We’ve all heard the adage “work smarter, not harder”. Easy to say, less so to implement, especially when it comes to scheduling out tasks for the day. Luckily, the team over at Kellogg has put together a few tips to help us schedule our days with the idea of increasing efficiency and reducing mental clutter.
The first, and probably most obvious, is tackle the more difficult tasks first. Whether you’re a night owl or an early bird, there’s likely a point in the afternoon when your body naturally wants to rest. Combine this with a drop in caffeine levels after the morning cup(s) of coffee, and our bodies and brains slow down significantly. Scheduling more cumbersome tasks earlier in the day will not only knock them out sooner, it will help you avoid struggling through them when you should be taking a break. There is a plethora of apps available now in which the user can enter their sleep habits, energy levels, and calculate the most ideal times to focus on more challenging work. These apps will also set reminders to take breaks, which should help with focus and efficiency as well.
If more grueling tasks can be scheduled for early in the day, then the second tip should be simple to follow, which is to plan around the end-of-day fatigue. While most people can struggle through and still get some work done at the end of the day, research shows that the quality of the work tends to dip. As Jan Van Mieghem, one of the authors of the piece states, “At the end of the day, being busy may not equal being productive.” Between a lack of focus and more potential for interruptions, the end of the day may best be reserved for simpler items.
Third, they recommend multitasking smarter. Based on research out of Italy’s notoriously slow Labor Appeals courts, it was found that seeing a few tasks through to completion rather than getting a smaller amount done on many tasks increased the odds of cases being heard and completed almost 20% more quickly. This is a very significant improvement in overall case time. Try focusing on a maximum of three items per time bloc, and see if both the quality and quantify of work increase.
Check out the full article here to read more on these and other bonus tips for maximizing your day.