Are you trying to be more efficient but tired of overly simple ideas like “turn off your notifications?” Like, yeah, thanks!
Here are five (slightly controversial) strategies for being more effective at work.
1. Start by Doing Nothing
This isn’t advice you hear very often from the productivity bros, but let me tell you, one of the best ways to be more productive is to get out of that frenetic, crazy, too many thoughts in your head mode that you’re in and try doing nothing.
I recently did this on a plane. I spent the first 45 minutes of the trip doing a meditation, literally doing nothing, even though I had so much to do. About 30 minutes into the meditation, I noticed I had all of these intrusive thoughts. It wasn’t great for the meditation, but I realized that when I just gave my brain a chance to rest, I came up with so many great ideas for the work I had to do. When I finished, I opened my laptop, and it all came out.
Sometimes, being more efficient at work means starting by doing nothing. Clear the decks for your brain.
2. Focus on Starting
You know, you hear this advice: swallow the frog first. Do the hard thing. Ugh! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to swallow a frog. Instead, I focus on getting things rolling. Instead of focusing on the finish line, I focus on the start line. Like how do I just get moving?
For me, I promise myself, especially before doing something I don’t want to do, I say, “You just need to work on it for 15 minutes.” That’s all. It’s definitely not going to get the task done, but if I make a deal with myself that I only have to work for 15 minutes, I can’t think of a single time where, at the 15-minute mark, I’ve shut my laptop and been like, well, that’s it. Because once you’ve been going for 15 minutes, even if your fingers are typing crap, or maybe the task is to do something physical, whatever it is, 15 minutes in, you’ve got some momentum.
Instead of worrying about getting to the finish line, worry about getting off the start line, just start moving.
3. Batch Similar Tasks
When I watch people work, I notice they’re grabbing an entire task and jumping into it all at once. They think a little about the first slide of their presentation, then go on the internet and research what’s there, and then find the right clip art image… They’re moving between the first task, which is to figure out what they’re solving for and to come up with the structure, and the next task, which is to come up with the research or the evidence or the content for what they’re doing and the third task, to produce, and the fourth task, which is to edit this sort of flow of getting a piece of work done. And they’re mixing all of those pieces up.
But we know that the way our brain works, our brain works better if we batch similar tasks.
Instead of doing the ideation, the planning, the researching, the actual production, and the cleaning up all in a big jumble, it’s much more effective if you start with, “Okay, what is this about?” Do that piece without opening any windows on your computer. Or keep those windows open on the computer restrained to that very small section where you’re doing research. You’re way less likely to go off on those wild goose chases or tangents and way more likely to be efficient.
4. Get to 80% Done
I think a lot of what people think of as being efficient is getting this 100% thing done, across the finish line, amazing. Well, one of the reasons you’re inefficient is the vast majority of tasks that you do don’t need to be done to 100%. Most of them only need to be done to 80%.
What if you set a timer (think of it like a game show), and get to 80% as fast as possible? Get in the big points. These five points account for the vast majority of what’s happening with our customers. If I cover those… Sure, maybe there are 10 other things that you include but aren’t essential. Well, good, just worry about the main points.
How can you think about getting to 80% as quickly as possible? The fifth strategy.
5. Question the Last 20%
Stop and question whether the last 20% is necessary at all – or could you diminish it in some way? At the very least, separate the last 20% from the 80%. Probably give your brain a break. Move around, do something to kind of, whew, get out of that first production mode and come back to the fine details. Have a break. But in that break, ask yourself, “Does the other 20% even need to be done?”
I’ll give you an example. A lot of people get 80% done on something they’re going to share with their team. This 80% has all the right headings, the right examples, the right data, and the 20% is literally cleaning it up or putting in images. Y’know, the stuff that, if you’re honest with yourself, you know is unnecessary and doesn’t create much value at all. I know it’s counterintuitive, but some of being really efficient is just deciding, “What’s the 20% that doesn’t need to be done?”
If you want to work efficiently, surprisingly, start by doing nothing, stop being fixated on getting across the finish line, and just be fixated on starting to create movement off the starting line. That’s going to make a big difference. Think about the different phases of the task and split them up so that you’re not on goose chases, getting distracted, or going off on tangents by mixing up a very different mindset of generating ideas from a mindset of pounding them out. Get to 80% as fast as you can, and then ask yourself if the remaining 20% even needs to be done. These are some controversial — but I promise effective — ways for going a lot faster and being a lot more efficient in your work.
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