My Fleep:
Finance
Finance
The Top 10 Strategies for Boosting Productivity
Time is a very precious and costly commodity that many of
us take for granted. Few people will readily admit that
large parts of our working day are wasted through countless
interruptions, procrastination, and clutter. Maximize your
life through minimizing what is in it by starting with
these ten creative strategies for managing and organizing a
more successful enterprise.
1. Create a time management system that suits your
lifestyle, preferences, and values.
Throw away all the expensive time management systems that
do not work for you. We all have preferences about how,
when, and where to complete certain tasks and activities.
By honoring those preferences, it will be much easier to
accomplish more in less time.
2. Establish visiting hours.
By establishing and announcing visiting hours (one hour per
day,) you can reduce unnecessary interruptions while
offering people the opportunity to communicate with you in
a relaxed setting.
3. Create a brain dump.
Creative people need space and a place for recording sudden
inspirations, ideas, and thoughts that are often
distracting during task mode. Keep a notebook, tape
recorder, or file on hand to record both complex and simple
ideas. Be creative by recording music, sketching and
drawing, or journaling through storytelling.
4. Assign a dollar value to the total time wasted in one
day.
How much time do you spend per day: Locating papers?
Looking for misplaced items? Duplicating efforts? Being
annoyed because you can't find things? Dealing with
interruptions that are unnecessary? Total this time, set a
dollar amount per hour, and estimate what your time is
worth. Cut wasted time in half, and pay yourself a weekly
salary based on the time you saved. Reward yourself with
something meaningful with the money earned.
5. Adopt a worst in, first out policy or delegate
undesirable tasks to someone else.
Procrastination is one of the biggest enemies of a
well-managed day. Often, we procrastinate because we do not
like the task, do not have the right equipment, or we do
not have enough information to make a decision. Handle the
worst problems first, get them done, and move on to the fun
stuff. If you continue to procrastinate, delegate the task
or hire someone to take the task off your hands.
6. Close the door.
For one hour each morning, close the door, turn off the
phone, and place a sign on your door which reads: "Man or
woman at work. Please return at 10:00." Use this hour as an
uninterrupted time for concentrated work. Write this time
on your calendar every day, and stick with it.
7. If you are in an open space or cubicle, rearrange your
desk or chair to avoid easy eye contact.
People are less likely to interrupt you when they cannot
make eye contact. If you cannot rearrange your desk or
chair, place plants on the periphery of your desk to create
a physical boundary between you and the open environment.
8. Establish a time management remodeling day one day per
month.
Spend one day each month analyzing your time management
system. Ask yourself what needs to be deleted, changed,
modified, rearranged, enhanced, or minimized. Do you need
more or less space, equipment, light, air, or beauty? This
one day each month can provide you with the solitude needed
for accomplishing your goals and dreams.
9. Practice saying "No" ten times each day.
More often than not, the act of saving time involves saying
"no" to other people. If it is hard for you to say "no,"
practice a variety of responses ten times of day. Examples
of appropriate responses include: "I would love to attend,
but unfortunately, I cannot make it," or "I am flattered
that you asked me, and I am unfortunately too busy to do
justice to the project at this time," or "No, thank-you,"
or "No." By saying "no" you are honoring your own life and
goals.
10. Keep a master travel checklist and a pre-packed
toiletries bag.
For people who travel frequently, a master travel checklist
should include a basic wardrobe and accessories (basic
black is always safe,)plane or train tickets, passports,
camera, medicines, mobile phone, and one small first aid
kit. Keep a toiletries bag packed with soap, travel sizes
of shampoo and lotion, cosmetics, toothbrush, toothpaste,
etc.
----------------------------------------------------
Bea Fields is the Owner and President of Bea Fields
Companies, Inc. She is an Executive Coach and the CEO of
Five Star Leader Coaching and Training. Along with Corey
Blake and Eva Silva, Fields is the author of Edge: A
Leadership Story. For more information, visit Fields
online at http://BeaFields.com or http://Edge-Book.com .
