Employee Insights Volume 24: 5 key items on how to have a more proactive day at work
Have you ever seen a hamster go round and round on a hamster wheel. They look busy, don’t they? But where are they going? Thats right, nowhere. Many times, we can find ourselves getting stuck on busy work but never really moving forward.
Think of the opportunities that a lack of productivity cost you. The good news is that a lack of productivity can simply stem from a lack of organization or perhaps a few other easy tweaks.
Today’s Masterclass Monday add 5 strong tips that can help you turn things around and go from busy, to actual results.
Learn to say No, when necessary.
No one can do it all. You are not a superhero, but you do have superpowers and one of those is saying “NO”, respectfully of course. Taking on too many tasks can lead to mistakes, missed deadlines, and burnout so setting boundaries with coworkers will be crucial. Try these polite yet firm ways of pushing back on work overload.
I will need more time in order to do this well, I can have it ready by X date. Does that work?
I’m happy to help but will need to reprioritize my current task list, what items can wait for a later time?
Don’t be afraid of the phone!
Stuck Waiting on an email? Do yourself a favor and pick up the phone. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how responsive and helpful the other person may be to you and most importantly the time you can save! This won’t always be the case but even then, the fact that they know you’ll call might still prompt them to respond faster next time just to avoid your call!
Write emails that get responses
Everybody’s inbox gets full these days, and quickly! To avoid being set aside for a later time, learn to get to the point and write emails that have everything your recipient needs to get back to you quickly! Minimize the back and forth. Keep your emails simple.
Use a clear subject line: “New PPE order request”
Get to the point the first sentence after your greeting: “I’d like to place an order for new PPE.”
Keep it short- no one wants to read a long email that could be a few sentences. 5 sentences or less are your sweet spot.
End with a call to action: “Please confirm receipt of my order and delivery date of my order”
Have a priority list and time block
Everybody has Important things as well as urgent things to do every day. You’ll have to make time for both and know in which category that task may fall into. Important things are business critical; this moves the needs along for you in your job. The urgent things are the random things that pop up that need to be taken care of, but maybe not right now. Set chunks of productivity time throughout the day to solely focus on the important things of your job. You’ll find you feel less overwhelmed at the end of the day.
Ignore the chit chat
No ones perfect and we’ve all done it. We’ve all participated in a little office banter and coffee talk but know when you’ve crossed the line from catching up to wasting time. If you happen to be caught up with work, keep it clean and avoid any gossip especially if it involves others.
Closing thoughts
Productivity isn’t about working longer hours, its about getting the right things done