How to be productive at work
For regular readers you may know that a couple of us at Newly Corporate are members of rotational leadership programs (Henak & myself). For companies, leadership programs attract millennials and build their talent pipelines. For program members, leadership programs provide hands-on, fast paced training and insight into how businesses perform and operate.
When it gets down to it, leadership programs are challenging. You’re often on-boarded with many other highly motivated coworkers. These people often become your friends but they also become your competition in rotations, off-program jobs, reputations and perceptions. Depending upon the complexity of your business and products, you spend six months tackling a job, working with the group and building relationships. Just when you figure out how things work and how to really make an impact, you move to a new role and the process starts all over again. Hopefully, by the time the program concludes, you have a broad, high level understanding of your business complimented with expertise in a few areas and an off-program job offer that you love.
With the faced paced learning of a leadership program, things get busy, busy, busy! To keep your head above water, one must prioritize. I don’t know about you, but I’m not one to want my head just above water. I want to do back flips while jet skiing. If we translate that metaphor into business, you have to be a master of priorities to set yourself apart from competitors and land every jump.
Do you know how to prioritize?
When work and life get super busy, you must prioritize to make sure that the most important things get done and are executed well. I just finished up my third of four six month rotations in my leadership program and I was very busy. Although I hated to, one of the things I let slip was my blogging rhythm. Sometimes you have to make trade offs for what is really important. My full-time paid job is most important.
3 Tips to prioritize your work
Make a “to do” list of goals- At the beginning of the week, day and month, map out your goals. Order them by urgency and importance. It may seem simple, but recognizing your goals and writing them down is the first step to making tangible progress. You will immediately recognize what is important versus what is not important and what is urgent versus is non urgent. Typically, the more important tasks should be tackled first. Urgent tasks are often little details that matter less in the grand scheme of things.
Being goal oriented will also keep you organized. If you don’t have goals, you don’t really know what you are trying to achieve. If you don’t know what you are trying to achieve, how can you win? When looking at your list, ask yourself, “How can I add the most value?” Those are the tasks you should focus on.
Learn how to say no- You have to learn how to say no so you do not get over burdened or taken advantage of. Most everyone I know in a leadership program has a hard time saying no. When their managers are overloading them, they keep accepting work because they are afraid to say no. They are uncertain of the implications of saying no. Some wonder, will my boss think I’m not trying hard enough?
It’s better to tackle four tasks well than seven tasks half-assed. If you can defend why you are saying “no” with good reasons, your boss will probably respect you. However, if you try to say no, but he or she still insists, accept responsibility and master all of your tasks.
Delegate and use experts- If you have the ability to delegate, bring in others to help you. This starts to promote inclusiveness and working in teams. Who doesn’t love a team-player or group motivator? Use experts to provide guidance or check your work. This will make you more efficient. When you’re new on the job, some tasks seem like you have been assigned to find a needle in a haystack. Asking someone who has been there before you, will save you work and let’s you move on to the more important things.
The Takeaway
I’m the type of person who tries to do everything. Through my professional development experiences, I have learned doing everything doesn’t make you a Wonder Child. It makes you exhausted and overworked.
The takeaway: Work smarter, not harder.
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Like I wrote...
August 10th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I got a very useful tip that has pretty much revolutionized my productivity. The tip is to start the day by writing down the single most important thing you have to do that day, and then do it. Don’t check email first. Don’t go to that team meeting. Just get it done. If someone bugs you about something else, just explain that you absolutely cannot be distracted until your task is complete. This is an incredibly useful tip because it kills procrastination; and procrastination causes (at least for me) an emotional drag that puts me in a funk. I’m less productive while in a funk.
August 19th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
[...] my grandfather’s advice is even more necessary. Working hard, and most importantly, working smart is crucial for career advancement for Gen [...]