Are you drowning in work? Do you consistently end your day with things on your to-do list that you wanted to get done but never got to? Has your productivity in your day job been reduced to the point that you regularly work nights and weekends? Let me ask: if someone gives you yet another project to work on now, will you scream?
My friend, I’m here to tell you that this lifestyle is not sustainable. Consider these 10 tips which might help give some immediate relief and help you ride those waves of work.
- Check messages only twice a day: People spend 28% of the day on interruptions and recovery time (roughly $650 billion a year in the US). To get some of that 28% back, limit the frequency of checking messages. This includes email, voicemail, and tweets (for you twitter users). If it’s urgent, they’ll call.
- Put first things first: Of all the things on your to-do list, there’s likely just a select few that are truly important. Remember, urgent does not always equal important. I highly recommend the story about the big rocks to illustrate this point.
- Use one master to-do list: Post-it notes were supposed to help people keep track of things, but a lot of time can be wasted trying to get info that’s on stickies scattered everywhere. Use the same device to consistently capture what needs to get done. It can be on paper or stored electronically, but it needs to be consistent.
- Focus on tasks that you’re good at: If you want to work fast, do the tasks that you do well. These tasks are in line with your strengths. Seems simple enough, but surprisingly this tip is often ignored.
- Say “no” more often: Less is more. Don’t waste your time on things that suck your time and energy but give no value.
- Delegate: OK, so you’re faced with a task that you’re not good at, but you can’t say no to it. Find someone who is good at it and delegate it.
- Procrastinate on purpose: It goes by many different names. Proactive procrastination, creative rescheduling, structured procrastination. The main objective is that you’re not doing nothing, but instead you’re simply doing something else.
- Batch process your jobs: You can increase your productivity ten-fold if you batch process your small jobs and do them all at once.
- Only worry about things you can control: Why waste time and energy worrying about something outside of your sphere of influence? Worry less, because you’re more productive when you have a positive attitude.
- Get enough rest: Allow yourself more sleep. Take additional breaks. Take a vacation. If you allow yourself proper rest, you’ll find you can do more in less time.
译文:
10条建议为你的工作效率快马加鞭
你是否快被纷繁的工作所淹没了？你是否常常看着记事清单上想做但从没做成的事情，却只好无奈地把日历揭过一页呢？你的工作效率是否已经低到要经常开夜车和周末加班的程度呢？请让我再问一个问题：如果此时某人再丢给你一个企划，你是否会抓狂呢？
朋友，我得告诉你这种生活方式简直难以忍受。参考一下这十条小建议吧，或许能立马让你卸下许多负担并令你在接踵而来的工作狂潮中乘风破浪。
每两天查看一次信息：人们每天有28%的时间耗费在被打断然后又重投工作上面（粗略估计，美国每年光在这方面的损失就达到了6500亿美元）。如果想要回这28％的时间，最好就是限制你查看信息的频率。其中包括电子邮件、语音信箱、或“咕叽咕叽”（对Twitter的用户而言，注一）。如果真的有急事的话，他们会直接打电话来的。
重要的事情摆头位：对你的记事清单而言，很可能只有少数几件事情是真正重要的。记住，紧急不总意味着重要。为了更好的诠释这点，我郑重推荐你阅读一下大石块的故事（注二）。
只用一个主要的记事清单：便利贴可以帮助人们跟进事情，但想从上面获得需要的信息，却要花费大量时间找寻散布周围的便利贴。还是自始至终用同一样东西来记录需要做的事情吧！用纸或者记录在电子设备里，但你一定得从一而终。
专注在你擅长的项目上：如果你想干得快，那就挑你干得精的项目。这些项目得和你的能力相符。看似很简单，但惊人的是这个建议常常被无视。
多说“不”：少说则意味多做。别把时间都浪费在那些既耗时间又耗精力却毫无价值的东西上面。
委托他人：好吧，假设现在你面临一个毫不擅长的项目，但你又不能拒绝，那就找个擅长的人去摆平它吧！
有意拖延：这其中也有很多名堂：主动性拖延、创造性重整、结构性拖延。总之，目的就是你并不是在游手好闲，你只是在做别的事情而已。
把你的工作批量打包：如果你把你的琐碎工作打包起来一次处理，你的工作效率足以提高十倍之多。
只为那些在你操控范围内的事情操心：为什么要为那些在你影响力范围之外的事情而费时费力呢？少操点心，因为积极的态度会带给你更高的工作效率。
要有足够的休息：给自己更多的睡眠吧！给自己更多的休息吧！给自己一个假期吧！如果你给予自己适当的休息，你会发现你能在更少的时间里做更多的事。
注一：Twitter为美国一种流行的网络社区服务，用户可以通过短信、彩信、电邮等方式看到好友在博客上的更新等等。
注二：斯蒂芬·科维的大石块实验：
科维在一张桌子上摆了一个空玻璃瓶和另外三个瓶子：其中一个装着大石块，另一个装着小的鹅卵石，最后一个装着细沙。 他解释说大块的石头代表我们平常最重要的事情， 鹅卵石代表较为琐碎的事情，而细沙则代表最耗时的事情。接着，他说我们绝大多数人都爱把注意力放在琐碎的事情上，因此他把鹅卵石放进了瓶子里。 然后他叫了位秘书上来把三样东西放进玻璃瓶里。 这位秘书首先把鹅卵石放进瓶子里，然后倒进沙子，最后他尝试把大石块塞进瓶子，但却不太成功，根本塞不进去。
在科维的指导与帮助下，他首先往空瓶里放进大石块，再放进鹅卵石，最后倒进沙子，结果三样东西全部塞进瓶子里了。事实上，在其他近似的实验里，实验者还在倒进沙子后增加了一步 —— 往瓶子里灌水。