Do less to achieve more?
As organisations and individuals, we are always looking at ways we can manage workloads better whilst increasing performance. At times we have probably all been busy fools, leading us to be stressed, overwhelmed, tired and irritable but still with an ever-growing inbox. So how can we be less busy and more productive without working or even trying to create extra hours in the day?
To get you started here are five practical ways to increase performance and successfully manage workload that might seem counter intuitive but, from our experience, work.
1.Don’t manage your time
But do manage your peak energy hours. Making comprehensive and better to do lists will certainly help but what will help more is to allocate appropriate work activities to when you are most creative, most energised, most able to concentrate depending on what the activity is. This means you need to understand yourself and your own personal peak energy patterns and as a leader get to understand those of the individuals in your team as not everyone’s peak energy hours are the same.
2.Take a break every 55 minutes
You are busy and have so much to complete before the end of today. Taking a 5-minute break every hour means you are losing a 5-minute opportunity to finish off a piece of work or get something crossed off your to do list! (And when we say take a break, we mean walking away from the computer not switching tasks!)
But that 5 minutes will give you the ability to:
- Process and retain more information
- See the bigger picture
- Enable you to be more creative
- Cultivate better habits
- Be more productive
If you find yourself too busy to take a break – you need to take a break
3.Let go of perfection
If everything has to be perfect, you will never finish anything, there will always be more that can be done. Seeking the impossible will reduce your productivity as you waste valuable and useful time on the unachievable. Have standards for quality and deliver to these.
4.Go outside
We know looking after ourselves is important but how many of us really do this? If you want to be more creative, more energised, more productive, take time to go outside, breathe in some fresh air, relax, eat and sleep well. We can show you how you could free up your diaries to do this!
5.Do less!
Yes, literally! To achieve more you probably need to do less. Learn to say no in an assertive way, take time to simply think and plan before physically doing anything and you will be surprised at how much more productive you can be.
How Can OnTrack Help?
There are many commonly known tools and techniques that you can apply but at OnTrack we ask critical questions that delve deep into identifying the real business or individual need.
We are specialists at helping you identify opportunities to increase the performance and successfully manage the workload in your organisation as well as for individuals. We then work our magic to create the right, bespoke solution for you or/and your business.
We are known for creating practical learning solutions, through a variety of learning methodologies, that help change behaviours, develop the right attitudes, build knowledge, and develop the right attitudes. We work with you to embed these into your organisation some of which may seem counterintuitive but will get the results you need. Contact us today.
