Time is Money: And you Need to Work Faster and Smarter, not Harder – 5 Tips Hacks

Time is Money: And you Need to Work Faster and Smarter, not Harder – 5 Tips Hacks

People were not built to sit in an office doing their 9 to 5 Monday through Friday; sometimes till Saturday and even Sundays for the unlucky souls.  That is just one of the many necessary inconveniences of the modern world. Furthermore, this whole concept of working hard is overrated, if people really loved to work, we will still be plowing the ground with sticks, bones, and rocks. Time is Money, and Smart investors want to invest their money in a bigger portfolio smartly. So don’t spend all your time in one endeavor IF you can spend it in many equally rewarding endeavors.

So before we get any further, let’s agree (or agree to disagree) that men are supposed to work smarter, not hard. Working hard is for our hardy animals like horses, mules, and donkeys. Not human beings!

If you are not being paid by the hour, then you really want to get that work done by 10 A.M. rather than 3 P.M. Having a mentality it really doesn’t matter what time to get it done as long as you get it done, is really a myopic approach to work. Saving 60 minutes daily each day on your work could actually lead to 10% raise for workers.

That is because raises go to workers who not only asks for them but ones who consistently deliver their work on time. Never, and I repeat never miss an opportunity to get a raise; the total amount of raises you could lose over your working life could be as high as $1 million. So those cat videos that keeps you glued to your screen, and deceiving your boss your busy working, could hurt your income in the long run.

According to a study by CareerBuilder, the most common productivity killer at the workplace are:

  • Using your cell phone – 52% of employers said this was a big problem
  • Just joy-surfing the internet – 44%
  • Office gossiping – 37%
  • Joy reading social media – 36%

The above four reasons were cited the most by the employers involved in the survey, saying the lead to lower employee productivity. A third of whom also said the activities mentioned above result in lower staff morale, as the most productive workers has to pick up the slack.

Needless to say, you need to cut down on the interruptions and distractions while working. In the words of Gretchen Rubin; it is easier to change your surrounding than yourself or other people.

How to Work Faster and Smarter, not Harder – 5 Tip Productivity Hacks

How To Remain Focused

It must have been particularly harder for U.S. citizens trying to get work done in the midst of the Presidential election results trickling in. Or getting work done, as you try to figure out what went so wrong or right for your favorite candidate. But at the end of the day, you got to stay focused on your work, you’ll get the result when it is out. Workers roaming about the internet is said to cost the U.S. businesses not less than $63 billion in lost productivity; Websense, Inc.

Browser extensions like Stay Focused, Leeblock and Self Control will keep you away from sites that wastes your time.

How to get alerts on only important emails

A major productivity killer is when you’re constantly checking and rechecking your inbox every two minutes. You need to check your emails at designated time intervals, and if any important/urgent emails comes in between. Then you need a hack to let you know via a text message to your phone. But first, you need to configure you email-to-text settings depending on your mobile service provider. For more on how to set this up for the various carriers check out this page.

Avoid Burnout; Work Hard and go Blow Off Some Steam

The Japs have a word ‘Karoshi,’ which is a fatal heart attack, stroke, or even suicide triggered by overwork. The Japanese literally work themselves to death. That doesn’t necessarily mean they get to work efficiently.

To the contrary, studies by Project: Time Off says employees that take more vacations have higher paychecks. So make slots for vacations on your schedules and don’t let even mean boss discourage you from blowing off some steam. Take vacations or you will loss more than just your time during your days off, you will lose you productivity edge.

How to inspire creativity and great focus? Get a room with a view

You would think moving into an office with larger than usual windows will lead to distractions, won’t you? Well, studies by California Energy Commission says your productivity correlates with the kind of view you get while working. A bigger better view means higher productivity.

A case study of workers at a call center revealed 6-12% productivity boost when they’re placed in an office space with bigger windows and a great view of the outside world. For office workers, there was 10-25% increase in mental functioning and memory tests when they had a better view of the outside world.

Stop trying to Over-Deliver, just Deliver

There is this often misleading maxim; Under-promise and over-deliver. Turns out, more often than not it just a big waste of energy and time. Even worse there is often very little to nor upside value or appreciation when workers over-deliver or do beyond what was asked of them.

Surprisingly, you’re more likely to get fired if your strategy is always to over-deliver. That is because in the course of over-delivering you may end up wasting too much time and resources. That could then backfire on you as you took longer than needed to get the work done. Remember time is money, and that is perhaps more real in business than in any other realm.

The above five hacks will certainly make you have a deeper understanding of the saying time is money. The more time you save, the more you can invest it elsewhere.

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