Reduce your workload

12:24:25

2023-05-06

1500

If you think you could benefit from saving time, you can take advantage of the following strategies when looking at workloads.

Ask yourself this question: “Does this really need to be done today?”

If the tasks are not essential, you can cross them off your list or delete them from your journal, but - and this is important - you have to be careful not to delete an item just because it is boring or does not make you feel happy.

Ask yourself, "Is there a more efficient way to do this task?" For example, could you send an email instead of a lengthy phone call? Can you get someone else to do this job for you? Can you involve others in some of the tasks?

And if you are worried that the other person will not do the task as well as you do it, ask yourself: “To what extent will they not do the task as well as required?” And what will really happen if the other person does not do it right or does it as well as you did? I will do it myself?"

Identify your reasons for procrastination and deal with them. If you don't like doing a specific task, set specific goals for finishing it (such as spending two hours a day doing that task) and use strategies that will motivate you to finish it, such as rewarding yourself. If you don't know how to start a task, divide the task into small parts and set a time to finish each part. And you have to complete each part in the allotted time.

And if you're worried that the final product or work won't be as perfect as you'd like it to be, ask yourself, "Isn't it better to do something reasonably than not to do it at all?"

Be firm with others and decline their requests if the tasks they ask you to do are unnecessary or unimportant. Ask yourself: How angry or unhappy would these people feel just because I don't have time to do something for them?

The next step is to set a schedule for when you will perform the tasks you have listed. Create a daily schedule that requires as much detail as possible, for example:

● Start scheduling those appointments for tasks that you have to finish by a specific time (such as attending a meeting).

● For tasks that have deadlines, estimate how long it will take to finish the task realistically, and start by looking at the deadline to determine when you need to start in order to complete it on schedule. If you always have trouble meeting deadlines, you may not be able to estimate the time it takes to complete projects and are simply unrealistic. And so if necessary, overestimate the time you need to complete the task.

● Set realistic deadlines for other tasks, and alternate between tasks that are truly important and those that are less strenuous and feel more relaxing.

● Take into account as you plan your time the things that may interrupt your work, and those tasks that take more time than expected by placing the important tasks between the smaller and less urgent ones.

● Stick to your business agenda. Do the tasks you decide to do and don't get distracted by any other tasks that come your way. Instead, set a time to do those new tasks at a later time and, if necessary, firmly tell others that their demands will need to wait.

● Remember to set rewards for yourself, which may include taking breaks or doing fun things especially after hard work is done.