Being organized is very important for being efficient. Long hours of work does not necessarily equate to productive hours. Many times you put in all the hard work with long working hours but the end result is not much of productive work. The best thing that can complement and optimize the output of hard work is smart work. Working smart and hard can go a long way in making oneself productive. The first step towards being productive is being organized. Here are the eight ways which can help you do so.
1. Recognize your priorities
We often pay less importance to prioritize our work and end up spending a lot of time on not so important tasks. This way we lose out on our efficiency owing to our poor planning skills. The best way to overcome this is to recognize our priorities and complete them in order. The end result is greater self-confidence, acknowledgment of work and a stress-free attitude towards work.
2. Use technology to support you
Technology should be seen as a great support system for your work. The world is getting smaller day by day owing to the ease of access we get to the world through technology. Technology has advanced so much that efficient and timely use of it can go a long way in helping you in your work. Project managers can consider using project management software tools that can help them in a great way to reduce the work pressure and get better control of the workflow and the teams’ performance. Today’s technology has become simpler and user-friendly. With usage, things become simpler and easier to understand.
3. Multi tasking can multiply your non-productive time
Many times there are so many tasks to complete that you want to do a bit of everything at the same time. While it is can satisfy the mind that everything is attended to, the bad news is that it can multiply the non-productive hours. Research has indicated that multitasking can negatively affect the brain in terms of memory and focus.
4. Avoid comparing your work
Every individual is unique in his own way. Comparing yourself and measuring your workflow with your fellow colleagues’ can decrease your performance. We all have different working styles and we can excel in our performance only if we better in our own ways instead of copying others. This could also bring a great positive impact on your performance not only as an individual but to your team as a whole.
5. Update your Knowledge
Having your knowledge updated can help you in a great way to become more organized. Update yourself on the latest trends that can be used to improve performance and help you stay more organized. See how technology can help you accomplish this and use the tools that suit your project demands and working style and adopt the same. This can make you more organized and productive.
6. Delegate tasks
Many times you want to do it all by yourself. While you may think that you are the best suited to deliver quality, it is also important to note that doing everything by yourself can make you less organized due to the overload of work. Time will never be sufficient to complete tasks, however good your planning is. The best approach would be to recognize the strength of your team members and delegate tasks based on their strengths. This can not only help them improve their efficiency but also help you become more organized as a project manager.
7. Review yours and your team’s progress
While all tasks are being done, it is very essential to review yours and your team’s progress to know where you exactly stand. Technology can again help you and there are project management tools that when used in a correct way can give you insights of the progress in very less time and with greater accuracy which certainly is very difficult if done manually.
8. Set time limits for your tasks
Setting time limits can bring in a more organized and effective approach to complete your tasks. When there are no time limits, you are not too focussed and tend to drag your tasks. Setting a time limit mentally prepares you to complete it in the set time. This can make you organized and productive at work. Project management tools can help you track your time and your team’s time and productivity.
As rightly quoted “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned”, it’s just about time we think on planning to organize things to make work and life more enjoyable with lesser stress and no work pressure.