Article Contributed by Dr. Joey Faucette
Daylight Savings Time starts this week in most of the U.S. We “lose an hour” to supposedly gain more sunlight at the end of the day.
So how do you deal with this lost hour?
And for that matter, all the other lost hours of productivity at work?
Here are 3 strategies the Positively Successful use to save time:
Priorities
Dr. Covey was fond of saying, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
What are your priority activities that maximize your productivity and profitability? That 20 percent that contributes 80 percent?
Once you identify them, you positively save time because your focus sharpens. You consciously aim for achieving these priorities in a timely manner that keeps you moving forward.
Your priorities grow roots in the unique contribution you bring to your team. You do your part. When teammates unify around priorities with each one utilizing a different skill set, the company’s mission takes flight. Productive, profit-enriching activities become priority.
Productivity
When you set boundaries, especially around technology, you do more in an hour than many of your peers accomplish in a month.
The intrusive nature of always-on technology leaps with ease over the necessary boundaries for creating maximum productivity today. To be more productive so you generate more profit, you employ border guards like turning off your automatic updates and notifications, setting appointments with yourself to return emails and voicemails, using the DND and off buttons regularly, and other such attention-defining activities.
Multi-tasking is a myth. Intuitively you know it. Doing something consciously to rein it in is your best next step.
Profit
The obvious profit metric is money. More money grows from better priorities and productivity.
What about other metrics? A less tangible and equally important profit is your personal satisfaction with a job well done that calls upon your native talents. This profit insures your continuing emotional engagement with your work.
Also, you profit from work activities that align with and give expression to your core values. You benefit from opportunities that give expression to your best how you do what you do.
Such profits grow from your productivity and priorities which prompts you to save time to invest in doing what you love with those you love. That’s how you create your Work Positive lifestyle like the Positively Successful enjoy!