One of the simple and important rules for working more efficiently is to concentrate fully on your daily tasks, despite the constant distractions such as social media.
Photo: Gajus – shutterstock.com
Every day has 24 hours and although many entrepreneurs are in the office 60 hours or more per week, the to-do lists often seem endless and the goals they have set themselves seem unattainable. But by working efficiently, employers can save money, time, personnel and raw materials.
Effectiveness versus efficiency
As is often the case, change begins in the mind. The first misunderstandings arise when defining two words that look very similar on paper. Because ‘efficiency’ and ‘effectiveness’ are far from being the same thing.
It would be effective to drive a car into a wall to hammer in a nail. The result would be: nail is in the wall. But getting there would be dramatically complicated, dangerous and wasteful.
What is more efficient, however, is to take a hammer and drive the nail into the wall with one or two hits. Here too the result is that the nail is stuck in the wall. But in contrast to scenario one, here we are taking the path of least resistance, risk and time. Applied to the entrepreneurial world, this means: An efficient company creates the best possible result with the least possible investment of time and money.
The following three tips for increasing efficiency in the workplace are extremely effective and can be applied immediately:
1. Maximize your energy levels
The first starting point for improving efficiency in the company is the performance of each individual. Because only a rested, healthy body and mind is able to produce a correspondingly high-quality result. As an entrepreneur, always strive to model and enable your team to live a healthy lifestyle.
Make sure you get enough sleep (seven to eight hours per night), eat a reasonably balanced diet and incorporate regular exercise and breaks into your daily work routine. If you, as a boss or manager, set an example for your employees, they will also adopt a healthy lifestyle.
2. Set time blocks with fixed appointments
Our brain only has a limited amount of energy available each day. Even if we follow the tips described above to maximize our performance. That’s why it’s even more important that we don’t waste energy on trivial decisions and unimportant tasks.
Fixed time blocks entered in the calendar for specific task areas (e.g. sales, team development, corporate strategy) ensure that daily to-dos are clearly allocated and prioritized. The brain doesn’t have to think about which of the 93 open points to tackle first in the morning, but only needs to follow the calendar’s guidelines.
3. Use the Tabata method: Oropax, stopwatch and go
The efficiency of most self-employed people and entrepreneurs fails due to the lack of focus in implementation. An employee knocks on the door and “just needs your quick feedback”. A customer calls and “just has a quick question.” Every distraction, no matter how small, causes you to lose time and energy, which is then used to complete the task at hand.
Make sure that nothing or no one distracts you during these focus times. Put your cell phone on airplane mode and instruct your secretary not to put anyone through until the time block is over.
Create the right structures
It takes some practice and, above all, the right structures to successfully establish efficient work throughout the company. Once this first hurdle has been overcome, the company, its employees and, last but not least, the entrepreneur himself will benefit in the long term.
