Summer has come and gone and with any luck you enjoyed a nice, relaxing vacation during those warm, sunny months. Fall is traditionally back-to-school, buckle down and get back to work time. With so many fun fall activities and the rapidly approaching holidays it can be hard to stay focused at work and to prioritize your tasks to maximize your productivity. Today, we’re going to offer some tips to help you stay focused and be productive. Speaking of productivity. Have you tried our free inventory software to improve your ability to keep up with things? Signup to use our free inventory software by clicking here.
Identify Your “Peak” Time. We don’t mean the time of day you are the busiest, but rather the time of day you’re at your best. If you’re a morning person, tackle bigger tasks first thing when you’re feeling fresh and energized. If you’re more of a night owl, use it to your advantage and save projects for after hours when you’re ready to take on challenges. Of course, you can things done at less than optimal times but you won’t be as productive or as successful.
Checking Off Small Items Can Feel Good, but Knocking Out the Big Items Feels Even Better. It’s easy to fall into the trap of completing the easier tasks first because they can be completed quickly allowing you to cross more items off your list. It’s important to tackle more involved projects when you have larger blocks of time and save the small projects for those brief moments between other meetings, events, etc. You can always find ways to fit the small tasks in, it’s much harder to carve out those longer blocks of time needed to tackle the big jobs. For example, we suggest you take a day off from other distractions when first importing your data into our free inventory software. It just makes things run smoother when you're not distracted.
Be Organized. A place for everything and everything in its place is a great start. When you can quickly and easily find the items that you need you are far less likely to be distracted and get off task. Another key element is personal organization. In a previous post, we talked about process improvement through technology and we mentioned two To-Do apps; Wunderlist and Todoist. Investing in one of these, or something similar can really help you stay on task. Not only do these apps incorporate reminders, they can help you prioritize and delegate tasks.
Delegate. Remember, just because something needs to be done, that doesn’t mean that you have to do it. Often, we believe that we are the only person who can complete a task and we take on too much. Assign tasks to other people so that you can focus on the things that truly require your attention.
Don’t Forget to Take Time For You. Staying focused at work is important, but becoming too focused on work can ultimately have negative consequences. Set aside time to do some fun things and enjoy the great fall weather. Allowing yourself to take time away from work and relax can allow you to come back refreshed and more focused.
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