How to Reduce Your Workload and Increase Productivity

Posted by Staff Editor in Career Advice • Sep 13, 2012

Do you ever feel that you're doing the work of two or even three people? It's not uncommon in today's workplace for people to be asked to work harder and longer than ever before. With so many companies cutting back their staff or downsizing, employees are being called upon to do more work with less resources. It can be frustrating and leave you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.

So, how can you get everything done without going insane?

Well, there are many ways to streamline your day. Here are a few ways to reduce your workload and increase your productivity.

Make a plan for each day. Effective time management begins with good planning. Don't leave your day up to chance. Instead, invest in a good day planner and plan blocks of time to work on specific tasks. First, plan out the things that have to be done every day and then add in sufficient time to complete other tasks. It's important to set aside time to work on projects that aren't due yet, just to be sure that you have everything you need. When you have a written plan, you'll be less likely to get distracted and waste time that could have been spent getting things accomplished.

Set daily, weekly and monthly goals. You should have immediate goals, weekly goals and even monthly goals. Write these goals down so that you'll have something to aim for. If you aren't sure how to set goals, this is a good time to schedule a meeting with your boss to find out what the major challenges facing the company are. This will give you some valuable insight and allow you to devote your energy to things that will make the most impact.

Don't be afraid to delegate. When you're working on several projects, don't be afraid to ask your co-workers for help. Delegating tasks is an important skill and one that your boss is looking for in new managers. When you look at your daily plan, you'll easily see tasks that others can help you with.

Evaluate how you spend your day. If you're struggling to stay on top of your work, keep a log of all of your tasks for a couple of weeks. Write down everything you do and how long you spend doing it. The odds are that you'll find you're spending a portion of your time doing repetitive tasks or doing things that just aren't important. This is where having goals helps, because if a task doesn't move you closer toward your goal, maybe it isn't as important as you think.

Consider seeking professional help. After looking for ways to streamline your work, if you're still not having much luck it might be time to consider seeking professional help. Many professionals have turned to life coaches and mentors to improve their skills and better manage their careers. There is no shame in getting help and it sends a clear sign that you are a professional. What's more, mentors and life coaches can really help you meet your goals and give you solid career guidance.

Have you ever worked with a life coach? What do you do to stay productive? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Image by Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot / freedigitalphotos.net

Melissa Kennedy • Dec 18, 2012

@memyselfni - Meditation practice is so important. It can really help you put things in perspective and not get overwhelmed by the small things. I enjoy focusing on the sensation of an emotion as it arises. Sometimes the sensations don't mean what we think they do.

Memyselfni • Oct 17, 2012

In NLP, we'd remind pepole to focus on an outcome/intention/goal that describes the FEELINGS, i.e. physical sensations, we want to have, rather than the specific path (process) to get to those feelings, or specific material things we might find while taking that path. These feelings/sensations outcomes are the most important things to keep in mind, since they allow us to more easily be open to all the good, true, beautiful, and inspiring opportunities that happen to present themselves in life which we may not be expecting. Because, if we are focusing too much on specific paths or material things, such as "writing a book", we might miss out on some other opportunities we have that would lead us to even more of these feelings we want to have, because "writing" is just one paths we might take and "a book" is just one of the material things we might find on our way to our intended sensational goal. The purpose of doing things this way, - of setting the goal/outcome/intention to be feelings - is to let each part of our self do what it does best. The conscious mind is great at looking at the past and future and deciding what might be best for the future, in this case sorting though all the different sensations that it's had in the past and would love to have again, and the unconscious body~mind is best at navigating and noticing details about possible hidden gems in our environment. For me, my goal/intention/outcome is something like: The feelings of having enough whole food, pure water, fresh air, warmth, light, and the freedom to express myself physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. The short version of this goal is to continue to love the world and myself even more every day. For you, Brain, what feelings do you get when you give your greatest gifts, and greatest services to the world, inspiring as many pepole as you can, as you have fun studying, embodying, and sharing your favorite wisdom? What does it feel like when you do this? What sensations do you experience as these things happen?

Melissa Kennedy • Sep 18, 2012

Thanks for the comment Patricia. You don't have to wait to implement a time management strategy. Even during your job search, understanding how your time is spent can be very helpful.

Patricia K • Sep 13, 2012

This was helpful and I will implement it into my day when I get a job.

How to Reduce Your Workload and Increase Productivity

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