How to work smarter not harder – up your productivity game!
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We’re constantly being told that UK productivity lags behind other countries. This is often ascribed to poor systems, training, and lack of skills. We’re also told that working longer hours isn’t the answer as tiredness reduces productivity. Now new research
(Zenger and Folkman) has uncovered the key habits of highly productive people so what can we learn from this to ensure we work smarter rather than harder?
From a career perspective, this makes sense too. If your manager or their manager see you as too busy, they may think that you don’t have enough capacity to take on a new project or something that could be great for your career. It is helpful always to try to work to a 90% busy so that you have time to work on other name-making projects.
Do you like to get results from your work? It seems the more results-driven we are, the more likely we will work to maximise the payback from time spent on an activity. Doing more in less time, beating our own former targets, will be part of the fun! So, what can you do to keep yourself focussed? Think about some reward you can use as an incentive to focus your attention!
Similarly setting stretch targets on a regular basis, getting a real buzz from focusing on a difficult task or project and pulling off superior results into the bargain is a key factor of those who are highly productive. What stretch target would entice you to consider focusing your time on this alone to the exclusion of all else. And when would be the time to do that without it hindering anything else you need to achieve? If the target is enticing enough the payback will be sufficient reward and probably see you drive your career further and faster too.
Anticipating and solving problems is a highly productive tactic too, not surprising if you think about it. Anyone contemplating achieving a stretch goal in superfast time needs to plan ahead, considering what might go wrong and how quickly plan B and C can be implemented to ensure the pace of work isn’t adversely affected. How good are you at contingency planning? Would that be a good skill to develop and practise in itself?
Contingency planning often requires support from others. This is where collaboration comes in – highly productive people make sure to collaborate with others to get jobs done fast and can pull this off because of the good relationships they have fostered over time. So, ask yourself if you spend enough time building key relationships and supporting others in achieving their goals.
Being consistent, delivering on promises as a matter of principle, will help build those relationships and a strong sense of self-worth and validation. From here it’s a short hop to developing a rhythm of working which allows us to continue to deliver quality work fast. Do you always meet your deadlines and deliver on your promises? If not, this could be a great goal to focus on over the next few months.
Keeping our technical skills up to date, even the basics of how to use software efficiently will help us maintain and even improve our productivity. That’s not to say that we might not ‘outsource’ certain parts of a project, or ask for help when required, but the less we need to do this the more we can maintain the pace of work desired. So, on a scale from 1-10 how well do you rate your technical effectiveness?
Finally, do you use your initiative? Productive people don’t wait to be prompted they jump right in, doing work they can see is needed and which they know they have the ability to do quickly and well. Their initiatives will often improve their own and others efficiency, driving productivity levels higher. What small-scale improvements can you can see that taken together, would really improve processes and improve efficiency? Why not make a plan to get these done over the next month or so and then reap the rewards?
TAKE AWAY
We may not feel able to replicate all the habits of highly productive people, but there’s sure to be two or three ideas from the list above that feel feasible and worth some serious consideration. So, set yourself a stretch goal by picking at least two to implement in the next six months. Your reward? More achieved at work in less time – and more time to think about how you can drive your career!
From a career perspective, this makes sense too. If your manager or their manager see you as too busy, they may think that you don’t have enough capacity to take on a new project or something that could be great for your career. It is helpful always to try to work to a 90% busy so that you have time to work on other name-making projects.
Do you like to get results from your work? It seems the more results-driven we are, the more likely we will work to maximise the payback from time spent on an activity. Doing more in less time, beating our own former targets, will be part of the fun! So, what can you do to keep yourself focussed? Think about some reward you can use as an incentive to focus your attention!
Similarly setting stretch targets on a regular basis, getting a real buzz from focusing on a difficult task or project and pulling off superior results into the bargain is a key factor of those who are highly productive. What stretch target would entice you to consider focusing your time on this alone to the exclusion of all else. And when would be the time to do that without it hindering anything else you need to achieve? If the target is enticing enough the payback will be sufficient reward and probably see you drive your career further and faster too.
Anticipating and solving problems is a highly productive tactic too, not surprising if you think about it. Anyone contemplating achieving a stretch goal in superfast time needs to plan ahead, considering what might go wrong and how quickly plan B and C can be implemented to ensure the pace of work isn’t adversely affected. How good are you at contingency planning? Would that be a good skill to develop and practise in itself?
Contingency planning often requires support from others. This is where collaboration comes in – highly productive people make sure to collaborate with others to get jobs done fast and can pull this off because of the good relationships they have fostered over time. So, ask yourself if you spend enough time building key relationships and supporting others in achieving their goals.
Being consistent, delivering on promises as a matter of principle, will help build those relationships and a strong sense of self-worth and validation. From here it’s a short hop to developing a rhythm of working which allows us to continue to deliver quality work fast. Do you always meet your deadlines and deliver on your promises? If not, this could be a great goal to focus on over the next few months.
Keeping our technical skills up to date, even the basics of how to use software efficiently will help us maintain and even improve our productivity. That’s not to say that we might not ‘outsource’ certain parts of a project, or ask for help when required, but the less we need to do this the more we can maintain the pace of work desired. So, on a scale from 1-10 how well do you rate your technical effectiveness?
Finally, do you use your initiative? Productive people don’t wait to be prompted they jump right in, doing work they can see is needed and which they know they have the ability to do quickly and well. Their initiatives will often improve their own and others efficiency, driving productivity levels higher. What small-scale improvements can you can see that taken together, would really improve processes and improve efficiency? Why not make a plan to get these done over the next month or so and then reap the rewards?
TAKE AWAY
We may not feel able to replicate all the habits of highly productive people, but there’s sure to be two or three ideas from the list above that feel feasible and worth some serious consideration. So, set yourself a stretch goal by picking at least two to implement in the next six months. Your reward? More achieved at work in less time – and more time to think about how you can drive your career!