Oct 5, 2021

Squeezing The Most Out Of Your Time

Drawing of Glass Jar with slices of orange and limes that look like analog clocks

Does saving time during your day-to-day feel like a magic trick? Hart House Creative can relate! Five minutes here, ten minutes there, it all adds up to wasted time instead of time that pays. Here are some of our office tips for squeezing the most out of your time.

Here are some of our office tips for squeezing the most out of your time.

Streamlining Team Communications

Nothing brings the collaboration wheel to a screeching halt quicker than poor communication. We use Asana to help us stay on task by eliminating wasted time spent sifting through the rabbit hole that is our inbox. We move forward with other tasks knowing we will get instant notification when team members respond using their mobile app or desktop computer.

Instantly Share Using Airdrop

This one has been around a while, but we love it! Forget the old method (and limitations) of sharing photos, files, links, and more with co-workers or between our own Apple devices. Apple's Airdrop feature makes sharing a snap. If Apple products aren't your thing, we hear Google has recently released a similar feature called Near By (If you're into that sort of thing ;)).

Filing

The bane of office life. A drudgery and time sucker. A tedious but necessary task. A killer of productivity. A…okay, you get our point - filing sucks - but if you follow this one tip, you can get back an hour a week. Dedicate an hour a month to scan and file your receipts instead of taking 5-10 minutes per day. An easy method is to use your phone's camera and a mobile app and then place the hard copies in file folders that correspond with your chart of accounts.

Use an Email Timer

By far, the most significant chunk of task-related office time is dedicated to checking and reading email. This one is an easy one to let slip. Avoid getting lost in your inbox when you've got mail by allocating three different periods throughout the day to check the pit. Use start, stop, and Do Not Disturb notification settings to stay on track.

Every office has a few tricks up its sleeve. Here are more tips from others doing what they can to maximize their day at the office, so it doesn't turn into a night at the office:

Prioritizing Like an Eisenhower

Try using "The Time Management Matrix," a tool to help distinguish between urgent and essential tasks of the day. If you're wondering if the name "Eisenhower" refers to our 34th president, it is. But, Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, modeled Eisenhower's profound and practical insights into a prioritization tool that works to eliminate time-wasting both in and out of the office. If you'd like to learn more about it, check out this in-depth article courtesy of todoist.

Just Say "No"

Writer Renee Goyeneche discusses the many benefits of resisting the urge to reply immediately with "yes" to every request.

In her article for Forbes WomensMedia, Goyeneche says, "It's perfectly acceptable to tell someone you need to evaluate your workload before committing to a new project, and it's also fine to refuse unreasonable demands."

Well, duh. Don't we all know that? Surely, but practicing what we know in our gut is not always what leaves our lips when it counts. According to Goyeneche, the trick is to identify expectations.

"Once you understand the nature of your obligations, you'll be better able to organize and prioritize," Goyeneche writes.

We couldn't agree more.