The importance of working smart and efficiently in 2020.
If you’re anything like me it’s very easy to feel busy in every facet of life. There’s laundry to fold, dishes to be done, a Christmas tree to be decorated, and, oh yeah – work to be done. Work that buys the clothes that need to be washed, food that makes the dishes dirty, and some gifts to put under that beautifully decorated tree. With all this swirling around in a person’s brain it’s very easy to fall victim to feeling busy and losing sight of the fact that all of these things can be done by working efficiently. Learning how to become more efficient is a never ending process and something that I struggle with even while I write this blog post. So join me in the fight against inefficiency, learn from my failures, and give some of my advice a try.
When we are feeling overwhelmed there is a tendency to jump right into whatever projects we may have without giving ourselves sufficient time to create a plan on how we will finish them. It’s easy to feel like spending time planning can be taking time away from working, when in actuality, creating a structured plan for how you’re going to accomplish the project puts you in a position to be more efficient. Like a good essay, the better the outline is, the easier it becomes to write. Start out by identifying the end product of the project and list the individual tasks or steps that need to happen in order to get there. In doing so, the project feels less daunting and tackling the individual tasks begins to feel much more manageable. Another crucial step in this process is assigning a time estimate for each task and sticking to it. Without an understanding of how long each task should take you, it becomes very easy for the project to drag on.
It’s important to understand how you work best and just as important, when. I remember in university I would stubbornly try to convince myself that I was most productive during the day, but would often find myself feeling distracted when doing so. I’d end up burning the candle at both ends by staying up late to catch up on the work I felt like I should have gotten done and forcing myself to wake up early again the next day. As I learned to accept that I was best suited for accomplishing work during the evening and nights, the more focused and efficient I became. Freelancing affords you the ability to test out when you are most efficient, so take advantage of it. Of course, this may not be the case for all professions. If your industry follows a more standard 9 to 5 structure, learn how to break up your day to
make the most of it. Maybe it’s best to respond to a greater chunk of your emails in the morning and focus on more rewarding work in the afternoon. The point is, everyone works differently, and to become the most efficient version of yourself its important to try new things and work to learn what works best for you.
Being busy often becomes a rationalization for missing out on other facets of life. As a student I saw it and experienced it a lot – too busy to go to the gym, make a home- cooked meal, or have a drink with friends; in my mind there simply wasn’t enough time. As I’ve become more experienced in dealing with stress of workload management I’ve come to the realization that despite our own worst fears there is, within reason, enough time for it all.
The breaks in between the work become a reward and in doing so force us to make the most of our work windows. The quicker and better you get the work done, the more your life opens up to other things.
Let's all stay happily and efficiently "busy" in 2020!
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Busy work sucks! Great article, thanks Bryan!