Streamline Your Tasks and Stay Organized to Work More Efficiently
Do you have a coworker who’s always scooping up her purse and heading out the door at the stroke of five while you’re still trying to catch up with work you should have finished by noon? Do your officemates seem inexplicably composed and relaxed while you’re hanging by a thread, rushing to meet deadlines, and arriving frazzled for meetings you can’t get through without constant glances at your Blackberry?
If this scenario sounds familiar, your coworkers probably aren’t any smarter or more driven then you are…They’re just a little better organized. A few tips can help you streamline your tasks, complete your work more efficiently, and tackle the responsibilities of your day at a steady and orderly pace.
Increase Your Productivity Without Scrambling: Keys to Organization
1. Take on one problem at a time. You probably heard this over and over again as a child, and it’s still true. Slow and steady wins the race. If your phone is ringing and you’re in the middle of an appointment with someone seated across your desk, don’t address both. Even in your mind. Make a clear choice and stick with it. Too often, we decide to focus on our companion and let the phone go to voicemail, but we don’t hear what’s being said in the room because we’re thinking about the phone call. One issue at a time.
2. Don’t retrace your steps. Each time you walk out of a doorway or get into a car, think about every destination you’ll encounter before you find yourself back here. Take what you need.
3. If you aren’t using something, you shouldn’t be looking at it. Remove everything from your desk that you rely on less than five times a day. Do you actually use that stapler? All day, every day? If not, put it into a drawer. Aggressively de-clutter your space.
4. Control paper. Even in paperless world, paper still has a way of taking years off of our lives. Every single piece of paper should live inside of a labeled folder. Don’t let paper go naked.
5. Document. Make lists. And don’t be embarrassed to take notes as someone speaks to you. As long as you do it diplomatically, most people understand this gesture and recognize it as the sign of respect that it is.
Do you have some organizational tips you’d like to share? Let us know your secret. How do you increase productivity so you can leave work behind at the end of the day?
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