What’s the best way to be most productive at work?
The simplest and most direct approach involves something that looks like high school football practice — tackling the same route projects over and over again, with as much vigor and energy as possible. This might be a set of service-related tasks, or in white-collar offices, attention to individual client accounts. But whatever it is, a smarter, broader approach has emerged over time — and now a lot of busy career professionals are realizing that they gain a lot by setting aside some time each morning, i.e. in the first hour of the day, to think strategically and develop their job roles, instead of just wading into the fray each morning as they arrive at the office.
The Big Picture
There’s a good argument to be made that setting aside time first thing in the morning allows career professionals to do several things. First, they can organize and plan their days. They don’t have to just be reactive all day — they can have broader-level goals and objectives, and find ways to implement them. This can actually increase productivity by quite a bit — it’s the same as the old idea that “it takes money to make money.” In this case, it takes an investment in time to really save time in the long run.
Also, people are often using this time to build relationships. Why do relationships matter? Isn’t this just wasted time?
Not really. In these days of a dynamic job world, relationships can be worth their weight in gold, not just for keeping a job or having opportunities for career advancement, but for relying on other people if your job suddenly goes south. So it’s a little bit shortsighted to just focus on core operations, and never do any networking or strategic collaboration within your firm.
That’s another reason why a lot of experts would suggest setting aside a half an hour or an hour each morning, maybe the first hour of your day, just to ‘organize your desk’ and talk to people and get ready to get to work. Sure, there will always be ‘stuff on your desk’ – that’s the nature of a busy career. But by making time for organization during the first hour of every work day, you can really increase what you are able to accomplish at work.
Technology Tools
In some cases, people feel like they’re stuck strategically. Just like writers get writer’s block, those who might be trying to get a handle on working more strategically could encounter ‘organizer’s block.’
What’s great is that there are now a variety of new technology tools aimed at the exact goals that people set for themselves when they want to take time to get organized. There are reminder systems like Evernote, new desktop technologies that put every part of a to-do list in its digital place, and all sorts of enterprise tools that help decision-makers to look at product development, customer relationships and much more. Again, you have to make a slight investment in time to learn these tools, but when you do, they can save enormous amounts of time and money. Companies are realizing this, and individual career professionals should, too.
About Full Steam Staffing
Full Steam Staffing is a full-service employment agency focused on providing clerical and light industrial staffing solutions to manufacturers, distribution centers and other organizations that need qualified, reliable workers. If you are looking for a new job in Modesto, California, browse our available opportunities or contact our team today!