Introduction:
Do you feel that the tasks you are assigned at your work overwhelm you? Are you unable to save time at work?
Do you always feel that you’re lagging behind and are not able to find any time for a breather?
It is a hard pill to swallow when you see people all around you doing their tasks diligently and still managing to keep their energy up, while you toil away in oblivion. They are eager to take up new responsibilities while you are having a hard time finishing what you started ages ago. It’s frustrating. Basically, If you find yourself clueless when it comes to saving time at work, this is the article for you.
Saving Time:
Time is the most precious commodity. Life is basically a ride on the wave of time to the destination which awaits us all, our death.
Why waste even an ounce of time when the bell of death may ring any unforeseen day. Work takes about a third of a lifetime and it is thus essential not to waste time there. Every single moment we save at work goes in the service of a well-lived life.
Saving Time in a Work Setting:
In companies with a dynamic workforce, time is of the utmost importance. Every single task brings with it a deadline, and its pressure might lead people to assume that hard work is the only key to success there. To save time at work doesn’t make much sense. But the old cliché of ‘smart work over hard work’ comes to aid our understanding.
Smart work involves time-tested ideas that have helped working people not get exhausted, while increasing the quality of their work and saving time in the process. If you want to save time at work that could be better spent either working on a different task or just recovering your energy, the ideas outlined below would greatly help.
Strategies to Help you Save Time:
Pomodoro technique:
This famous method of time management while working is extremely relevant, if you want to save time at work. It basically involves working in shifts of 25 to 35 minutes with a break of 5 minutes after every shift. After 4 such shifts a longer break of 20-30 minutes is ideal. The alternation between focused work and rest is a great remedy against burnout. The tasks become easier to achieve when you are not working constantly, and it greatly increases the efficiency as well. The work that might have taken a whole day gets finished in a 3-4 hour period of pomodoros.
Utilizing Parkinson’s Law:
To put very simply, the law states that any given work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. It doesn’t matter that the work requires only 2 solid hours when the time allotted for it is a whole day. It will take the whole day, as if by magic. If you really want to save time at work, use the law in your favor. Estimate the least amount of time in which the work can be done, and try to achieve it in that time-frame. More often than not, the work will get completed in the time you estimated, and you will get your much deserved free time.
Grouping tasks together:
This strategy of grouping similar tasks together comes in very handy when a lot of small tasks have to be performed. As an executive, it is necessary that you don’t have to return to the same kinds of tasks again and again. What can be done in a short time should not take very long.
These strategies wisely used will definitely help you to save time at work.
Also Read: 6 Best Tips to Overcome Parkinson’s Law for Time Management
Tips to Save Time at Work:
Have a good rapport with the manager:
If the communication lines between you and your manager are clear, and you have shown yourself to be a person dedicated to work, then it gets easier to coordinate tasks. The time that may have been spent going over the same issue again and again could be utilized in other useful areas. Remember this and you will save time at work.
Don’t interrupt your work flow:
Attention gets drained away very easily if you are constantly interrupting your work to check messages, to talk to people around you, to find something to eat and so on. Studies show that it takes around 20 minutes to get to the same level of attention that you had before getting distracted. This is lethal if you want to save time at work. Paying attention is essential to getting work done in time and if you are constantly losing it for trivial things, your work is bound to eat up a lot of your time.
Time your tasks and make your schedule accordingly:
Every time you start working on a task, make sure that you notice how much time it takes for its completion. This would help you in the future when working on similar tasks. It would also help you to make better schedules because you will have a better idea of how much time each task roughly takes. This point will effortlessly help you to save time at work.
Take advantage of productivity applications and tools:
There are hundreds of apps and tools that are designed for work efficiency and time management. Applications like Notion, OneNote and Workflowy can greatly help you to streamline your working process and save a lot of time.
Cultivate habits for better work efficiency:
What we do on a daily basis gets easier as time goes on. Habits that help us get into a headspace where high quality work can get done should be cultivated. Try to eliminate all those habits that get in the way of your work. This would help you immensely to save time at work.
Also Read: Time Blocking Method: 5 Tips for Better Time Management
Benefits of Saving Time at Work:
If you do manage to save time at work, you might be wondering what to do with it? What do we gain by it? Here are some of the key benefits of saving time at work:
- There is always room for a breather. In fact, the literature on learning makes it clear that if you are struggling with a problem at hand, instead of focusing long on the problem you might take a walk, or just rest a bit taking your mind off the problem. This sets up your brain in the diffused thinking mode, helping you gain insights that you never thought were possible. So, if you manage to save time at work, you can pause and relax for a bit.
- You can socialize with your colleagues and get to know them better. This would greatly enhance your work experience, and would make you feel much more comfortable in the work environment.
- Ask your manager if there is any other task that needs to be done. This might give you an opportunity to help build a better relationship with him/her. This would also help you cement a good professional reputation.
- If you have extra time, you can reanalyze your goals at work. You can take a step back and ask if what you are doing is actually worth the effort or not. You can also examine the ways you’re doing your tasks. Can they be completed any faster? This would further help you to save time at work.
How Does Saving Time at Work Increases Productivity:
Saving time from one task can help you ease yourself into the next task. The burden feels lighter when you’re not running behind your work. You can now take charge of time instead of time taking charge of you. This can be a great aid to your productivity. When a person feels in control of the situation, she can perform much better at the given work.
Also, after finishing a couple of tasks with the help of techniques outlined above, you might feel motivated to do more work. Completing tasks efficiently can be a great boost to the morale of the person, which further motivates them to save time at work. Seeing that there is still time left and the work is complete is quite pleasing to witness. And a motivated person is more likely to be productive.
Learn with DT Evolve:
As a manager, if you don’t have quick decision making skills, then a lot of your time could be wasted for trivial reasons. Having good decision making abilities makes it easier to save time at work. If you want to be a great decision maker, DT Evolve has a course for you. This course will provide you with everything you need to improve your problem-solving and decision-making skills. It provides you with models and techniques that you can apply in your professional and personal life. Here’s the link to the course, Be an Excellent Decision Maker.
Conclusion:
Why should a person give more time and attention to a task that deserves less? Managing time is essential to having a long and productive work life, and every bit of time saved is crucial. If satisfaction is what we aim for in work, as we do in other walks of life, then to save time at work has to be one of our top priorities.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A lot of working time can be saved with the help of techniques like making checklists, using tools like Google Calendar and Notion, delegating tasks and taking breaks between work to keep up the energy.
Work can be efficiently done by breaking it into small chunks and doing them one at a time. Using the Pomodoro technique can greatly improve daily work. Also, try to avoid multitasking because it drains the crucial attention away.
Work efficiency means doing the required amount of work in an optimal time. It means wasting no unnecessary time until the work at hand is complete.
Spending time wisely involves doing activities that are necessary for your growth, both personal and professional. If you have a well organized schedule with anticipated roadblocks and a designated time for rest, and you stick to it, your time would be wisely spent.
Benefits of saving time include relaxation, more productivity, having a chance to talk to your colleagues and strengthening the bond with your manager and so on.
Some of the tips that can help you save time at work include having a good relationship with your manager, timing your tasks and making better schedules, taking advantage of apps like Workflowy and Notion and cultivating habits that increase your productivity.
To increase work efficiency, you can group similar tasks together so that you do all of them in one go. This greatly reduces redundancy and generally increases your work output.
Try and make sure that your team has a clear idea about the vision that they are working for. Encourage team members when needed. Provide them opportunities for development and ensure a healthy working environment.
