Work Smarter, Not Harder
Posted by Tollfreenumber.ORG at September 10th, 2015
Every day I talk to a multitude of people that seem to want to make things more complicated than they are. Starting up and running a business is no walk in the park, don’t get me wrong, but doing unnecessary things that don’t help your business be the best it can isn’t worth the time. I guess that’s why people me…
Let me give you an example. A large corporation recently flew me to Chicago to check out their new office building and help figure out how to arrange the place for the most efficiency, how many employees to transfer to this location, etc. What I saw as a pretty straight forward situation, they saw as a set of very difficult decisions that they had already put a lot of time into. They gave me five different office room layouts they had had a guy sketch. The desks were in different places and positions, there were plants placed in different areas, white boards shown in the front, back, and sides of the room, a water cooler was in different spots and even turned different ways. You might be surprised to hear that I wasn’t shocked – I see this all the time, albeit, maybe not to these extreme and costly measures. What did I do, you ask? I’ll start by telling you what I DIDN’T do… I didn’t tell them they were wrong and spent money on something they shouldn’t have. The damage was already done and pointing it out wouldn’t have helped. I looked at their sketches and explained what was good and why it was good and we set up the room, made some adjustments, and waited to see if the staff had input. They were pleased.
The point is that giving yourself extra tasks to do is ‘busy work’ with a fancier name. It may seem like you’re being proactive and getting things done but, if those things are unnecessary, you’re doing the opposite.
I recommend making a list of accomplishments you hope to make, when you hope to make them, and then prioritize them by most important to complete first. Everyone in business has a multitude of different tasks so I’ll use chores at home to serve as an example… Say you feel like you need to clean the bathroom, make dinner, pick up the kids from school, take the dog for a walk, shower, and stop by the post office all within your 9-5 hour workday. Here’s a strategy to accomplish it all:
Get off work at 5pm: Pick up the kids, stop by the post office on the way home from there, get home and have one kid walk the dog while the other cleans the bathroom, while you take a shower in your master bathroom. Done by 6 and now you have the rest of the night! Mind Blown?
Here’s what not to do:
Don’t add extra things to your list.
Don’t get sidetracked.
Don’t say you’re going to clean the bathroom and end up watching tv.
Don’t say you’re going to clean the bathroom and end up giving it a spring cleaning where you spend three hours, washing, waxing, polishing, etc. Do what you need to do – for now.
If something goes astray… Don’t panic. Reschedule, reorganize.
– Greg Simmons, business consultant
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Category: Companies