Burning the midnight oil will just end up burning you out full stop. This year, we have vowed to work smarter not harder. Working 18 hour days is not sustainable for anyone. So stop doing it. Instead, implement these tips to use your time wisely and stop the need for the constant hustle.
Here is what you can do…
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Regardless of what business you are in, there are probably not enough hours in the day to get through everything you want to. Instead of trying to crowbar everything in, try to work smarter instead…
Focus On One Thing At A Time Trying to multitask splits your focus and causes you to lose time getting back up to speed when you switch between tasks. Decide on your most important task for the day and complete that before you look at anything else. Then focus solely on the next task.
Measure The Results It can be quite depressing to think that you have just spent 4 hours working on a presentation. That is half of your day gone! Instead of dwelling on the time it took, look at everything you achieved in that time. It will make you feel more positive about the work you are doing.
Communicate Clearly It doesn’t matter if you are a one-person-band, or you have a team of ten, at some point, you will need to work with others. Upfront clear communication eliminates wasting time on extra discussions to iron out misunderstandings and reworking things that should have been done right in the first place. Set clear expectations and understand what is expected of you before beginning a task.
Have A Daily Routine Forming daily habits will help you to be more productive. Establishing a routine allows you to work faster as you don’t have to think about which task you should be doing next – you just instinctively do it on autopilot.
Embrace Automation Making things work automatically requires less energy input from you. It minimises the decisions you have to make in the day, allowing you more time to just get things done. Getting rid of silly decisions like how to respond to the same email query you get every day lets you dedicate more time to the decisions that matter.
Set Deadlines For Yourself Have you ever procrastinated about a task until an hour before it was due? Suddenly that time pressure allows you to create your best work in half the time it normally would. Instead of leaving things to the last minute, set yourself deadlines throughout the day. Challenge yourself to stick to them and then reward yourself if you do.
Do More Of What You Love Even if you love your business there will be tasks that you don’t like doing. So, don’t do them! We don’t mean leave them unattended, but get someone else to do them so that you can focus on the things you love. When you are passionate about something you will do everything you can to do a great job. Doing what you love allows you to feel fulfilled, inspired, challenged and productive.
Which leads us to our last point…
Get Expert Help Your solution to the very real problem of working too hard is to add a VA to your team.
Do what you do best and let us handle the rest. We understand that your business is the be all and end all and that is why you can trust us to make life simpler for you. Let us take care of the nitty-gritty stuff and you can focus on your passion. From bookkeeping and accounting to graphic design, marketing and everything in between, we have you covered.
We go faster so that you can go further.