Work Less, Do More: Top 3 Productivity Tips For Employers in Kelowna
Do you want to spend more time with family and friends this holiday season?
Are you wondering how to make your workdays less stressful?
A few simple strategies could make all the difference. We’ve scoured the web to find practical tips for better productivity, so you can work less and enjoy more of the things you love.
Read on for our top three tips for employers in Kelowna:
1. Tackle the big brainwork before lunch
Avoiding mentally strenuous tasks with mindless busywork doesn’t make you more productive. It just prolongs the inevitable. Procrastination is a time-suck most of us can’t afford to indulge for too long.
To save time and work less, tackle the scary stuff first thing in the morning. As behavioral psychology blogger Gregory Ciotti says, “the best way to overcome your fear of spending a lot of energy on a project is to simply get started.”
Consider those morning hours of the workday “deliberate practice” – focused time to get stuff done while your brain is fresh and your caffeinated energy is fully charged. And no distractions: no email. No Facebook. No Internet, if necessary, to see your challenging tasks through to completion.
Still can’t seem to get your complex project underway? It could be time to enlist expert assistance. A recruiter in Kelowna can provide the staffing you need to get it done.
2. Cut meeting time length in half
“Meetings are an extremely expensive waste of time,” says CEO and author Ilya Pozin in his aptly titled article “Why Business Meetings Kill Productivity”. He’s not alone in that sentiment – Pozin cites a Salary.com survey that reports 47 percent of workers say meetings are the No.1 time-waster at the office.
Here’s why: Meetings often run too long. Do you really need two hours to make a collective decision or introduce a new idea?
“Before you schedule your next meeting, pay attention to the amount of time you block off,” suggests Pozin. Allotting more time than necessary can provoke meandering, off-topic conversation amongst attendees. If there’s time to slack off, they just might take it.
Cut the standard meeting time in half to make every minute count. Start and end meetings on schedule (no exceptions!), even if attendees arrive late and you miss points on your agenda. Shorter meetings keep communication focused and task-driven; you can adapt to this time saving strategy in no time.
Want to take productivity to the next level? Try hosting your next meeting standing up!
3. Tap into “the unstoppable power of outsourcing”
“By outsourcing the day to day back-office tasks, the business owner has more time to focus on generating income,” says entrepreneur Laura Lee Sparks. With all your essential-yet-time-consuming duties taken care of, you are unstoppable.
Here’s an easy way to get started with outsourced staffing:
First, record your daily work activity throughout a one-week period. Include everything – lunch runs, product research, opening mail, Facebook refreshes, everything.
At the end of the week, review the record you’ve made. Take a red pen and run a slash through tasks that could be easily delegated to another person. Don’t rationalize staffing logistics until after the review is complete.
Now group the delegate-able tasks together based on job description. Bookkeeping, administration, customer relations – these roles could be hidden in your day-to-day, quietly sucking up precious, productive hours.
With your assistance requirements defined, a recruiter in Kelowna can quickly and effectively match you with skilled temporary workers. Options for part-time and temporary work make outsourcing an affordable way to boost business productivity while reducing “busywork” hours from your day.
What will you do with your extra time?
With fewer hours spent in meetings, avoiding big projects and taking care of finicky office tasks, you’ll have more time to focus on what matters.
So what does that mean to you? Share your ideas with us in the comment section below!
Aspire Recruiting provides employers in Kelowna (including Central, South and North Okanagan, Northern BC and Alberta), with exceptional human resource solutions for improved workforce productivity and performance.
CC Photo Credit: Flickr User Sean MacEntee [ http://www.flickr.com/photos/smemon/4556099850/ ]