By being more efficient at work we can achieve more in the same amount of time, helping us to tackle challenging schedules as well as freeing up spare time. It’s easy to become more efficient by making small changes to your daily routine. Delegating effectively, identifying your priorities and limiting your meetings are all methods to help you become more efficient.  By being more efficient at work we can achieve more in the same amount of time, helping us to tackle challenging schedules as well as freeing up spare time. It’s easy to become more efficient by making small changes to your daily routine. You need to:

1. Delegate effectively

Very efficient people delegate tasks to people who will perform them better. If you adopt this policy you can then choose the task which is most suited to you and increase your productivity significantly. 

2. Identify Priorities

You need to establish what you need to achieve and decide on the most important objectives and then use this to prioritise your tasks. By writing down your goals, it’s easy to keep track of what you need to do and when.

3. Stop Multitasking

Many people cannot focus well on more than 1 or 2 tasks at a time. When you multitask, you produce less and at a lower quality compared to focusing on a single task. Concentrating on one thing at a time leads to a higher quality of work produced in a faster time

4. Work in Measurable Chunks of Time

By working in measurable chunks of time, taking a break and then coming back to a task, you can become more productive. Many studies have found that 90 minute chunks of task with breaks increases efficiency.

5. Make The Most of Your Commute

Assuming that you are not driving, then by spending your commute checking emails, creating a to-do list or reading about industry trends you will be more prepared for your day and more efficient in the process.

6. Use technology

In this age of technology people still make out manual lists on a daily basis. Outlook can   organise your life so much better. In Outlook you can use tasks and set timetables, follow ups and priorities. This can also be done for emails.

7. Training

“If you think training is expensive try working with un trained staff”. By having all staff, including yourself, better trained efficiencies will come. A good example of this is a woodcutter trying to cut down a tree with a blunt saw. If he just took time out to sharpen his saw it would be much quicker. But how many of us actually do that?

8. Early response

Often you are waiting on someone else to come back to you. Time is wasted when a deadline is looming and you end up with a senior person doing a junior job that someone else should have done, or even indeed end up by accident both doing it as a deadline is looming and it is urgent. Plan ahead and get it off your desk to the right person and to an agreed timetable. 

9. Right flat structure with few meetings.

Too many levels of management with too many people involved results in lots of conversations and meetings. You can be left with just minutes to discuss and get an agreement on important issues.  Often agreement and hence decisions are not made, politics are increased and the result is inertia. Make sure that a business structure is flat with one person responsible for a decision without the need to consult a whole range of colleagues. Only book meetings which are essential and make sure you have a clearly defined agenda and stick to it so that they run efficiently and quickly. Each month on average an office worker spends 31 hours in unproductive meetings.   You can become more efficient through a variety of strategies. If you increase your efficiency you can get more done in the same amount of time, enabling you to achieve more, become more productive and free up spare time.   The S4B Team S4B are a firm of Chartered Accountants in Maidenhead. With years of experience in industry we can help support all aspects of your business and free up some of your valuable time by acting as your part-time Financial Director.Our team will improve your systems, mentor your management,and produce high quality budgeting, forecasting and management reports. If you would like to see how we can help your business contact us at [email protected] or call us on 01628 623444.om