How to Get More Done and Increase Productivity Today by Working Less
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“No Pain, No Gain.” Not too long ago, that was the adage to follow in training for a marathon. You worked as hard as you could, and when you were done, you worked a little harder. As our understanding of performance grew, we learned to temper our efforts with cross-training and days of rest. Because of those “off” days, we can significantly increase our gains. It is all about achieving a balance.
Whether you are trying to complete a marathon or attempting to accomplish more at work, the principles are the same.
There is no question that our work pace keeps increasing. Instead of the added leisure time that technology was supposed to bring, it has tacked on more hours to every work week. Without being conscious of it in many cases, we have just picked up speed until we are running non-stop day after day.
Several factors stand out in the development of this routine:
- Technology makes us available in every location at all hours.
- New products quickly become obsolete, requiring extra learning time.
- Staff is downsized as companies struggle with increasing competition.
- An overseas pool of workers threatens employee job stability.
- Multi-tasking requirements become habit-forming.
You can quickly find yourself mired in a marathon of work-related hurry, pressure, and stress with all of its consequences - insomnia, irritability, mood swings, absenteeism, health failures. The pace can literally kill you.
Stop for a minute and consider how marathoners proceed to get in shape. They do not train by running 26 miles each day. If that happened in preparation for the race, enthusiasm would wane and injuries occur. Instead they have long runs and short runs. They build in cross-training days, and they insert periods of rest. The key is to vary the practice.
In contrast, so many of us are going full-speed every day, thinking we cannot afford to pause. This however does not translate into more production but actually ends up making us less efficient. Our bodies lag from the unceasing demands placed upon them, requiring more effort for even the simpler tasks, and then our systems misfire. The harder and faster we run, the more we drop behind.
How can we change the situation without sacrificing our productivity? We have to develop time management systems that work for our specific situations. There are techniques that can increase our focus, allow us to quickly prioritize our work, and accomplish more within a shorter period of time.
Just as marathoners schedule long runs, also known as endurance runs, you too can set up an uninterrupted block of time each day where you focus on your major project or most important task. If you will put aside one to one and a half hours, you will accomplish up to eighty percent of your daily production in that time.
Then you can switch to shorter blocks of time where you group your activities, such as returning phone calls, responding to email, paying bills, reading, or filing. These are still focused times, with minimal multi-tasking–your shorter interval runs for the day.
By scheduling one long session and several shorter intervals of focused work each day, you have varied the pace, reduced multi-tasking, and at the same time accomplished more. You will leave the office feeling that you had a good day.
When you arrive home, you can switch into cross-training mode, focusing on your family and household activities instead of continuing the workday and trying to pile on family time in addition.
The next stage is the cool-down, where you allow yourself personal space. It may be a quiet reading period, the pursuit of a hobby, a social outing, or even a fitness session. It should be what relaxes and rejuvenates you.
If you are currently running a marathon every day, train yourself to vary your pace. You will have a much better chance of crossing the finish line when it counts. Go for the winning scenario.
2008 Denise Landers, Key Organization Systems, Inc.
Do you work harder every day just to keep up with an ever increasing workload? Denise Landers shows you how simple it is to work smarter, get ahead, and stop stress overload today at http://www.KeyOrganization.com.
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I like how you compared work to training for a marathon because I trained for one this winter. It is a good example. I am not very good at applying this to my life. I don’t set aside enough rest time or cross training days. Instead, I am trying to get things done in every available minute, which causes a lot of stress.