tips
We try to ensure we are as organised and productive as possible and are always on the lookout for better ways of working. Stuart is the gadget junky and shares some of his thoughts here.
Find Out How You Spend Your Time
It is a good idea to keep a personal timesheet every so often – it can be very revealing. I would suggest you keep a record for one month broken down into hour slots (you don’t need to be too pedantic on time spent). You can use whatever categories you like but I would include travel, administration, development and delivery as a minimum. At the end of the period, ask yourself what you would do with 50% of your travel time if you could have it back.
Eliminate, Outsource, Streamline
Once you have worked out where you spend your time, consider elimination, outsourcing and streamlining – and in that order. You find this is common advice for improving processes and increasing personal productivity.
Don’t Drive!
I’m a confirmed petrol head and enjoy all things automotive. However, I’m not a good enough driver to earn my living from it so I pick the best form of transport to travel – and usually the one that allows me to read, work or use a laptop. This is a huge productivity improver!
Learn To Use Your Office Software
Almost daily I see people struggling with the common Office software packages (e.g. MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint). There are plenty of tips I could publish but you are much better off investing a small amount of time learning to use them properly. You would not believe the increase in productivity and the decrease in frustration that a short inexpensive course would deliver.
Get More from Microsoft Outlook
I find I am continually using the features of Outlook (and Lotus Notes a few years ago) to stay organised. For me, the email, calendar, contacts and task functions are invaluable and allow me to stay paper free. A combination of tasks and ‘flags’ means that I never have to rely on my dodgy memory!
Make the Most of Mobile Technology
There are plenty of opinions about modern mobile technology, e.g. the ‘crackberry’ and how it affects your life. In my view, the merging of the phone and the PDA into a device that fits in your pocket is great. But it really makes sense when it synchronises the email, calendar, contacts and tasks. For me, a great time saver.