If you’re like me, every day you strive to be efficient and productive. Personally, I find this intention is best supported with clarity on my purpose and a plan. In today’s fast-paced world, it’s perhaps more important than ever to be able to get things done quickly and efficiently to manage expectations and give you as much valuable time as possible for your business or personal objectives.
Being efficient and productive in business brings greater profit by reducing those often ignored “hidden costs” such as our time or by finding better ways to do business including automation. From a personal perspective it is such a different feeling at the end of a productive day that fuels our energy and motivation.
Firstly, here’s some thoughts to help you maximize your business efficiency and productivity. What can you do in the next 30 or 90 days? Streamline your workflows, automate those repetitive tasks, utilise project management tools or CRM software to maintain momentum, optimise your communication channels to your stakeholders, or support a culture of innovation and collaboration that removes your distractions or interruptions.
One area I discuss with my clients is the systemisation of critical processes. This is to ensure the important aspects of your business are executed a certain effective way, economically, without procrastination or the duplication of effort. So often I see the implementation of such strategies deliver tangible improvements in operational excellence, customer satisfaction, team enjoyment and the resulting bottom line.
Here are a few tips to help maximise your personal efficiency and productivity:
- Set goals and priorities. Firstly know what you want to achieve. Then you can start to prioritise your tasks as not all tasks are created equal in terms of importance and urgency.
- Break down large tasks into smaller tasks. Large tasks can be daunting and overwhelming. To make them more manageable, break them down into realistic and achievable steps.
- Eliminate distractions and interruptions. These can be a major productivity killer. Use a log to capture and identify such moments that are sucking up your valuable time.
- Take breaks. It seems counterintuitive, but taking breaks can help you to be more productive. Without them your productivity often declines.
- Delegate or outsource tasks. If you have too much on your plate, don’t be afraid to ask others to take on the responsibility, so you can keep focused on the most important tasks.
- Say NO. It’s ok to say no to requests that will take up too much of your time or take you away from your priorities. Don’t always take the monkey onto your shoulder.
- Take care of you. When you’re well-rested, healthy, and happy, you’re more likely to be productive.
I hope these thoughts are helpful.
How can you be more productive to get more done and make more profit in less time? Identify the changes needed and start the implementation today and see the difference tomorrow.
