How to work smarter not harder

Author of Crazy Busy Cure, Zena Everett, gives her top four tips on how to work less but get more done

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Management Today

It seems everyone is busy. Whether it be emails, managing clients, or even difficult colleagues – that said, most people could be working more productively. Studies show that workers waste around 25% of their time on ‘organisational drag’. Common time-wasters include inefficient meetings, indecisiveness and technological errors.

Time is our most important resource, so how can we go about making better use of it? In order to remove this organisational drag, and bridge the gap between strategy and execution leaders must manage the workflow and performance of their workers – but how?

Do less

It may sound counter-productive, but spending less time on activities, particularly low impact ones, may be the answer. Prioritisation requires you to say ‘No’ to anything that gets in the way. Allow your team to ask for extensions on deadlines, and give them the freedom and breathing space to perform a task well. Involving more employees in the planning stage – or even allowing them to take the lead – will save you time and effort and pre-empt issues before they escalate and result in less wasted time down the line.

Increase attention

Stop squeezing your most important tasks in between less important ones. Ringfence time, ideally 90-minute chunks, in your calendar will allow yourself to get into the ‘flow state’ and do deep work. The constant changing of tasks – and interruptions – slows the whole process down. This is not only something for you, but for everyone; giving your team more time will allow them to get hooked on the high of work and the satisfaction of deep concentration.

More rigour

We too often talk about work, and how to do it, rather than actually doing it. On average, a manager spends 23 hours a week in meetings. Limit meetings to 45 minutes and clarify their purpose beforehand. Rather than being vehicles for simply sharing information, meetings should be saved for decision-making, raising concerns, brainstorming ideas and celebrating.

One task at a time

Zoom or Microsoft Teams have allowed many of us to stay connected and, ultimately, continue to work during the pandemic. However, video calls can cause confusion, leaving workers with countless half-conversations, spread across multiple channels. Our ‘phones mean we are always connected and we tend to drift from one conversation to another. We must allow ourselves to disconnect. Turn off notifications and allow yourself to stay offline during your designated hours, or while working, to focus on one set task.