7 Ways to Work Better by Working Less

[responsive]work_less.top[/responsive]Increasing workloads, smaller staffs, new job realities: All of these things have helped to make the typical professional’s workday a bit, well, tight. So how do you maximize your effectiveness without sacrificing your sanity and your good looks?

Herbert Lui in Contently has some suggestions in his post “7 Ways to Work Better…By Working Less.”

“We can’t create time,” Lui writes. “It’s finite, and we never seem to have enough.”

And while we might expect Lui to launch into a piece on how to effectively manage and schedule tasks, he takes a different approach. It’s all about managing your energy, “which, unlike time, is replenishable,” Lui notes.

“Even though many of us think the best way to work hard is to put our heads down and grind away, making the most efficient use of your time is all about renewing energy,” he notes.

His suggestions make a lot of sense when you understand the energy principles behind them. The first habit to break is eating at your desk. While it may be tempting, and seem like you are knocking out a few more tasks, you’re probably wrong.

“… productivity guru Robert Pozen suggests that this minor extra output isn’t worth the trade-off, because lunch isn’t just about the meal but also energy restoration and renewal for the afternoon,” notes Lui.

Working in short bursts, rather the slogging through a marathon work session, may also keep your energy up, your mind sharp and your work on track.

“Rather than having one foot in work and one in distractions for several hours, choose to focus entirely on work for a couple of hours. Focus is the essential ingredient when you need to create results during smaller periods of time,” suggests Lui.

Lui has some other great ideas for boosting your productivity that are definitely worth a read, and some that may surprise you, like the fact that getting distracted may actually help us focus better later in the day.

Check out the full article here, and then go get some good work done today.