Five Steps to Increase Productivity
There is increasing pressure on all employees to accomplish more during the
workday. But extending work hours sometimes isn't possible, and it
definitely isn't desirable. Increasing your productivity can help. Here are
five tips to help you get more done in less time.
- Keep daily files. If you don't have a system with 31 slots in it (one for
each day of the month), try using an accordion file or large filing envelope
where you can file papers in the right day's slot. You won't have to search
for them when that day arrives.
- Find a quiet place to work. If your office is too public to get an hour
of concentrated work done, step out to the conference room or library, where
people are less likely to find you and interrupt you.
- Purge your files. No matter how organized your filing system is, many
items could be dispensed with after a year. Plan to spend 10 minutes going
through a few inches of files and throwing out parts of files, or even whole
files, that are no longer necessary.
- Start the week right. Schedule things that will start your week off well.
Try to achieve some sort of success by midday Monday. Similarly, make an
effort to have a success on Friday afternoon. This will end your week well
and leave you in a good mood to start off Monday.
- Reduce time pressure. Resist pressure to do something quickly when you
don't think you can do a rush job right. Instead, work for an alternative
that will satisfy both your own and the other party's concern.
