7 Productivity Tips That Will Improve Your Work Speed
Thinking about hard work vs. smart work can be challenging. When can we call working hard; as hard work, and when can we call it smart work? The question can be answered in many ways. The important aspect of the question should be: How can I work faster while maintaining work quality? AKA productive work.
The idea behind working faster is saving time. By saving time, we can earn more the value we get. Say a coffee shop that can serve two customers at the same time. This means that the customers will wait half of the time if there were only one employee. In the same way, if we doubled the number of employees, we get even more customers served — ideally — in the same time period.
This method is great, but it cost twice the money. What if we can double the work speed per employee? Wouldn’t it be great if we promised to maintain the work quality? The answer would be yes, and below you will find 7 tips on how to increase work speed while keeping your work quality as a person:
1 . Take Breaks
This might be strange as we are trying to work faster, Aren’t taking breaks supposed to slow us down?!
No, by working for 8 hours without stopping to relax, you will start the day working and feeling great, but what happens when the time passes you get tired, and that will slow you down. You think that you are doing fine and working, but what you are doing is working slower and probably with less quality of work delivered.
Taking breaks for as little as 10 minutes every 1 hour of work will refill your tank and allow you to return to work for another hour in better shape. Taking short breaks can be as simple as drinking a cup of coffee, chatting with a friend, taking a walk, or listening to music.
So, if you are relaxed and working with short breaks between your 8 hours of work, that is less than 70 minutes of rest time, that would mean that you worked 6 to 7 hours in your full potential and focus. That is better than working for straight 8 hours and wandering around after the second hour has passed, where in reality, your work output could be 3 hours instead of 8.
2 . Work on Your Hardest Tasks First.
Start with your toughest task first. Get it out of the way at the beginning. This way, you will make room for less complicated tasks; even if you feel tired, you will do them.
Working on easy tasks first might be more motivational for you as you will cross-check the tasks faster, giving you the push you need to move on. However, when it comes to being faster in work and wanting to accomplish more in less time, allocating the hardest task for when you are fully charged and leaving the easiest when you are less energetic — both mentally and physically — can increase your work speed.
3 . Plan Your Work Before Doing It.
Don’t just jump on your computer and start working on whatever is there. Don’t just start the day by answering emails, checking your messages, and getting random phone calls. That will make you a lot slower, and the day will pass, not realizing that the important tasks are not yet done.
Plan your day, and I suggest planning your week and scheduling your appointments, calls, meetings, and emails. Do use a task manager app or service. Don’t rely on your memory — no matter how powerful you think it is. This way, you will put your work on autopilot. This way, you can work without worrying that you might miss something. Therefore this will free up more time and thus can be as if you work faster.
4 . Eliminate Noise
Eliminate everything that can reduce or interfere with your work speed. Things are as simple as your phone notifications, calls, and random procrastination.
Maybe it’s a friend or coworker who keeps showing up to chat every time he feels bored; you can ask them to give you some space to work on something important. Another cool way is to wear headphones while working — even if you are not listening to anything. It’s a polite sign to leave you alone.
Another kind of noise is emotional and mental noise. If you are thinking about something or if you are having a bad day thinking about something. Get it out of your mind first, then work. If you can’t, you have to try meditation and relax and think about something else.
Reducing noise around you can significantly increase your working speed.
5 . Do One Thing At a Time
Juggling more tasks at the same time can seem fun, but it is not sustainable. Have you ever seen a professional juggler trying to juggle more and more objects with more time? They usually do that for a short period of time, then give up. It is the same when you try to multitask.
Work and focus on one thing at a time. Some tasks even need a full day to focus on. I recommend reading the book “The ONE Thing” by Gary Keller.
6 . Delegate Tedious Tasks
Suppose you happen to work on a couple of tasks at the same time. There are these tasks that take quite some time to get done. Things like editing, proofreading, and research. If you think you need more time, doing other important tasks while having someone to do the small and easy ones saves you time. Go for it.
Delegation is great for maintaining certain tasks and having consistency in delivering on time. I recommend reading the New York Times best-seller “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferriss. He has a full chapter explaining delegation.
7 . Focus and Be Consistent
No wonder that if you focus on whatever you are doing, you will achieve more in less time. However, being consistent in what you do is key. If you are doing these practices daily and are implementing the methods that are mentioned in this article whenever you are working, you will start to form a habit, therefore will make you maintain that habit to achieve more.
Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it.
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You can reach me at @alounpro on Twitter.
Have a lovely day!
