There are some tips that are very useful for managing any job in the best possible way and today we are going to share some of them in this article. So, if you have been wondering how to be the top colleague at your office, keep on reading!
First of all, it is important to have great prioritizing and organizational skills. When you have this down, you are going to be able to be much more effective and fast in your work. How do you get this then? It is all about starting to think about the way you work from scratch. Start over and see if you can do something differently from what you are used to from before. It is sometimes good to take a look at your own routines with fresh eyes and maybe ask for tips from someone you know is a very effective person. Firstly, you can start using to-do lists and your calendar more actively. You can look at your to-do list and put the tasks in different priority groups and maybe estimate how much time will each of the tasks takes approximately, then put the most important in your calendar first, the second most important ones next and so on. If you seem to not have time to do all of the tasks, think if you can postpone to the next week or if you can share the responsibility with someone else or find a new, faster way of doing it. What is also good about to-do lists is that you always get a great feeling of accomplishment when you get to cross off something from it and you can see how many things you have actually managed to finish already!
Secondly, do not procrastinate. This means that if something can be done then and there and it probably takes 2-5 minutes for example. Do it! Don’t put it on your to-do list for later because then you need to go back to that task later on and maybe refocus on the topic again or pause something else to be able to finish the thing you could have done instantly when you found out about it. Or in the worst-case scenario, you might forget to do it altogether when new tasks are piling up on your desk.
The third tip, stay focused at work when you are at the office. Sometimes it is easy to slip into long conversations with your colleagues or take a long coffee break or wind up reading the news online when you are at work. Of course, it is sometimes good and refreshing to do those things while at work, however, it is best to stay away from those extra things during office hours as much as possible. Use the time you have at the office efficiently. As mentioned above, use your calendar and set up deadlines for yourself. Don’t go overtime with breaks, instead follow your plan. This might sound harsh but in my personal opinion and my experience, it feels much better to follow the plan, finish the tasks you put down for yourself in a timely manner and efficiently than feeling lazy and having a hard time concentrating. It is so much easier to concentrate when you have a deadline and you follow a plan!
Lastly, sometimes it is just about starting. There are many tasks that might feel difficult, too big or just hopeless but the best tip is just to start. Put the time in your calendar and when the time comes, start. When you have started and pushed yourself to just work on that difficult task, it begins getting easier and easier by the minute. You might not get it perfectly done the first time you work on it, but usually, you at least get some of it done and it is no longer as big as it was in the beginning and it will be easier to get back to it later on. Also sometimes you just need to do something to start learning and in the end, you will get better and better at it each time. If you only postpone the task to the future each time, it will never get easier and you will never get better at it. And it will also ease your worried mind when you don’t have important tasks hanging, waiting for you to start them. Trust me, it is better to start somewhere and push yourself out of the comfort zone than to worry about unfinished tasks!
There you go, I urge everyone to try these tips and see if it helps. Do you feel more accomplished? Are you more organized? Do you get things done on time? Let us know!
