How to Work Faster Without Cutting Quality
By Sandy Schroeder
Most of us move right along in our jobs, and often we need to work fast, which can create problems. Speed is great, but sometimes quality suffers.
Recently Forbes took a look at this issue and came up with five ways to work faster and maintain quality.
Time Your Work
Parkinson’s Law says, “Work expands to fill the time allotted for it.” I run into this sometimes when I have projects to do, but tell myself I have the whole weekend to knock them out. When Sunday night rolls around, I find myself pushing hard to pull everything together. When we leave the time open to complete a project, things do not always go smoothly. Using a timer to do a task can help us push a little faster. You may also find it makes you feel more effective and satisfied, too.
Set an 11 a.m. Deadline
When you come into work in the morning, set an 11 a.m. deadline to complete all of the important projects for the day. When you do that, the most crucial tasks are tackled first. You may not manage to get everything done by 11 a.m., but you may be surprised by how much work you do get done. Instead of checking email, and gradually getting into the morning, you may have just found out how much can be accomplished.
Minimize Time for Minor Tasks
Without thinking, we sometimes let unimportant tasks absorb a great deal of our time. Find the best way to handle all of the minor daily tasks in less time. You might move them to the end of the day, or deal with them in a lump after lunch. Whatever you do to cut the time will give you more quality time to work on the projects that you value.
Arrange an Hour at Home for Work
If you can arrange it, start the morning at home with an hour of quiet focused work, reserved for your most important projects. When you get to work you can expand on the details, but that hour at home may prove to be the most valuable of the day. Working on specifics at work usually has to be accomplished in the midst of a lot of commotion. Time flies by, but work on major projects often gets sidelined.
Analyze Your Work
As you attempt to speed up, take a good look at the way you work. Do you use every available shortcut? Have you developed a rhythm that works for you? Keep looking for timesavers and enjoy the results.
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