W:
www.universitybusiness.co.uk | T: @UB_UK Read a related story: click here
How to... get stuff done By Emily Perry, Director, Purple Cubed
‘Busyness’ does not equal productivity. In fact, inefficient working costs businesses 20– 30% of their revenue each year. The solution to this is creating a high-performing culture. However, to do so individuals must recognise that no mater what business or role they’re in inefficiency falls to one thing – lacking the drive to put in a consistent effort so as to become organised. This isn’t about knowing how to go about being effective and efficient by atending time management courses, or buying books from every self-help guru on the subject. Geting things done comes down to two words: self- discipline.
Here are our tips on adopting a system which works for you:
Write stuff down If you’ve got a few things to do, how do you remember them? Keep them in your head? Categorically no! Heads are for thinking and not storage. So, get your notepad or your mobile device and plot out your to-do list. Our top tip is to write this every evening before you leave, meaning you can switch off on your journey home and know what needs to happen when you arrive the next morning. Using ‘urgent vs important’ is also a useful tool to prioritise. Many people waste time on things that are neither urgent nor important because they are the things we like doing. However this is about being much more disciplined, so try considering which tasks are:
✥ High importance/low urgency – in which case schedule them in your diary for a future date meaning you don’t waste time thinking about it now ✥ High importance/high urgency – these are your ‘do now’ jobs; put these at the top of the list ✥ Low importance/low urgency – are nice to do things so resist these even if they are fun. These tasks are ones to complete if you find a spare five minutes in your day ✥ Low importance/high urgency – three words – delegate, delegate, delegate.
Set yourself measures Management guru Peter Drucker once said: “What gets measured, gets done.” Therefore set yourself litle goals, challenges and deadlines to ensure you stay focused on the job in hand. A great approach is the Pomodoro method, which was developed
ACCREDITED
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL PRINTER AGREEMENT PARTNER •TRUST & VALUE •
Emily Perry
by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s and named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used at university to get his work done. Very simply, this is about breaking workload down into manageable chunks in order to improve mental agility. First choose your task and then set a timer for 25 minutes. Work on it without interruption until the alarm rings. Then treat yourself to a short 3–5 minute break before seting the timer for another 25 minutes and repeating. When you’ve done this four times, reward yourself with a longer break of 15–20 minutes.
Say no, without saying no The more organised you become, its likely colleagues and peers will notice and start asking you to help them out. If you take on all of their work then you’ll end up lacking the time to do your own. This isn’t about saying no to everything, instead be assertive in your response. For example:
✥ I’d love to help you with that though my schedule is blocked out until next Tuesday; can it wait until then? ✥ I can do X though I’d have to ask you to do Y for me
Self-discipline is the most valuable career lesson – your time is in short supply and therefore you need to be ruthless with it. If you master this simple yet desirable way of living your life then your chances of happiness and success at work will be much greater. UB
About us
Purple Cubed are experts at simplifying HR strategy to create high-performing
cultures; ensuring you attract, engage and retain the right people for your business. For more information watch our video at www.
purplecubed.com, tweet us @PurpleCubed or buy Purple Your People, upon which this article was based, from
www.janesunley.com
www.printerbase.co.uk
All Trademarks acknowledged. T&C’s apply, for more information call us on 0800 170 7234 or email
info@printerbase.co.uk. E&OE.
HIGH EVERY TIME
QUALITY PRINTS
Intelligent printing solutions for smart institutions.
Samsung colour copiers off er fantastic print quality that will make your documents shine. With the combination of patented image enhancing & toner technology, they deliver a crisp, vivid print every time.
For more information call 0800 170 1992
| ADVICE: PURPLE CUBED | 19
Images on this page - apart from Emily Perry -
Dreamstime.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82