Seven ways to stop procrastinating

Heather Townsend — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:30:53 +0000

Procrastination is one of the big threats to personal efficiency. The good news is that personal will power is all you need to conquer procrastination. Easier said than done… read on for seven tips to minimise the amount you procrastinate.

1. Break it up

Break the task up into smaller pieces. When the task is smaller and seemingly more manageable, you are more likely to get on and do it. Remember, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time…

2. Give yourself milestones

Similar to breaking the task up into smaller pieces, set yourself milestones on the way to completion. Reward yourself when you achieve a milestone, for example, time for a cup of tea and a biscuit.

3. Have a to do list

Write down all your tasks and things to do. When you have completed them then scrub them off the list. As you see your progress building it will give you the momentum to finish the list

4. Set deadlines

Whether they are real or artificial deadlines, set them. You will be amazed how a deadline can give you the stimulus to complete a task.

5. Get the difficult stuff out the way, first

Very simply, if you do the difficult stuff when you are at your most alert and energetic, then you will gain the momentum to get the rest done.

6. Avoid perfection

Aim for 80/20 or 90/10, as total perfection is rarely needed in business. Aiming for perfection (and knowing you cannot achieve it) is a factor in procrastinating. Perfection is a major obstacle to personal efficiency.

7. Delegate or outsource

If you know what you don’t like doing and what tasks you tend to procrastinate on, then (if possible) delegate or outsource this task. Procrastinating on certain types of tasks often suggests that this is not a personal strength OR there is a lack of personal motivation to complete the task.

Nine ways every business can improve its efficiency

Heather Townsend — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:48:25 +0000

Whilst small is seen to be beautiful (and believe me, at 5 ft 2” high, I fully subscribe to this view!), SMEs are also assumed to be more flexible and nimble than the large corporations. An accusation often levelled at SMEs is that they don’t have the resource to implement large scale changes quickly, and will therefore, struggle to significantly improve their productivity levels, and therefore, efficiency. I wonder whether you find this to be the case?

Regardless of where you stand on this debate, here are my nine top tips for any size of company to improve its efficiency:

1. Think simple

Simple ideas and methods generally save time and help a business become more efficient.

2. Outsource non-critical processes

If someone can run a process better than you, for the same or cheaper cost for the appropriate level of quality, outsource it. For example, on the 1^st October I will be handing over all my books to my accountant’s book keeper. This is a non-critical process which someone else can do better than me, and for less cost.

3. Help your customers and clients become more efficient

Let’s illustrate this point with a real live example, my IT man, David of Contact Consultants, supports my IT machine for free – unless I really manage to tie it up in knots. Every time I speak to David, he educates me in some way so that I am more self-sufficient and less reliant on him for support. How can you educate your clients or customers so that your ability to service their needs is more efficient or effective?

4. Set yourself goals

If you set goals around improving your company’s efficiency then you are more likely to work towards creating a more efficient business.

5. Invest in automation

Whether you are a people hungry business like retail or a niche consultancy your largest monthly outgoing will be your wage bill. The greater the level of automation which reduces the amount of input by people, the more efficient your business. Compare and contrast the car factory of Henry Ford’s day to the modern production line in a mainstream car manufacturer.

6. Have a safety-conscious workforce

Accidents create down-time and extra costs. If you have ever had a claim brought against you for an accident at work, you will testify to this!

7. Look after, appreciate, and train your workforce

Happy, engaged, appreciated employees generally work harder and are more productive than unmotivated un-engaged employees. Think how much harder you work when you want to work somewhere rather than feeling as if you have to work somewhere. A skilled, motivated workforce is a must for good business efficiency.

8. Look at your product/service mix

If you can sell a higher-value product to your target market, you will normally improve your business efficiency. For example, if you currently sell homemade iced cupcakes, how much more could you sell a range of dairy or gluten free iced cupcakes?

9. Attract the right kind of employee

As efficient as your business may be, you are still reliant on having good quality employees to run your business processes. By attracting the right employee into the right role, you will build good business efficiency, one new hire at a time.

In your view, which of these nine tips for business efficiency should every company, regardless of it’s size, invest time and resource in implementing?

The Thoughts And Ideas Of The Efficiency Coach » how to increase productivity

Seven ways to stop procrastinating

Nine ways every business can improve its efficiency