Got office work? It can be very easy to get distracted. Especially if you work from home on the computer or if you work alone. Here are 4 easy tips to make your office life or home office life easier and more productive.
1: Stop the Gossip
When a co-worker is trying to talk to you about their night out on the town, it isn’t helping you get your work done. Other people, either at work or social media, will consume your time if you let them.
The Solution? Tune out the distractions. Keep the social media off while working. Only open business emails. Wear ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones if you work from home or if permitted at your job. If someone tries to approach you, replace open ended answers such as “How are you doing?” (which leave them open to conversation), with a quick “What can I do for you?” It may seem a little rude, but you will get more work done than everyone else. If you work for yourself, this is the only way to go.
My business is in the service industry, carpet cleaning, commercial lot cleanings, painting, and other service areas. But I also have office work when it comes to marketing, creating marketing material, meeting setups, emails, client databases, etc. All stuff that I don’t necessarily get paid for. But I have to do it. So I get it done quick without distractions and that leaves time for other ventures and family time.
2: K.I.S.S
Im a big believer in the philosophy of Keep It Simple Stupid! It’s always good to have a to do list, but some people make their to do lists overcomplicated or try to do too many things at once. Trying to do too many things or having many windows open on your computer will only frustrate you and slow you down.
Take a few minutes to organize yourself and separate what has to be done today – schedule meetings, write your material, finish a report, etc.. – from your list of things that can wait. You should only have a few items that take priority on you list on any given day.
In a future post I will show you my custom to do list which I use to prioritize different aspects of my life on a weekly basis.
3: Don’t Be Afraid to Outsource
Sometimes you have so much to do that you just can’t do it by yourself. And it seems like everyone these days is outsourcing work to places like China and India. So why not follow suit and pay someone in another continent $5 an hour to do the work for you. I personally use fiver.com and upwork.com to take care of some of my busywork such as organizing databases and some graphic design for marketing material. You can also have a virtual assistant, which I have yet to try.
Basically anything that can be done by computer or by phone can be outsourced.
4: Short and Simple
Responding to a business text or email shouldn’t take more than a minute or 2. If it’s a receipt, send it asap, but keep the message brief. “Thank you for your business” says it all. With potential, just set up a meeting time and place. Just keep the email messages and phone messages short and simple. Soon, people will get the hint and will also respond with similarly short messages. If you have and email autoresponder, you can set that up explaining to contacts that you will only be checking emails at a certain time. Same goes for voicemail. People will rethink the reasons they are emailing and calling.
There you have it. Keep your office life simple and you will get more done in a shorter amount of time.
See you next time
Geo