Ironically, the digital age seems to have made our lives busier and more hectic - go figure! Our schedules are more crowded, we never seem to have enough time and we're always busy, busy, busy. But did you know that there's a good type of busy and a bad type of busy?
'Bad' busy is when you put in the effort but take longer than you should in order to get things done. On top of that, the outcome of your work often leaves a lot to be desired.
'Good' busy is when you get things done swiftly and efficiently with great outcomes. So, is there a way to speed up your daily tasks and activities without compromising on productivity? Absolutely!
These six speed hacks will help you avoid the outcomes of 'bad busy' by boosting your speed, focus and efficiency so that not only do you get things done faster, but better.
1. Learn to Type Faster
Your two-finger typing could really be slowing you down because if you’re like most people, you probably do most of your writing on a computer. Think how much more efficient you can be at tasks like taking notes as you talk on the phone, responding to emails, or writing reports.
If typing constitutes a large portion of your daily tasks, it's totally worth the investment of time and effort to get up to speed on your keyboard skills. It's an investment that'll pay for itself over and over again each time you need to type any form of text.
How to hone your typing skill is totally up to you. You can choose to take a paid speed typing course or teach yourself with YouTube tutorials. Online typing tests are also available so that you can regularly measure your progress as well.
2. Work in a Quiet Space
Many of us are accustomed to working in noisy spaces surrounded by traffic sounds, loud voices, dogs barking, and a myriad of other sounds. Because we're accustomed to noise, we don't think it bothers us – but it definitely bothers our brains.
Noise is a distraction, whether we're conscious of it or not. It disrupts our brain's ability to focus optimally and therefore, think and perform faster.
You can confirm this yourself. Try doing a task in a noisy space, then do the same task in a quiet room. Not only will you get the task done faster in a quiet space, but the quality of work will be far better.
Always try to do important tasks that require deep focus and concentration in a quiet space away from any noise disruptions. Noise-canceling headphones can be a great help here too. This will be easier if you work from home but even in a noisy office, you can close your door or even borrow a quiet space to work in for a few hours.
3. Have All You Need Within Easy Access
Getting up to fetch something you need - or worse, look for something you've misplaced - is a speed-killer. Buzzing a coworker for a file or document you need (and spending a few minutes chatting) is another speed-killer and focus-buster.
Have everything you need for a task in front of you or easily accessible. This hack not only saves time but prevents you from breaking your focus and concentration.
4. Learn Basic Speed Reading Techniques
Just like speed typing, this is another worthwhile investment. In fact, it’s even more so because we definitely spend a large part of our day reading all sorts of text. Learning speed reading basics will help you work faster no matter what your job is. But it will be particularly time-saving if your work involves reading large amounts of text.
Speed reading will also make self-improvement more fun and effective because you can breeze faster through more books and articles to learn new things and expand your mind.
5. Group Errands Together
If your day is interspersed with errands, you're likely wasting unnecessary time and energy. With some smart time organization, you should be able to group all of your errands together, schedule an approximate timeframe in which to get them done, and save loads of time in the process.
6. Delegate
Delegating is something many people hesitate to do because they're perfectionists. Unless they do something themselves, it won’t get done right. Nothing is further from the truth.
Many tasks don’t require any special skills or talents to be done efficiently. These are the tasks you should consider delegating to free up your time for more important projects and tasks that do require your perfectionist's eye. In fact, by delegating, you're actually getting two or more tasks done at one time - how speedy and efficient is that?
These 6 hacks are guaranteed to speed up your productivity by enabling you to maximize your skills and brainpower. In your busy life, speed matters but never at the cost of quality. You also want to be your best at whatever you do. So, input these 6 powerful hacks into your routine practices and watch your productivity soar!
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