6 Ways of How to Become Effective at Work
Regardless of what our job or domain is, we need to figure out how to be effective and viable at work and accomplish professional excellence.
To succeed in the workplace, it’s always a good idea to create and develop important work habits that would reflect our commitment to work.
Managers, team leaders, and co-workers enjoy working with those who report to work every day, interact with them with a positive attitude and invest heavily to complete the work on schedule with a touch of extra effort.
It is quite difficult to cope up with job-related pressure. However, productivity will only be improved by adopting organizational habits designed to make ourselves efficient.
It’s important to take a proactive outlook and arrange ourselves in a way that helps to accomplish more with less pressure.
All it takes is a few adjustments and determined attempts to achieve efficiency at work.
Therefore, here are a few ways to watch our productivity soar and become active and focused at work.
1. Identify Priorities and Plan Ahead
One of the most crucial means of becoming effective is to identify your important tasks each day. Make a list of the essential tasks need to be done on priority. Break down the list and schedule tasks into time slots to keep it manageable.
Effective prioritization helps to complete tasks on time and determines what is still needed to be done. Plan and accomplish high priority tasks each day to move projects and goals forward in an organized manner.
2. Avoid and Conquer Procrastination
Try to focus on work responsibilities and don’t delay or put off tasks that need to be done. Don’t indulge down long in small jobs and let them obstruct the day by taking up more time than required. Try to tackle tasks as soon they arrive, rather than delaying for an extended period.
We can keep a weekly or monthly calendar for our due-dates, essential deadlines, internal meetings to track the upcoming tasks.
Also, evaluate and identify the negative consequences of failing to accomplish a particular task and what’s causing a lack of interest in it.
3. Keep Distractions at Bay
With phone calls, social media and hundreds of little to-dos, it’s very easy to get distracted when we’re trying to be useful and productive at the workplace. Remove the distractions by silencing smartphones, closing down chat applications and inbox before getting side-tracked from performing an essential task.
Manage interruptions and never lose sight of goals. Schedule essential tasks (that demands focus) for “most effective” hours of the day.
4. Organize Workstation
A clean work station creates positive mental energy and reflects a level of professionalism in personality. On the other hand, a clustered workstation with piles of files and papers can decrease focus and productivity.
Surveys show that the average office worker loses productivity to being unorganised. It is essential to organize and de-clutter our surroundings. Throw away or store away what is not required so that we can locate them later whenever needed and focus on tasks at hand.
Ensure that tools are well-stocked and maintained so that we can find them handy during work.
5. Stop Multi-Tasking
Although the word ‘multi-tasker’ seems to be interesting, however, when we try to multitask, we’re not performing two tasks at once. Instead, we are switching the focus between two things. It hampers the quality of work in both the tasks and slows down the workflow.
Also, doing so much work all together can affect accuracy, leading to careless errors. A better idea is to improve time management so that we can focus on getting one task done at a time. Take a breather and focus on one thing at a time that needs to get done immediately. Once that task is completed, we can then move on to next.
6. Collaborate with Co-Workers
Teamwork makes progress easier and helps in accomplishing tasks faster. Individuals working together as a team brings new ideas to projects and witness the success and failures of others in a supportive environment.
Also, it helps co-workers to learn from each other and provide insights into how to get difficult things done more effectively. By working closely with others, we can solve problems, share struggles and most importantly celebrate group achievements.
Productive Employees Constitute Efficient Organisation
Being highly effective and productive not only makes us a better employee but also ensure success in job role and career.
Although, sometimes it feels hard to accomplished if we spend the entire day on one thing, once we start making progress, we feel motivated to keep going longer and steadier until it is finished.
Focus on time and energy to be productive and allow moments of a break from work to recharge the brain. Do stress-reducing exercises and stay more invested during work sessions to improve efficiency and flexibility. It is imperative that each employee is quite clear on what their goals are, what steps they should adopt to achieve them. Also, they need to visualise how they can put their significant contribution to the company’s success. Measure the results and feel more motivated and focused on accomplishing tasks.