Tweet

Reexamine Your Productivity Habits

Guest post by: Holly Murdoch

Article Overview: Can you improve? Make this a productive day!

Reexamine Your Productivity Habits

Let’sreexamine the way we get things done. Who knows? You just might make some headway on an issue that you thought was a lost cause years ago. Here are some things to think about as you consider how to make improvements in your productivity:

Challenge the status quo. Does it have to be done like this? Many people don’t like change. You might not be particularly fond of it yourself. But that’s no reason to stay stuck in an unproductive rut. All too often, we resign ourselves that it’s “good enough” and get hung up on a really mediocre way of doing something.

Is there a recurring meeting at work that makes everyone groan and hasn’t been worth the hour that it eats up for as long as you can remember?

Maybe it is time to reconsider the way that time is spent. If you have any say in how the meeting is run, perhaps your group’s resolution should be to get the thing back on target. Or maybe it’s simply time to get rid of the meeting altogether and give everyone involved a little extra time in their day - a precious thing indeed.

There are lots of examples of this sort of thing: status reports that no one reads, useless reports, inefficient paperwork, and time-tracking techniques that never see the light of day. Things like this point to an underlying problem: no one steps up to say “why are we doing this?!?!”

Take a risk. Try something different, especially when it comes to projects that are very large or very critical, people can get uneasy about changing a process. After all, there is a lot at stake and the old way has never failed before. The result can be a clunky, overly-complicated process that has grown into something more difficult and stressful than it needs to be.

Don’t be afraid to take a risk and challenge the old way of doing things. It may be more stressful this time around, but you just might work your way towards a new system that will save tons of time and aggravation later on. Don’t be the one who suffers in silence out of fear of “rocking the boat.”

Have structure. Many of us have jobs that are so process-heavy we forget that having a defined procedure in place is, in the best of circumstances, a really good thing.

Make sure that when you are dealing with a task or an assignment that needs to be done on a recurring basis, you find a way to put a system in place. Especially if you are working in a group, it is important to make sure that everyone is on the same page in terms of who is responsible for what - and when.

A checklist can be a great asset here. Simply list everything that needs to be accomplished and who is responsible for doing it. If your process stalls, you should have no problem figuring out where the problem is.

Keep track of measurements! If you go on a diet, at some point you’re going to step on the scale for an objective look at how things are going. Without a no-nonsense measurement, it is very difficult to gauge your success or failure. It’s hard to improve what you can’t measure. So how would you know if you’ve succeeded?

This is particularly true when it comes to tweaking or creating processes. Keep track of the changes you make and evaluate how they have improved productivity. Did you make the process faster? Does it involve fewer people? Did the quality of the work improve?

These are the questions you’ll want to ask whenever you change something that has been in place for any period of time. If you keep these questions in mind before you make any changes at all, so it can help guide your decision making.

Let’s not be afraid to take the bull by the horns and tackle the issues that stand between you and your personal or professional productivity.

Written for w2wlink.

Related Articles
  Productivity and Power, Freedom, and Peace of Mind
  Create New Success Habits!
  Create Habits That Will Serve You Well
  Habits
  Create 10 Delightful Daily Habits
  The Value of an Accountability Coach
  Where Are Your Habits Leading You?
  How To Get More Done By Sleeping
  Habits, life choices, decision,health,personal growth,personal development,spirituality
  Achieve Your Goals By Building K.A.S.H For Sustainable Success
  Creating Successful Habits
  Historical Productivity Gains in Industry Generally
  Monetize Lost Productivity
  How to Write Better and Faster -- And Have More Fun Doing It!
  How To Remove And Replace Unproductive Habits
  Create an Outrageously Healthy Work Environment
  Thinking of buying or selling your business in the New Year, how is your Productivity Plan?
  Good Marketing is Like a Bad Habit
  Become a Better Version of Yourself
  Spontaneity

Article Tags: creativity, habits, improve, productivity, styles, w2wlink



Related Forum Posts
Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Sept 10, 2010 - Glad you liked it David! I only managed to get partway through the list today because my one year old was looking for some playtime but I did read the Zen Habits one - I love reading Zen Habits while relaxing at a coffee shop!
Re: My 3 best business books - 1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 3. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin Think and Grow Rich seems more powerful each time I read it or dip into it. The 7 Habits not only offers some very effective ways to organize your life (which I have yet to master!), but also some great quotations and thought provoking statements including this by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl: [i:2naxzsom]Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.[/i:2naxzsom] Seth Godin's Permission Marketing is a good read for anybody seeking to understand how to approach doing business on the Internet in the right way with regard to winning people's trust.
Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Sept 10, 2010 - I was also interested in the Zen Habits affiliate programme as it might mix well with my business/japan blog...
Re: Money Does Not Guarantee Happiness - Thanks for singling this point out, Chris. One book that comes to mind that covers it in an overall approach is "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. He addresses our inner life and the way it can change our effectiveness home and at work. There are corporations who have taken this model and effectively molded their business around it.
Increase Productivity and Profits on the Web - A Web site is a great way to better service and market to current customers, but often a difficult way to attract new ones." Increase Productivity and Profits on the Web New! Don’t let the savings and productivity enhancements described in the following pages make you rush out and spend thousands of dollars overnight to have someone set you up with your own Web server, hosted Web site, or intranet.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Living on The Edge of Chaos...

Top 5 Qualities in an Outsourcing Company

Leading with Discernment

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.