5 Ways That Will Help You Work Smarter
There’s always enough time, you just got to make room for it!
People often complain about the lack of time. I think it is just a convenient way of procrastinating your responsibilities and your dreams.
Yes, your dreams!
Dreams are a culmination of how you utilize your time. It all depends on your lifestyle choices- whether you want to binge-watch the latest series on Netflix or get some work in. So instead of complaining about not having time, here are some effective ways to carve out those extra hours during the day.
- Prioritize Effectively
That’s what it all comes down to. The choices you make. The way you prioritize your activities during the day is the way in which you’ll end up doing them.
“You gotta make it a priority to make your priorities a priority.”
― Richie Norton
An effective way to really get the most out of a day is to make a to-do list. Not only does it help you motor on, but it also provides a sense of control. A sense that you are progressing in the direction of your dreams.
2. Write It Down
More often than not, we spend our time trying to recollect a piece of information that we assigned to memory. The visionary CEO Steve Jobs often talked about the importance of creating written cues for oneself. Once you start doing this, in essence, you are freeing up space in your brain to store or process other information- something that is more relevant to you.
3. Monotask Rather Than Multitask
In a world where multitasking is the new normal, try and take a step back and focus on one task- monotask! Not only does this technique improve your efficiency, but it also helps you to reduce the time in which you would otherwise complete the task.
After all, a task well done is a whetstone to your overall development.
4. Stop Trying To Be A Perfectionist
Often, we tend to overthink about the task at hand. Striving for excellence is one thing, but an obsession with perfection is another. To put this into perspective, picture this.
You are supposed to submit an important presentation by the end of the day. Instead of actually working on it, you end up using your time thinking about how it's going to look like, what font will you use, and so forth. Not that the visuals are not important, it is a matter of prioritizing your workflow. Being in a mindset of trying to complete the presentation on time will see your subconscious mind prioritize your workflow for you as follows:
a. Develop an outline of the presentation
b. Work on the content of the individual
Once you have formalized these ideas, you would not need to worry too much about the next step. While you were busy working on the priority, your brain was running variations of themes in the background. Our brains are a product of thousands of years of evolution- we often tend to overlook that fact.
Not only does your efficiency increase by following this approach, but the level of the output also drastically increases.
5. Appreciate And Incentivize
What we often fail to understand is the importance of appreciation. Be it at work or at school, when another individual appreciates our efforts, we feel good.
Why?
A hormone called dopamine is released in our bodies which tends to put us in brighter spirits. Imagine NOT being appreciated for all the hours that you slog for your boss or for that essay you submitted in your project. Would you still have the motivation to keep up the intensity?
Most people can not, which is why it is important to incentivize your work. Appreciate yourself for the hours you put in at work. Appreciate yourself for getting that workout done. You deserve all the appreciation!
These are techniques that can be adopted by everyone, yet they are overlooked. You will be surprised to know how much time you end up saving when you have a well-defined structure for your day. Allocate this newly found to work on the dreams you never had time for.
