt to put some sort of control these factors can be very beneficial. One way to do this is to designate certain times of the day to handle phone calls as well as emails.
There are numerous ways of doing this. Each of us will find a workable method that's unique to our type of life and our work. Many folks find it quite useful to first check their email just after lunch. Perhaps they will heck it again at the end of the day. Though we can check it in the morning, this can easily incline us to diverge from our planned activities for the day. This is why many have discovered and now recommend that just after lunch is the best time to check that in box.
A key suggestion is to turn off the ringer of the phone, if you are answering it yourself, and turn off the notification alarm of your email client. Regarding emails, it is also best to shut down the automatic checking of emails and to control that operation manually.
Regarding the phone, often a source of new clients, we may feel compelled to answer it whenever it rings. But this will undoubtedly cut into our production time if we are producers. If we are salespeople, perhaps that is a different story but those of us who are wearing both sales and production hats have to put some type of control into it. One way to handle this is to designate periods where the ringer is off or the secretary answers the phone or leave a message on the automatic answering system or with the secretary that calls will be returned at a specific time. That way the callers will know and can rely upon a return call it a specific time. Promises need to be kept, of course.
How you handle it is up to you, but you might want to try putting a bit of control into your communications. This can be a key to increasing your own efficiency and productivity.
Trying to Be Perfect:
A successful life requires action. Work has to get done. We need to look at action and regard it as what it actually is. It consists of 3 steps; start, change and stop. A cycle of action, in order to be successful and to be under control, needs to contain all 3 of those elements.
Perfectionism is one of the big lies that many of us adopt during our lives. We get the idea, sometimes from childhood, that things need to be perfect before we can end our actions on them and consider them done. The problem with this, because perfectionism is impossible, is that it tends to trap us in actions and we never are able to hit the "stop button". The truth is that doing our best is really the only realistic standard by which we can operate.
There's nothing wrong with doing things well, but doing things well, doing things the best we can, is really the only realistic standard by which we can successfully operate. If we find were having a hard time turning products out, getting things done, perhaps a closer look might indicate that we are attempting to be perfect. If we find ourselves attempting to achieve this standard, perhaps we need to define what that standard actually is, in true hard facts. This clarification could help straighten out what standards we should actually consider as our goal.
No doubt, we should do the best we can. But leave that idea of perfection to the less productive.
Multitasking:
It is easy to get into the habit of doing many, many things at one time. There are so many electronic gadgets, programs, apps that exist which can all run simultaneously. Many of us do this on a habitual basis.
There are folks that have Facebook going all the time on their computers. Some have Twitter going. Some are checking their email constantly and trying to read it handle other people's communications on other people's schedules rather than on their own. It's easy, after a day of an immense amount of activity, to look back and see that really nothing of importance really got done.
There really is not anything such as multitasking. We might think that pilots are multitasking when they're flying an airplane, but the truth is all they're doing is flying an airplane. That task may be comprised of many separate actions but let's not be fooled into thinking that they are multitasking. Walking consists of an amazing number of actions. But the truth is we are only walking. It is one thing.
Productivity requires the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. We do one thing, complete it, then do the next thing, etc. If we do that, we actually get things done - efficiently.
Efficiency is not something that we look to achieve for its own sake. It is simply an indicator as to how much we are getting out of a fixed commodity. Since time, essentially, is a fixed commodity the more we can get done during certain periods the more efficient life will be. Keep the three above points in mind can go a long ways to making our lives more efficient and productive.
Stop Those Phone and Email Interruptions:
As children most of us were taught to answer the phone when it rings. To most of us this action became automatic and has lasted into our adult years. More recently, with the advent of email, many of us have extended this habit to the way we handle our emails. Many folks keep a notification alarm on their computers which rings each time new mail comes in. These systems may check for emails every 5 to 10 minutes. These 2 habits, immediately answering the phone, and handling emails when they arrive can become major time wasters and can essentially stop our production.
