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I have been absolutely slammed lately. So, I understand the frustration of watching the clock as the hours tick by, recognizing that there is no way you’re going to finish all of your work by the time the clock reaches five.
I have a son and a wife who need me far more than my business does and it is frustrating when I’m not as efficient as I can be at work.
Thankfully, learning how to save time at work is pretty easy since there are so many apps that can help you do just that.
If you’re trying to learn how to be more efficient at work, then the photography business tips on this list may help.
Focus on One Task at a Time
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If you’re just learning how to save time at work, then the absolute most important thing you can do is to only focus on one task at a time.
Humans are not good at multitasking. This has been proven time and time again in all sorts of psychological studies. So, why do we keep trying to do so many things at once?
And I feel it’s important to note here that I am not perfect. I still find myself starting one task, recognizing another (perhaps more important) task, and starting it halfway through the first. But, every time I catch myself doing this, I take a moment to analyze which task is truly more important for me to get done first and I’ll begin it undistracted.
You won’t learn how to save time at work if you spend all of your time jumping from one task to another, or opening one application/website after another. All of this time is completely wasted and you need to cut down on it as soon as possible.
Work When You Want To
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This one may seem a little counterproductive to learning how to save time, but hear me out. One of the best ways to learn how to save time is to learn when you are naturally the most productive. The arbitrary 9-5 really doesn’t work for most people and that’s totally okay, as long as you’re available to your clients while they’re working their “regular” hours.
Maybe you are an early riser and you could start your day as early as 6am. If these are hours where your kids are still asleep, you may be able to get a lot more done from 6-8 in the morning than at any other point in your day.
Maybe you need at least two full cups of coffee, a hearty breakfast, and a prayer to get you going in the morning. Nobody says you have to start your day at 9am. Maybe 10am or 11am will work better for you.
Learning how to save time at work is synonymous with learning when you are most productive.
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Create a Daily To-Do List
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When you’re figuring out how to save time at work, you will probably recognize the need to be a little more organized. After all, you need to understand what you need to get done in order to figure out how to best get those items done.
For me, one of the most important ways I learned how to save time at work was to create a daily to-do list. I look at my task tracking app at the beginning of every week and I break those projects down into a to-do list for every day of the week. Then, when unexpected tasks come up, I’ll simply add them to my calendar throughout the week.
This only takes around 15 minutes every Monday and I assure you that it saves me far more time than this. I work best with a to-do list that is on paper, but figure out what system works best for you.
Don’t Overcrowd Your To-Do List
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After figuring out that I needed a daily to-do list, I then quickly figured out that I also needed to stop taking on as many clients as I was. The fact of the matter was that I couldn’t get all of my work done in a 40 or even 50 hour work week.
Unfortunately, figuring out how to stop overcrowding your to-do list takes as much energy as figuring out how to save time at work. But, after a few weeks, you should be able to recognize how long each task takes and then figure out how many tasks you can fit into a 40 hour work week.
The important thing is to stick to this magic number whether it’s a rather slow period for your business or whether it’s your busiest time of year. It can be hard to turn down money, but it’s important for your mental health and it’s important for learning how to save time.
Use Business Text Messaging
Given how automated our world is, there are plenty of apps that will help you learn how to save time at work. One of my favorites that I’ve discovered in the last year is Podium.
Podium is an all-in-one messaging platform that, honestly, does a lot. It pulls every message your business receives from your email to your social media accounts and puts them all in one easy-to-read place.
But, one of the best features of Podium is business text messaging.
Business text messaging is just what it sounds like. It’s a way for your business to directly text your clients.
This is a great feature because 95% of text messages are opened, whereas the number for email is something abysmal like under 20%. So, when you need to send your client an invoice, you can do so via text message to ensure that you get paid more quickly and to ensure that you save time tracking every invoice down for weeks on end.
Business text messaging also helps you save time when communicating with your clients. You will vastly cut down on the number of reminder emails you need to send. Imagine a world where every question you ask your clients is answered immediately. You can have that world when you use business text messaging.