You begin the day with the best of intentions. You have your trusty to do list, you have a plan on what needs to be done and then ka-pow, your inbox starts to fill up. Next thing you know in your in a meeting and that leads to yet another meeting. Sound familiar? Before you realise it, the day has gone and your to do list looks exactly the same as it did that morning. And for those who had very vital tasks to do that day, it may mean you need to stay late, or feel like you are being pilled in several directions at once. So, what can you do when that happens. How can you be more productive, when there is only so many hours in a day.
Well, let’s start with one basic question: how much time do you really have?
Understand Your Actual Working Time
Many people assume they know how their day is spent. You may think that meetings only take up a few hours, or that you have several uninterrupted blocks for getting work done. Often, this is not the case. To make meaningful changes, you really need to see the reality of what you spend where. To do so, why not spend five minutes making a note of what you did. For meetings, include start and end times and note any preparation or follow-up that took place.
Once you do this, you may be surprised. Perhaps two-thirds of your day is spent in meetings, rather than half. You might realise that what you thought was a lunch break was actually a slot used to respond to messages. With this clearer picture, you will be in a better position to make decisions about how to use your time more effectively.
Protect Time for High-Value Work
When you understand where your time goes, you can begin to make space for work that requires focus. This might include writing, thinking, planning or problem solving. This is exactly the type of work that tends to be interrupted unless you deliberately block time for it. So why not choose one or two tasks each week that would benefit from uninterrupted focus. Block that time out in your calendar to complete them. Treat these time slots as you would any other meeting and try to avoid rescheduling them unless absolutely necessary.
Review the Meetings You Attend
It is easy to find yourself attending the same recurring meetings simply because they are in your calendar. You might worry that skipping a meeting will be viewed as a lack of engagement. However, being present in every meeting does not always equate to contributing value or indeed being productive.
Ask yourself:
- Does your presence add value to this particular meeting?
- Could your input be provided in a different way, such as a short written update?
- Is it necessary for you to attend the full meeting or only part of it?
- Could someone else attend on your behalf?
You may also be interested in this article: Are Meetings Killing Your Productivity?
Consolidate Where You Can
You may notice that your calendar is full of back-to-back meetings with no time to think or switch gears. This leads to context switching and limits your ability to reflect or follow up. If so try and build in a small buffer of ten to fifteen minutes before and after each meeting. Use that time to make a note, stretch or reset your focus.
Use Time Limits to Stay on Track
Tasks can expand to fill the time you allow. If you wait for the perfect moment to get started, that can allow you to put things off and not be as productive as you could be. So, why not try the Pomodoro method as it breaks your work into short, timed intervals followed by brief breaks.
You start by choosing a task and working on it for 25 minutes without interruptions. After that, you take a 5-minute break. After four such cycles, you take a longer break of around 20 to 30 minutes.
What makes this method effective is its simplicity and structure. It is easier to focus when you know there is a break coming soon. Over time, the method also trains your brain to concentrate more deeply during each session.
If that strategy does not work for you, why not try some other methods as mentioned in our article: Mastering Your Workday: Practical Strategies for Focus and Productivity.
Build in Time for Planning and Adjustment
Without time to reflect, your day can easily become reactive rather than productive. You may find yourself jumping from task to task without a clear sense of what is most important. So why not set aside ten minutes during the day to pause and assess. Look at what you have completed, what remains and then adjust as needed.
These short planning pauses provide clarity and help you be productive and stay focused on what matters most.
Make Your Availability Clear
If you do not let others know when you are in focused work or unavailable for meetings, they will assume you are always reachable. So, why not use your calendar and status indicators to set expectations. Add short notes to your calendar entries and update your status in messaging platforms. This will help you maintain focus and stay productive.
Review Your Productivity Each Week
There is no one size fits all fix for managing your time better or to help you be more productive. What worked this week may not work next week. That is why it helps to build a simple weekly review.
So ask yourself:
- What helped you focus and get things done?
- What did not work as expected?
- What will you try differently next week?
A short end-of-week review helps you continuously review and find the best strategies for you.
Use Tools That Help You Be More Productive
Many people rely on a combination of their calendar and a basic task list. However, there are tools that can help you coordinate the two more efficiently.
What to consider:
- A to-do list app that shows your available time visually.
- A scheduling tool that only offers others the slots you have designated for meetings.
- A timer or focus app to help you work in short sprints.
The 30 Minute Productivity Hack
One of the most effective ways to boost productivity and efficiency is to incorporate dictation into your workflow. Research suggests that dictating for just 30 minutes is the equivalent of typing for two hours. This makes it an invaluable productivity tool, especially for writing-heavy tasks such as letters, emails, reports and documents. By incorporating a 30 minute dictation session into your daily routine, you can significantly increase your output, thereby making your more productive, without extending your working hours, meaning you have a better work/life balance.
Delegation
Delegation is often seen as something you do when you are overwhelmed. In reality, it should be a deliberate part of how you manage your time and develop others. Not every task needs to be done by you and some may be better handled by someone else.
Delegating does not mean offloading work. It means making a considered choice about who is best placed to complete a task, based on skills, development opportunities and availability.
Questions to ask:
- Does this task require your direct input, or could someone else handle it with support?
- Is this an opportunity for a colleague to build experience or take ownership?
- Have you given enough context, clarity and authority for the person to succeed?
Effective delegation helps you reduce unnecessary workload, build trust and create more space for tasks that require your focus. It is also a key part of supporting the development of your team. If you find yourself holding onto tasks because they are quicker to do yourself, pause and ask whether that is truly sustainable.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day though, you the person best placed to decide how your time is spent. With greater awareness and a few simple changes, you can start to move from reacting to your schedule to shaping it around what matters most to you.
So why not start small, choose one area to adjust. Then, see how that change then affects your day. Over time, these small decisions can lead to a greater sense of clarity, control and purpose in how you work to enable you to make time for what matters most in your workday.
About OutSec
OutSec is the UK’s leading online transcription company whose business has grown substantially since its inception in 2002. We are now one of the most successful transcription companies in the United Kingdom.
OutSec provides secure outsourced transcription services to the medical, legal, property and surveying, universities, media and interviews, advisory boards, conferences & seminars, inventories, financial, corporate, HR, recruitment and Executive Search sectors.
Accounts are free, you pay on a per-minute basis (rounded to the nearest minute) on a pay-as-you-go basis, with no contracts or minimum spend. So why not open an account today?
We also provide a boutique Virtual Personal Assistant Service, Crystal Clara, for those who require a more personal and tailored service.
Why is Dictation More Efficient than Typing?
Well, interestingly it is because we can all speak faster than we can type:
“The average person types between 38 and 40 words per minute”.
A “good rate of speech ranges between 140 -160 words per minute.”
In other words, dictation is up to four times faster than typing. Therefore, simply dictating a document is more cost-efficient, giving you more time to dedicate your efforts elsewhere in your business.
Picture attribution: Image by Freepik.
