1. Free up some uninterrupted time. Have someone take a message or let your calls go to voice mail.
Put a Please Do Not Disturb sign on your office door or take your work to an empty conference room where you will not be disturbed.
2. Start your day on time and put in 8 hours of work for 8 hours of pay, not just 8 hours of time in the work space. Eating your breakfast, getting your coffee, going to the restroom to check your make up should be done before the start of the business day. Arrive 30 minutes early to take care of all of these things so that you can begin your work day on time. Everyone has occasion to have to make a personal call during the day, but don’t make a habit of doing personal stuff on company time. Use your lunch hour. Taking time to send personal E mail messages on company time not only takes time
away from the tasks you should be performing, it is akin to theft.
3. Schedule your workday. Don’t just jot down meetings and appointments in your day timer. Schedule a specific time to work on and complete each item on your To Do List. As much as possible have a set time for doing repetitive tasks such as answering e mail, returning phone calls, going through the mail and meeting with co-workers. This might mean a daily 20 minute meeting with your administrative assistant or your boss to establish the day’s priorities and to share status reports
on various projects.
4. Map out all of the steps involved in taking a project from start to finish and then schedule time for each step. Stick to the schedule.
5. Don’t let other people waste your time. Learn to politely excuse yourself.
If you implement these five strategies on a regular basis, you will be amazed at how your productivity will soar.
