Friday, Yay!

Friday, Yay!

What a great day, right? Some of us had a short week because we did not have to work on Wednesday which is great. Others had to work all week long and are looking forward to the end of their Friday work day which is great. Finally, some of us work 6-7 days a week chasing their dreams which is great too. Which are you? In addition, we all have priorities in our lives and we must make sure they are lined up correctly to helps us be successful in all areas of our lives. Look at your priorities and see if there are ways that you be successful and not neglect other aspects of your life. You know that we all have the same 24 hour day, and some of us are more efficient with all of that time. Find what works for you and then find a way to improve your efficiency so that you get more done in a shorter amount of time. This is the key to being efficient. I am not referring to cutting corners and sub par work. I am talking about getting rid of things that waste time. -Constantly Checking Emails It is important to check emails and an estimated 200 billion emails are sent everyday. But how much is too much? Of course, you do not want to leave a clients, supervisors, or managers in your inbox with no response, but a lot of time we receive coupons, news, and family/friend updates. For example, to stay productive set up a reminder to check your emails for 20 minutes, 3 times per day while you are at work. Turn off distraction if necessary on your computer, laptop, smartphone, and tablet.

-Social Media While social media is a one of the best tools to spread brand awareness, network, stay updated on the latest industry news, and catch-up with friends or family, it can be a huge distraction. In fact, we spend an average of 118 minutes per day on social media. Unless you're a social media manager, there's no need for you to spend that much time on social media. As with your emails, schedule certain times throughout the day to look at and update your social channels. I would also suggest that you use social media management tools like Hootsuite so that you can schedule all of your social media updates in advance from one dashboard. -To Do List Having a list will help you stay on track with important tasks. This will help you accomplish more. This will help you keep from getting overwhelmed. Keep your list short to around 3 of your most important items per day. It is best to write them down the day/night before so you can start it when you wake up. -Multitasking According to Guy Winch, PhD, author of Emotional First Aid: Practical Strategies for Treating Failure, Rejection, Guilt and Other Everyday Psychological Injuries,

"It's like a pie chart, and whatever we're working on is going to take up the majority of that pie. There's not a lot left over for other things, with the exception of automatic behaviors like walking or chewing gum." Multitasking wastes productivity because when you switch back and forth between tasks your "attention is expended on the act of switching gears."

Do one thing at a time. Once you've completed one task, then you can move on to the next one.

-Being Perfect Having unrealistic standards causes you to devote more time than you should to complete a task. Once it is complete you still make revisions in order to make it perfect. If it does not go your way, you may give up on a project you have already started. Perfection is an impossible goal that not only kills your productivity, it's also detrimental to your health. Focus on getting your work done and you can make it perfect later. You will notice it is not as bad as you thought. In addition, accept failure because it happens to all of us. Instead of letting that consume you, learn from your mistakes so that you do not repeat them. -Meetings Did you know that there are 25 million meetings daily in the U.S. alone? If you want meetings to be productive, follow these guidelines. Keep them under 30 minutes, set clear expectations, send materials in advance, start and end on-time, and stay focused. I would also recommend that you ask whether or not a meeting is really necessary. In most instances a quick email or phone call will suffice. -Agree To Everything Be honest with others and inform them that you simply don't have the time to lead a meeting, write a blog post, or whatever else it is that they're requesting. I know it is hard because you do not want to disappoint others. However, you are doing a major disservice by saying yes to everyone since you end up spreading yourself too thin. You can then offer to come back to their request when you do have the availability. -Waiting Till Later For The Hard Tasks We all have those tasks that we either just don't want to do or find too challenging. These tasks still need to be completed. We work on the easier tasks instead. These are the tasks you must dive into first to avoid procrastination. Reference: John Rampton, 8 Biggest Time Wasters That Kill Your Productivity, INC

These are very good pointers to really consider when you are planning your daily activities. It is very important that you are productive regardless of what day of the week it is. Have a wonderfully productive Friday!