Getting ahead, or even just keeping apace, with work demands is tough, whether you spend your day in an office or try to manage boundaries as you work from home. The better you are at staying focussed and managing your time to get the work done properly and on schedule, the more you will achieve, and the reduction in stress-levels that you’ll be enjoying has to be experienced to be believed!
Effectively dealing with your work duties will not only see you enjoying the time you spend at your job much more, it will affect the rest of your life positively as well. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and we need to unwind from our hectic schedules in order to function at our best when we’re fulfilling our job demands. When your To Do List has been cleared you can treat yourself to a night out with friends, or a night in with first-rate real slots NZ has to offer, or that book you’ve just been too tired to get to until now!
Start Your Day Off on the Right Foot
The first thing you should do every day is get a clear idea of what you need to get done. Set this to rights before you start checking emails and responding to whatever queries and issues need your attention.
Make a list of the the most important tasks you need to accomplish, and update it as your day unfolds. Review your list as often as you need to, checking off things as you finish them, and adding new items as they arise. And don’t forget to treat yourself to a holiday every now and again too, as this is crucial for your health and maintaining focus.
Minimise Interruptions
Every time you get sidetracked during your day, you’re losing focus, feeling harried, and doing many tasks haphazardly rather than one task well. Find out what your most common distractions are, and deal with them.
A good example is to turn your phone off, allowing for only vital calls to get through to you, and avoiding continuously checking your mail as you get other things taken care of. Make sure that your coworkers, friends, and family are aware that you are not at their beck and call during the working day, especially if you work from home, and you’ll find that finishing one thing before starting another ensures that you’ll do it properly and much more quickly than you would otherwise.
You May Delay, but Time Will Not
Procrastination needs to be shown the door if you’re serious about your work, and leaving things until the last moment, for whatever reason, is simply not an option. As interesting as the reasons we put things off may be, they’re not to be tolerated, and while it’s intriguing that perfectionists are famous for delaying the tasks they need to get done for fear of not being able to do it perfectly, that’s just not going to cut it.
Do what needs to be done as it comes up, and watch the anxiety you’ve made peace with vanish into thin air!