When you’ve got a full plate of work in front of you, it can feel like the beginning of a marathon. So the last thing you might want to think about when faced with a lot of work is stopping to learn some better ways to schedule it all and get things done. But take a little break from that epic daily struggle of yours to learn one or two ways to save ten or twenty minutes during your workday. You’ll be rewarded with peace of mind.
1. Silence smartphone notifications– Every time your phone chirps a notification at you, it’s a guaranteed break in your momentum. So turn off the notifications and schedule a time or two during your workday to check your phone for messages, news alerts, and other stuff that can most likely wait until you’re done with the task at hand.
2. Do the hard stuff first– That way you’ve got it out of the way, and it’s not producing extra stress during your workday. Procrastination adds another level of anxiety you don’t need to deal with.
3. Look into your automation options– Figure out which of your daily tasks can be handled by automation and set those processes up. There are thousands of companies out there looking for ways to make your workflow less cluttered, so take advantage of the help that their tech offers.
4. You don’t have to start at the beginning– If there’s an easier point-of-entry for today’s biggest tasks than the beginning, just jump in wherever you feel the most comfortable and prepared and start there. It’s a great way to build up confidence in completing the entire job if the whole enchilada has you intimidated.
5. Learn all your keyboard shortcuts– Cut your workday down by a thousand unnecessary keystrokes by familiarizing yourself with the keyboard shortcuts available to you. It won’t take you more than an hour or two, and will save you more time in the end than you may realize.
6. If you can do it in under 2 minutes, do it now– It’s a well-traveled rule, and it still holds true. If you’re looking at one of the smaller tasks on your to-do list and feel it can be accomplished in under two minutes, do it right then and there. The idea is not wasting any more time delaying or postponing when completing the actual task takes less time than reshuffling your daily schedule again.
7. Work near a source of natural light– Some things are so simple they seem silly, but you need your sunshine to function well. So try to work near a source of natural light. This works easier if you’re a remote employee, but even if you work in an office there should be some way to arrange a few hours of working in natural light. It’ll help you sleep better, too.
8. Prepare for today last night– Your dreaming mind covers a lot of ground while you’re sleeping and recharging your batteries, so don’t give it nightmare stress fodder by going to sleep without some sense of how you’re going to handle the next day’s workload. Instead, jot down a little list of the first few things you need to do so you won’t wake up feeling overwhelmed.
9. Schedule some procrastination time– Nobody is a machine, and no matter how well planned out, there are gonna be moments during your workday where you throw your hands in the air, in desperate need of a mental recharge. But that’s no excuse to waste time looking for something to distract you: make sure to bookmark articles all week that you wanna catch up on, and schedule a few 20 or 30 minute breaks during the day to read a few of them.
10. Learn how to touch type– Want to really carve out some wasted time from your day? Learn how to touch type instead of wasting all that time with the hunting and the pecking. Just imagine what ten fingers can do compared with just two! It’ll take you some time to learn, but once you’ve got it down you can’t help but become more productive on the keyboard. You’ll spend 20-35% less time typing, too.
