Terrific article by Jeff Haden, posting tips from Belle Beth Cooper:
Regular readers know I definitely believe in the power of hard work. As Jimmy Spithill, skipper of Team Oracle USA, says, “Rarely have I seen a situation where doing less than the other guy is a good strategy.”
But we can all work smarter, too. And clearly we all want to, as evidenced by the popularity of this recent post, 5 Scientifically Proven Ways to Work Smarter, Not Harder.
The tips were provided by Belle Beth Cooper, content crafter at Buffer, the maker of a social-media management tool that lets you schedule, automate, and analyze social-media updates. (Cooper is also the co-founder of Exist.)
That post was so popular I asked Cooper for more ways anyone can make a workday more productive without putting in extra hours.
You’ll definitely want to read the full article, but here’s a summary of the tips (provided by Michael Sampson):
- Rework your to do list – limit the number of items you put on it, and write it the night before, so you can focus only on today.
- Measure your results, not your time – evaluate yourself by what you get done, rather than the time it takes to get something done.
- Build habits to help you start working – e.g., build a routine that tells your body and brain that it’s time to work.
- Track where you waste time – and do something about it.
- Build habits to help you stop working – quit while you’re ahead, set a firm cut-off time, plan something cool for after work, or create a wind-down routine.
So much good stuff there. Now to stop wasting time writing blog posts and crack on!
