Getting answers to your questions is what Quora’s all about and there’s some very interesting conversations happening around all sorts of topics.
One question asked recently was “What are some uncommon ways to work smarter instead of harder?“. Below is a summary of some of the great answers given by members of the site.
- Learn to say “No.”
- Sleep at least 8-9 hours
- Don’t be a night Owl. Work in between 5am-10pm not from 10pm-5am
- Stop multitasking
- Take more breaks: respect your natural attention spans
- Spend time in nature
- Move around and work in blocks
- Limit your to-do list
- Measure your results, not your time
- Build “getting ready to work” routines
- Track what you’re wasting time on
- Exercise daily even if you think you have no time
- Believe that you can do it
- Use keyboard shortcuts
- Get enough rest and sleep, even when you’re behind
- Procrastinate, but not until the last minute
- Delegate
- Don’t be a perfectionist
- Increase your typing speed
- Use the 80/20 Principle. Analyze the work before you start
- Set a deadline
- Use a time management system, such as GTD
- Believe that you can do it
- “Eat that frog“: Do the most difficult task or the task you hate the most first
- Do not sit in the same place for long stretches of time
- Use systems & automation to make good habits stick.
- Don’t rely on discipline & willpower
- Hire a virtual assistant to get more done
- Planning is the #1 tool to ensure you’re working smarter, not working for work’s sake
- Find your biological prime time
- Schedule 1-2 hours just for yourself
- Stop multitasking
- Divide big tasks into small tasks
- Tackle the worst task first
- Do everything that takes less than 2 minutes, right away
- Block distracting websites
- Use the Pomodoro Technique
- Eat “brain” food
- Use room scents
- Drink coffee strategically
- Watch your working hours
- Set a deadline for each task
- Use waiting time for small tasks
- Track your time
- Do similar tasks together
- Do email response batching
- Dictate
- Improve your typing speed
- Learn speed reading
- Set the office thermostat to 70-72°F (21–22ºC)
- Use a standing desk
- Have a plant on your desk
- Clean your desk when you’re leaving the office
- Take a power nap
- Procrastinate or Surf the web for 10 minutes
- Use two screens to work
- Communicate more by talking
- The 80-20 rule. Much of your effort is not really adding much to your life and should be cut out. A small part of your efforts are driving most of the success in your life and need to be expanded even further
- Stop hitting Reply All
- Setup email filters
- Meditate
- Build Relationships at Work
- Banish long meetings
- Make use of Chrome Plugins
- Use a voicerecorder and repeat back something important you’re told
- Build habits that become systems. Systems beat willpower
- Use a password manager like 1Password/Lastpass
- Recognise starting is often the hardest part
- Switch your workplace
- Use a whiteboard
- Eliminate friction wherever you can
- Have some fun
- Use a kanban board
- Talk and write in bulletpoints
- Identify and deal with bottlenecks
- Optimize the repetitive processes
- Get good tools
- Make decisions on the spot
- Be clear on responsibilities
- Spend less time planning and more time doing
- Avoid analysis paralysis. Use a decision matrix. Makes decision faster
- If something stays on your to-do list for so long that it starts to bother you, just delete it
- Set realistic expectations for what you can accomplish in a day
- Enjoy a feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day
- Make weekend plans, and NEVER set a Monday deadline
- Use your left hand while brushing, it ignites the imaginative part of you
- Don’t see, OBSERVE
- Don’t hear, LISTEN
- If you want to prepare a presentation, use 10, 20, 30 technique. (10 slides, 20 mins, 30 font size)
- Offer two or three choices – never more
- Look for simplification
- Remember Parkinson’s Law ~ Tasks expand to the time allotted
- Use the Pomodoro Technique and a Timer
- Look for inspirations from others
- Train your mind to go through the analysis and not jump to conclusions
- Know the rules of the game so you can optimize how you play
- If you’re already working as hard as you can, then working even harder isn’t the answer
- Turn on music
- The Method of Loci or Memory Palace
For further details on any of the above the full comment trail can be found here.
