Work less,
accomplish
more

Reclaim your time while boosting your productivity.

By Julie Wilson

In an ideal world, we’d be able to accomplish everything on our to-do lists and still have time to go to that yoga class, have lunch with an old friend and enjoy a relaxing weekend with our families. In reality, though, most of us are chronic multi-taskers, figuring the only way to conquer the endless to-do list is to try to get it all done at once.

Some time management experts argue that this approach not only adds to our stress, but it also costs American companies billions of dollars in lost productivity every year. According to research firm Basex, interruptions consume 28 percent of a high-level worker’s day, meaning those impromptu emails, phone calls and on-the-fly meetings that are at the heart of multi-tasking add up to an inefficient way to work. All is not lost, though. There are some simple ways to work with purpose and reclaim your calendar.

Turn it off

In a world where buzzing, beeping and blaring are our constant companions, radio silence can seem almost unnatural. But Laura Stack, president and CEO of The Productivity Pro Inc. and author of SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best, suggests turning off the electronic alerts that serve as around-the-clock distractions.

“We constantly react to things as they appear and never get a block of time to work on something because of the speed of the input,” she explains. Her solution? Create alerts only for the most important people in your life—say a spouse or your boss—and schedule regular times to check emails, texts and voicemails. This will help you gain back uninterrupted stretches of your day so you can focus on completing your high-priority projects on time.

Stop distracting yourself

Another thief of your precious time may very well be your own brain, according to Dave Crenshaw, time management expert and author of The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing It All” Gets Nothing Done. He refers to multi-tasking as “switching,” and maintains that “active switches” are distractions we create for ourselves, such as making a call in the middle of working on a presentation. The opposite of active switches, “passive switches” are distractions that are beyond our control. These include a ringing phone or an impromptu meeting with a colleague who shows up at your office.

“The most common culprit [of active switching] is having a mind full of too many to-do’s that you are trying to keep straight in your head. You put yourself in a position where your brain will switch its own attention,” Crenshaw says. “When you switch tasks regularly, you are telling your brain that it should switch tasks, and you condition your brain to behave that way.” The bottom line? Distraction begets distraction. Make a conscious effort to be present in the moment, whether you’re working on a big report, participating in a meeting or catching up with your family. This will help you complete the task at hand—and move on.

The Happiness Issue

YOUR CAREER | Work less, accomplish more

Write it down

Getting organized can calm your mental chatterbox and help you focus. Stack’s mantra? “If you think it, ink it.” Simply put, write down the important things you need to remember in one centralized place. “Most of us don’t really have an effective capture tool,” she asserts. “Keep a running notebook next to you so you can jot down your thoughts and get back to what you were doing.”

Meet with purpose

Another obstacle to productivity can be endless meetings infiltrating your calendar and leaving room for nothing else. When Crenshaw is invited to a meeting, his first response is to ask if the objective can be accomplished without a meeting. Sometimes the answer is no. In that case, he asks for an agenda, including when the meeting will end. He also asks who will lead it. “One person needs to be responsible for making sure the meeting stays on target and moves toward the desired result,” he says. “I also try to make a meeting as short as possible. It all goes back to the principle that time fills up a vacuum. If we schedule a meeting for 50 minutes, then it will take 50 minutes, but if we schedule it for 25, then it will take 25.”

When Stack is faced with a long meeting she doesn’t really need to attend, she asks to go first on the agenda. “If there is not a whole lot I need to be involved in, then I will be there for part of it,” she says. “I let the meeting leader know that I have a conflict—a meeting with myself.”

Tame your inbox

Drowning in an overflowing email inbox? You’re not alone. “In a new era of hyper-interruption, whoever manages the chaos best wins,” says Mike Song, a keynote speaker with time-management training company GetControl.net. He suggests taking some simple measures to gain control of your inbox and reclaim your sanity. First, become a master filterer by using your email program’s auto-route feature to automatically sort incoming, nonessential email into logical categories, such as travel rewards or retail promotions. “In Outlook, you can simply right-click on an email to send it to a folder you can check once a month,” he says. With your email inbox clear of these superfluous messages, you’ll be able to hone in on the important ones faster.

Also, if you send less email, you’ll receive less. “For every email we send, we get roughly three back,” says Song. “There is a boomerang effect.” He suggests being more judicious in the emails you do send so you don’t inadvertently fill your inbox. The added benefit? When people get fewer emails from you, they will pay more attention when you do send them a message, and everyone will be the more productive for it.

Create boundaries

One of the most important—and most difficult—ways to boost your productivity and find balance is to create boundaries between your professional life and your personal one. In an era when your boss can find you anywhere and anytime by calling your cell phone, this is easier said than done. “Boundaries are blurred right now,” contends Stack. “I believe that if [employers] are going to be flexible enough to allow people to do work things at home, then they need to understand that people need to do home things at work sometimes.” This means having an honest conversation about expectations so both parties end up with what they need and are happier and more productive for it.

Crenshaw likens life-work balance to debt. “When we overspend money, we go into debt and have to repay with interest. It’s the same thing with time. If I borrow from sleep to pay work, over time I will lose productivity and have to sleep more to make up that time,” he says. “I believe that happiness comes from spending five minutes less than what you have—and misery comes from spending five minutes more than what you have.”