If somebody knocks on your door in your office, it is considered polite for them to look in and ask you if you're busy and to come back another time if you are. The interesting thing about phone calls and emails is that they occur without regard to what we're doing. If we saw this in a colleague we would think it rude at best.
Most experts, and most people who get a lot done, agree that it is best to control phone calls and emails and to handle them at times of our own convenience. While this may not always be possible, an attempt to put some sort of control these factors can be very beneficial. One way to do this is to designate certain times of the day to handle phone calls as well as emails.
There are numerous ways of doing this. Each of us will find a workable method that's unique to our type of life and our work. Many folks find it quite useful to first check their email just after lunch. Perhaps they will heck it again at the end of the day. Though we can check it in the morning, this can easily incline us to diverge from our planned activities for the day. This is why many have discovered and now recommend that just after lunch is the best time to check that in box.
A key suggestion is to turn off the ringer of the phone, if you are answering it yourself, and turn off the notification alarm of your email client. Regarding emails, it is also best to shut down the automatic checking of emails and to control that operation manually.
Regarding the phone, often a source of new clients, we may feel compelled to answer it whenever it rings. But this will undoubtedly cut into our production time if we are producers. If we are salespeople, perhaps that is a different story but those of us who are wearing both sales and production hats have to put some type of control into it. One way to handle this is to designate periods where the ringer is off or the secretary answers the phone or leave a message on the automatic answering system or with the secretary that calls will be returned at a specific time. That way the callers will know and can rely upon a return call it a specific time. Promises need to be kept, of course.
How you handle it is up to you, but you might want to try putting a bit of control into your communications. This can be a key to increasing your own efficiency and productivity.
Trying to Be Perfect:
A successful life requires action. Work has to get done. We need to look at action and regard it as what it actually is. It consists of 3 steps; start, change and stop. A cycle of action, in order to be successful and to be under control, needs to contain all 3 of those elements.
Perfectionism is one of the big lies that many of us adopt during our lives. We get the idea, sometimes from childhood, that things need to be perfect before we can end our actions on them and consider them done. The problem with this, because perfectionism is impossible, is that it tends to trap us in actions and we never are able to hit the "stop button". The truth is that doing our best is really the only realistic standard by which we can operate.
There's nothing wrong with doing things well, but doing things well, doing things the best we can, is really the only realistic standard by which we can successfully operate. If we find were having a hard time turning products out, getting things done, perhaps a closer look might indicate that we are attempting to be perfect. If we find ourselves attempting to achieve this standard, perhaps we need to define what that standard actually is, in true hard facts. This clarification could help straighten out what standards we should actually consider as our goal.
No doubt, we should do the best we can. But leave that idea of perfection to the less productive.
Multitasking:
It is easy to get into the habit of doing many, many things at one time. There are so many electronic gadgets, programs, apps that exist which can all run simultaneously. Many of us do this on a habitual basis.
There are folks that have Facebook going all the time on their computers. Some have Twitter going. Some are checking their email constantly and trying to read it handle other people's communications on other people's schedules rather than on their own. It's easy, after a day of an immense amount of activity, to look back and see that really nothing of importance really got done.
There really is not anything such as multitasking. We might think that pilots are multitasking when they're flying an airplane, but the truth is all they're doing is flying an airplane. That task may be comprised of many separate actions but let's not be fooled into thinking that they are multitasking. Walking consists of an amazing number of actions. But the truth is we are only walking. It is one thing.
Productivity requires the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. We do one thing, complete it, then do the next thing, etc. If we do that, we actually get things done - efficiently.
Efficiency is not something that we look to achieve for its own sake. It is simply an indicator as to how much we are getting out of a fixed commodity. Since time, essentially, is a fixed commodity the more we can get done during certain periods the more efficient life will be. Keep the three above points in mind can go a long ways to making our lives more efficient and productive.
About the Author:
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