Improve your productivity

This post came out from The Straits Times (5 November 2015)
Title - Improve your productivity. Make the most out of the time you have at work

Some pointers that I've got are:
1. Administrative work
2. Unnecessary meetings
3. Dealing with e-mails
4. Being interrupted

On Administrative work

• A study by Intuit, an accounting services firm for small businesses, found that the average small business owner in Australia spends a third of their time handling administrative tasks, when they should probably focus on the bigger picture.
• Smart businesses, on the other hand, do not waste valuable time to save a few dollars, which is why many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have made the switch to a serviced office to free up more time to focus on the core of their business.
• Outsourcing administrative work may feel daunting to the all controlling entrepreneur who wants to manage all aspects of work, but learning to outsource and delegate work to the right people is a mark of a good leader.

On Unnecessary meetings

• We have all been to one - a long meeting consisting of the needless congregation of far too many people who are not directly involved nor prepared to participate actively in the meeting.
• Aside from having a clear agenda and maintaining good meeting etiquette by being on time, another proven technique to have productive meetings is for a stand up meeting. 
• Studies have shown that time taken to make decisions is cut by a good 34 per cent when decisions are made by people who are standing up. This means less chatter and more clear-headed decision making.

On Dealing with e-mails

• It is estimated that employees take as long as 16 minutes to regain their focus after handling incoming e-mails. 
• One good tip here is to divide your time accordingly. There is no need to check e-mails every five minutes. 
• Prioritising your time and knowing when you have the bandwidth to follow up with e-mails can increase productivity by leaps and bounds. It is far more productive to work according to your own schedule, rather than someone else's. 

On Being interrupted

• The average employee has to put up with 56 interruptions per day, and 80 per cent of those interruptions are considered trivial.
• Time is most definitely not on your side. So if you want to make the most out of every work day, you need to find ways to cut down the needless activities that are hurting your productivity.

Yours,
Something Small Thinking Big