Techniques for working EFFICIENTLY

[theBiz]

Can anyone share some techniques for working efficiently. Sometimes i have a goal at hand and end up in other areas. Today i am going to find new ways to market my company or website. Halfway through the day you are finding other useful information that may help but not what you started out to do. Anyone have systems they use to get a goal accomplished and not be all over the place?

 

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[Icy]

I always get distracted by other possible useful information and I now have a notebook beside myself when learning. Funny enough I'm actually doing this right now (short break this second). I'll use what I'm currently doing as an example:

I'm reading about learning new (physical) skills as fast\well as possible. So, I'm curious just what changes the body actually goes through when developing a new skill to the point of not having to think about it. I don't remember what I first searched but let's say "muscle memory development" in google and read some of the results. From reading a few websites here are a few things in my notebook:

-nerual pathways
-central nervous system (CNS) fatigue
-mind-muscle connect/brain-muscle memory
-motor unit activation
-gross\fine motor skills

These are (some) things that are involved\changed during developing a new skills to the point of not having to think through it. Since I've read enough about then very broad concept of muscle memory it's time to read about each of, what was, sub-sections of developing muscle memory. After reading each of these more than likely they will each develop their own sub-sections also.

 

[Mental Rental]

A few business tips for efficient working:

1. DON'T multitask. Do one thing at a time, which allows your brain to "get into the zone" for that task and work extremely quickly and efficiently at it, and then move on to the next one (the transitions in thinking are what slow you down; minimize them).

2. Only check your email once (or at most, twice) a day. People don't send an email when there's an emergency, they call you. Your email can wait, which helps you focus on one thing at a time, and you can hammer out all of your emails for the day at a single time.

3. Avoid meetings. Meetings are the death of efficiency; all they're good for is allowing employees to blow off steam and pent-up frustration (which they can do just as easily by complaining to their spouse at home). If you absolutely must participate in a meeting, make sure it only covers one topic, and has a VERY brief time limit (like 15 minutes).

Hope these tips help!

Cheers,

____________________
Brian
Rental Agreement Forms

 

[CMCarlin]

I highly recommend reading the Four Hour Work Week for increasing efficiency.

 

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[wildambitions]

I had to make a list of all the different tasks that I needed to accomplish and I try to group them in like groups. Then I sometimes even group my groups and tackle certain things only on certain days of the week.

I know that if I try to do detail focused code work on Mondays, I will get very little done. I plan these days to write articles and read. Tuesday thru Thursday I can do that detail work. Fridays I plan as my fun day, I meet outside of my normal work environment (my desk at home) and work from a friends office or an internet cafe. We usually go out for lunch. Saturdays I spend the day doing my personal posts and kinda just jumping from thing to thing and I allow myself to "surf".

 

[GeekEntrepreneu]

The key is to find a method which works for you. What works for myself may not for some.

What I do is every Sunday, I'll make out a weekly to-do list which consists of things I want to the following week. I'll then print out a blank weekly schedule which consists of the day of the week with a bunch of blank lines under it. Then starting with the most important tasks to be completed, I'll enter each tasks under the appropriate day which it is to be done.

Once I'm done doing this, I'll then write down a time limit for each task. I do this just so I don't spend too much time on one task, leaving me little time to finish the other tasks.

Another tip I suggest to getting distracted while being online is to use two browsers while at your computer: one for work, the other for surfing and goofing. If I come across a page I want to read later while working, I'll just copy the URL and paste it into a new window on the goofing around browser.

Hope these tips helped!

Wesley Craig Green

 

[CasieG]

I have a 30-60-90 day plan that I lay out each quarter. Then I break it down weekly and also daily.

Things are always going to come up, so my advice is to write yourself a to-do list at the beginning of the day/night before and stick to it. Make sure you accomplish the tasks on your list before moving on to other things.

If I can give you another piece of advice, it's take breaks. Go outside, take a walk, watch tv for 20 minutes, get a snack. I am honestly much more efficient when I take breaks...and eat :smug2:

 

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[aBeats]

I've been terrible at productivity for the last 48 hours. I think I may have just been burned out. But usually, I'm much better. I use different planning and productivity apps to help me stay on task.

I'll usually write out tasks for each day of the week, and then chunk tasks up into 30 minute slices.

There is a mac app that I am currently testing that seems good so far called "Vitamin-R"

Check that out. It basically allows you to define a task, set how long you are going to spend on it, and "GO!" You can play some sounds or "white noise" to help you stay focused, or classical music, rain, etc.

There are a ton of other features, I'm still playing with it myself. But just remember that every second that goes by is 1 more second closer to being old and gray.

So if we want to get rich before that point, as MJ talks about throughout the book, then for me I know the next 48 hours had better not be like the last 48 hours.