If you’d like to get more done in less time, listen up! Here’s how to beat some of the biggest time-wasters around, courtesy of Self magazine:
- First, stop the email obsession! Studies show that when people hear “You’ve got mail!” they just have to read it. But since only 1 message in 10 is important, that’s a big time-waster. Laura Stack, author of Leave the Office Earlier, has these suggestions: Install a junk mail filter, and turn off the distracting email chimes and pop-ups. Then, check your in-box only once an hour, so you’re not always breaking your train of thought. And save everyone’s time with to-the-point headers like “Weekly staff meeting moved to 4 p.m.” and messages that say “No reply necessary.”
- Another get-more-done-in-less-time tip: make meetings short and sweet. Mitzi Weinman, founder of TimeFinder, suggests a hard-and-fast rule for meetings: skip the long stories, and speak only in bullet points. For example, instead of saying, “I met with Joe, and he said ‘blah-blah-blah,’ and we decided we need to look into getting a bigger budget” take action: “Joe and I think we need to increase our budget. Patty crunched the numbers, and here’s what she came up with. ”Or try something drastic: Hold meetings standing up for maximum discomfort. Or meet at a weird hour, like 4:17 p.m.. Nobody will be late with such an odd starting time.
- Finally, quit playing phone tag. Instead of answering every call, let voice mail pick up for a specific period, say 9:30 to 11 a.m.. Then return your calls in one fell swoop. Also, on your outgoing message, ask people to leave their number first so you don’t have to listen to 5 minutes of rambling before you can call them back. And if you need to call someone, aim as close to 9 a.m. or 5 p.m. as possible. People are more likely to be in the office, and less likely to be busy at those hours.
