Are you overwhelmed with work and not have enough time to finish the tasks on your plate? And due to the economic situation, you are willing to accept the extra workload and travelling assignments to secure the job or to grow your businesses.

Do you also experience anxiety because you have a lot to do and you don’t know where to start or how to approach the humungous tasks? Well, before we carry on, let me say that it is not the work or tasks that stressed you out. It is the sense of chaos, overwhelm and not knowing what to do first or how to make sure you can get all these done that worries you.

They key is not in eliminating stress or in making time – you can’t do any of these. You can however get organized so you can leverage your work for efficiency and productivity. Follow and practise these productivity and time management techniques you will not only feel a lot lighter and less stressed; you will also begin to get more work done faster and easier.

Here are the guidelines:

1. Do not start with the easiest tasks on your to do list. Make a list of what matters most to your business and prioritize the items. This is a list of significant tasks that will bring about results to your business, not small little items on the to do list. Have deadlines beside each of these tasks. Then prioritize them in terms of what is important so you spend your energy on that which matters the most and brings in the most benefits to your business. It is the 80 20 rule and prioritization helps you to achieve this.

Too often, we end up doing that which has the least significance because human nature wants to avoid that which is perceived to be hardest to achieve. So we go around doing everything else (usually things that are less beneficial), consumed all the energy and time and then have the perfect excuse not to approach that which really matters.

2. Do not work hard, work smart. Design a system of processes if you have to do the same thing more than 2 times. You want to think of ways to automate it if you can. If you cannot automate the tasks, then automate the process. Have the steps all drawn out, either in a flow chart or a process map so if you need help, you can outsource this to others and still get the work done.

Tying back to the previous point, this is so that you get to do the most important tasks and let others do the repetitive or routine tasks if you have the means to hire assistance. And since all the steps are outlined, you are more certain that time and resources will not be wasted in a prolonged learning curve for your assistant. You also make sure that all the steps have been covered and leave nothing to chance.

3. Do not be afraid to test and change your processes. Streamline your tasks so they are optimized for success. Tweak and fine tune that system for optimum performance. Find out which method works best for you and document it. And you consistently take the same path; execute the same steps each time you do similar tasks. You will fine tune your process until you find the path that takes the least time and effort to produce the most wanted results on a consistent basis.

Come back for more articles in the next day or two. I will be posting more frequently to this site for the next while. If you like to see more of a certain type of articles feel free to let me know through the comments box below. I also encourage you to share your experiences as I am quite sure you will not be the only one going through the same experiences.

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