It’s hard keeping track of many tasks when you’re all over the place; and let’s face it, a day isn’t enough time to tackle them all. It’s hard enough to wake up every morning, go to work, feed your dog, face traffic, answer calls, catch up on emails, attend appointments, schedule appointments, boss people around, remember you have a family, smile, and breathe. It’s all too much work! What to do? What to do? I might have exaggerated a little bit, but to be honest all this becomes a serious issue because people tend to work in a way that might inconvenience them. Something that can help a person work smarter not harder is the Triple R Method that stands for Reduce, Re-use, and Re-boot.
Let’s begin! It’s always good to create a to do list. For example, I use an app called Wunderlist to help remind me of what tasks I need to tackle. However, having too many tasks can be mentally exhausting. And like every business person says time is money. So, what are you going to do?! Well the smart thing to do is REDUCE your work load by prioritizing the 5 most important tasks. This will help you gain a better focus on getting things done and once you’re done with the important tasks you could then move on to the less urgent tasks. Also, focus on the things you accomplish in a day rather than the time you spend on it. This will help your productivity grow in better results, instead of trying to get something done faster but it comes out poorly. Most people procrastinate but this can be used to an advantage when imposing shorter deadlines on a task. When it comes to getting work done more efficiently, it is important to create routines and habits which reduces the amount of decisions you must make in a day. Tony Schwartz, the president of the CEO of The Energy Project in the Harvard Business Review stated, “The counterintuitive secret to getting things done is to make them more automatic, so they require less energy.”
Another way to work smarter is by taking advantage of the new technology we have. It’s 2018, time to upgrade. For example, instead of making new accounts for each device you own create a google account which allows you to RE-USE the same account in any other device whether it’s a phone, tablet, computer, or laptop while also keeping all your work saved so you can continue where you left off. Communication is key! It’s always good to network with people and make yourself known. This helps with strengthening your communication and collaboration skills. This could easily be done through social media to represent yourself and your company. In this generations 81 percent of the population uses social media. There’s Facebook, Linked In, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. all these apps are a great way to network with clients reach out to this new generation. For example, you can always re-post or re-tweet someone’s post to show your interest in a topic. Overall this is a good way to advertise who you are and what you or your company is about. It’s okay to re-use the same post in different media platforms because maybe someone might miss it on Facebook but see it on twitter. Also, when it comes to communicating, make sure to keep it short and straight to the point. It avoids static when you’re trying to get a message across.
Last but not least, you should Re-boot yourself! Stress is a very common factor for a hard worker like yourself. This can create a downwards slope for your health and energy. Believe it or not, sleep is a huge important step to maintaining your wellbeing. I know what you might be asking, “What’s Sleep?”, well according to Webster’s Dictionary sleep is “the natural periodic suspension of consciousness during which the powers of the body are restored.” Yes, it restores/re-boots you so you can wake up the next morning have a good breakfast and have more productivity in work. Also, multitasking isn’t always the answer. When you’re doing too many things at the same time it makes your brain struggle which can cause your brain to lose focus which can then lead to frustration and stress. You can prevent this by creating and sticking to a routine. Make a routine on your google calendar to keep you working productively and you can tackle the jobs that need to be done. Do this ahead of time so when you wake up re-booted, you already know what must be done.
To conclude, it is important to work smarter not harder. Whenever you get too caught up in your own work remember the Three R Method: Reduce, Re-use, Re-boot.