Self Magazine, November 2006
Get More Done (In Less Time)
We’ve pinpointed some major time wasters along with tips to tackle them so you’ll be flush with more hours for you, you, you! (No squeezing in extra to do’s allowed.) Because isn’t the aim of being efficient a more balanced life? We think so!
Just Hit Delete
E-mail makes you more productive, right? Wrong. "Checking e-mail is the biggest obsessive-compulsive disorder I’ve ever seen," says Laura Stack, author of Leave the Office Earlier (Broadway Books). "People hear a bing and feel an uncontrollable urge to look, but because only about 1 in 10 messages is important, that’s a big waste," she says. The first line of defense: Be sure you have a junk mail filter, and turn off all those distracting e-mail chimes and pop-ups. Then limit yourself to checking once an hour. That’s frequent enough to give timely replies without constantly breaking your train of thought. And make everyone else’s life easier, too: Use precise subject-line headers—"Weekly staff meeting rescheduled for 4 p.m." and include "Needs no reply." You and your colleagues will dispatch messages with, well, dispatch!
Master Meeting Mania
It would be nice if all meetings could be short and sweet. More often, they suck—your time, that is. To stop talk from spiraling out of control, agree to skip long stories and speak in bullet points, says Mitzi Weinman, founder of TimeFinder, a professional-development company in Needham, Massachusetts. "Instead of ‘I met Joe, we talked and he said X,’ get right to the result and next steps: ‘Joe and I thin k we need to increase our budget; we’ve asked Jen to crunch numbers." If you tend to gab, make a brief counterpoint after someone speaks rather than jumping in first. "Think, then think again, and if your remark still seems relevant, go ahead." Weinman says. Or try drastic means: Hold meetings standing up for maximum discomfort. To keep others on track, let people know how much time you’ll need beforehand, or meet at a weird hour, say, 4:17 p.m. "No one will be late with such an odd starting time," Stack says.
Quit Phone Tag
Ignoring your phone is no way to get things done. The trick: Learn to use old-fashioned voice communication to your benefit. Rather than responding to each ring, let voice mail pick up for a set period, say, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., then return calls in batches for an hour. "If you have 10 to make, do them all at once; you’ll get into a groove," Stack says. If you’re calling out of the the office and need to talk to a person rather than leave a message, do it as near to 9 a.m. or 5 p.m. as you can. "People are apt to be in but may not be as busy as at other times, so they may well pick up," says Angela Allen, a professional organizer in San Mateo, California. Use your voice mail strategically, too: On your outgoing message, ask people to leave their number first so you don’t have to listen to five minutes of rambling, advises Jan Jasper, author of Take Back Your Time: How to Regain Control of Work, Information, & Technology (St. Martin’s Press). You can also tell a big talker that you only have two minutes; he’ll try to cover everything quickly.
Knock out Interruptions
There’s nothing wrong with taking breaks to grab a cup of coffee or indulge in a bit of gossip around the water-cooler—pausing regularly fosters creativity and recharges your brain. You simply have to manage or schedule your socializing. Block off 15-minute slots for visiting with colleagues during the day; besides that, limit chatting to when you’re standing or walking through the office. The goal: to leave yourself significant stretches of solitary time to get stuff done. "Being able to work without interruption is the best way for people to finish faster," Jasper says. So close your door for a bit, or if you sit out in the open, sneak off and hide in an empty conference room for an hour or two.
Once you’ve carved out a block of time to focus, it’s crucial to know what you need to do first. That means spending a few minutes to plan by scanning what’s on your desk at least once a day. "The point is ensure that your urgent tasks are front and center so you’ll be less apt to get sidetracked by random demands," says Lisa Zaslow, founder of Gotham Organizers in New York City. Weinman suggests using the acronym DAFT (for delegate, action, file, or throw out) when an avalanche of papers lands in your in-box. "Think of it as your road map to a more efficient life," she says.