Time is a very precious and costly commodity that many of
us take for granted. Few people will readily admit that
large parts of our working day are wasted through countless
interruptions, procrastination, and clutter. Maximize your
life through minimizing what is in it by starting with
these ten creative strategies for managing and organizing a
more successful enterprise.
1. Create a time management system that suits your
lifestyle, preferences, and values.
Throw away all the expensive time management systems that
do not work for you. We all have preferences about how,
when, and where to complete certain tasks and activities.
By honoring those preferences, it will be much easier to
accomplish more in less time.
2. Establish visiting hours.
By establishing and announcing visiting hours (one hour per
day,) you can reduce unnecessary interruptions while
offering people the opportunity to communicate with you in
a relaxed setting.
3. Create a brain dump.
Creative people need space and a place for recording sudden
inspirations, ideas, and thoughts that are often
distracting during task mode. Keep a notebook, tape
recorder, or file on hand to record both complex and simple
ideas. Be creative by recording music, sketching and
drawing, or journaling through storytelling.
4. Assign a dollar value to the total time wasted in one
day.
How much time do you spend per day: Locating papers?
Looking for misplaced items? Duplicating efforts? Being
annoyed because you can't find things? Dealing with
interruptions that are unnecessary? Total this time, set a
dollar amount per hour, and estimate what your time is
worth. Cut wasted time in half, and pay yourself a weekly
salary based on the time you saved. Reward yourself with
something meaningful with the money earned.
5. Adopt a worst in, first out policy or delegate
undesirable tasks to someone else.
Procrastination is one of the biggest enemies of a
well-managed day. Often, we procrastinate because we do not
like the task, do not have the right equipment, or we do
not have enough information to make a decision. Handle the
worst problems first, get them done, and move on to the fun
stuff. If you continue to procrastinate, delegate the task
or hire someone to take the task off your hands.
6. Close the door.
For one hour each morning, close the door, turn off the
phone, and place a sign on your door which reads: "Man or
woman at work. Please return at 10:00." Use this hour as an
uninterrupted time for concentrated work. Write this time
on your calendar every day, and stick with it.
7. If you are in an open space or cubicle, rearrange your
desk or chair to avoid easy eye contact.
People are less likely to interrupt you when they cannot
make eye contact. If you cannot rearrange your desk or
chair, place plants on the periphery of your desk to create
a physical boundary between you and the open environment.
8. Establish a time management remodeling day one day per
month.
Spend one day each month analyzing your time management
system. Ask yourself what needs to be deleted, changed,
modified, rearranged, enhanced, or minimized. Do you need
more or less space, equipment, light, air, or beauty? This
one day each month can provide you with the solitude needed
for accomplishing your goals and dreams.
9. Practice saying "No" ten times each day.
More often than not, the act of saving time involves saying
"no" to other people. If it is hard for you to say "no,"
practice a variety of responses ten times of day. Examples
of appropriate responses include: "I would love to attend,
but unfortunately, I cannot make it," or "I am flattered
that you asked me, and I am unfortunately too busy to do
justice to the project at this time," or "No, thank-you,"
or "No." By saying "no" you are honoring your own life and
goals.
10. Keep a master travel checklist and a pre-packed
toiletries bag.
For people who travel frequently, a master travel checklist
should include a basic wardrobe and accessories (basic
black is always safe,)plane or train tickets, passports,
camera, medicines, mobile phone, and one small first aid
kit. Keep a toiletries bag packed with soap, travel sizes
of shampoo and lotion, cosmetics, toothbrush, toothpaste,
etc.
----------------------------------------------------
Bea Fields is the Owner and President of Bea Fields
Companies, Inc. She is an Executive Coach and the CEO of
Five Star Leader Coaching and Training. Along with Corey
Blake and Eva Silva, Fields is the author of Edge: A
Leadership Story. For more information, visit Fields
online at http://BeaFields.com or http://Edge-Book.com .