America Online and Salary.com conducted a research during May and June, 2005. The respondents were standard employees working 40 hours a week.
These employees admitted to wasting, on average – 2 hours a day, double what Human Resource managers assumed and higher than what CEO’s assumed.
Maybe an 8-hour workday is too much? Who knows?
Those employees may be active, but they’re definitely not productive for the whole day.
What Is Activity?
Activity is:
- Spending time on unimportant tasks
- Spending time on easy tasks to avoid important ones
- Trying to do everything at once
- Working without objective
To most people – activity actually looks like hard work. It may even feel like hard work… If it is hard work, it’s pointless hard work.
Hard work does not equal results, contrary to common belief.
To sum it all up, we should:
Work smarter, not harder
How to Stop Being So Active
I’m not saying work less, I’d just prefer it if you worked more efficiently; productivity in its finest definition.
There’s a number of ways we can work smarter and increase our productivity.
Do the Important
Sure, it’s easy checking and responding to those countless emails; it doesn’t require huge effort or thinking power.
Does it really help us though? Does it get us anywhere?
Well it might, but it won’t get us far. Just because you’re doing something, it doesn’t mean you’re getting somewhere.
Instead, focus on the important. Focus on the hard tasks, outsource the easy.
Pick and Choose
Again, I’m going to emphasis the last point.
You can’t do everything; you need to pick and choose. If you’re a solo-preneur like me, don’t complain that you can’t afford to outsource – it’s never been cheaper.
You’ve got skills, talent that will help you in ways that others can’t. USE IT. Don’t waste time on the small stuff.
ROTI (Return on Time Investment)
We’ve all heard of the term ROI. It’s one of those snazzy words that business owners and entrepreneurs like to use to feel good about themselves.
I like to use ROTI. Not the Indian bread, it’s an acronym for Return on Time Investment.
ROTI consists of:
- The 80/20 Principle
- Maximizing your skills
- Focus
1. The 80/20 Principle
I’m sure you’ve all heard of it.
If 20% of our work is giving us 80% of the results, then do more of the 20%. If 80% of our work is getting 20% of the results, then sort it out.
Once you start thinking about the 80/20 rule, you’ll notice it exists almost everywhere.
2. Maximising Your Skills
Here I am again, reinforcing the point I made above.
Some people have to be diverse, I can understand that. I like to have a little diversity in my life also, but it’s important we Capitalize on our skills (see what I did? Ha Ha…)
Whatever area you’re working in – you’ll have skills that others don’t. Use these to your potential and you’ll be amazed at the ROTI you’ll be getting.
3. Focus
Out of everything I’ve mentioned in this article, focus is the most important. Of course, focus can be applied to activity as well as productivity.
But again, focus isn’t helpful unless it’s pointed in the right direction, and when it is – rain will pour.
Get rid of clutter (mental and physical), eliminate distractions, and clean up loose ends.
Focus.
The Final Word
Next time you find yourself working for the sake of work, stop it.
Stop straight away, ask yourself, “Am I being productive? Or just active?”
And remember, Ladies and Gentleman –
Work smarter, not harder.