Five Tips For Being More Efficient At Anything
I didn’t even realize that I was an efficient person until I got married. Needless to say, my husband was (is) not. I don’t like spending more time than is needed on most tasks, so It never occurred to me that some people were naturally slow moving and non-efficient. When I took some time to think through what I do to be efficient, I came up with five tips:
- Remove distractions. We might realize that stopping to check our Facebook or email is a distraction, but seemingly “productive” things can be distractions too. For example, if I’m trying to efficiently clean the kitchen, doing the laundry or picking up the toys in the living room are both distractions that keep me from my goal of efficiently cleaning the kitchen.
- Have a plan of action. Whether detailed or simple, having a plan keeps you from wandering around aimlessly, losing time in the process. Returning to the example of cleaning the kitchen, I follow the same plan every time. First I clear the table, putting dishes on the counter by the sink and food on the island. I then wipe the table and I am done with that area. Then, I gather any other dishes from around the kitchen and place them by the sink. I put away everything else on the counters, the food, spices that are laying out, random papers, etc and wipe the counters. At this point I’ve usually only been cleaning up for 10 minutes but the kitchen is mostly clean! Next I load the dishwasher and then wash whatever’s left by hand. Done!
- Eliminate unneeded movement. Wasted movement is wasted time! This may take some thought at first, but eventually it will become second nature. For example, the reason I put all the food together in the same area before putting it in the fridge is because it is wasted motion to carry one or two items from the table to the fridge at a time. This way I’m only making one trip to and from the fridge.
- Move quickly, but not in haste. Do not confuse efficiency with haste. As the old saying goes: “haste makes waste!” If you are moving so fast that you are not thinking and are actually making more work for yourself, slow down a bit and focus more on eliminating wasted movement. The goal of efficiency is to do something as quickly as you can while still doing it well. (My favorite way to get moving is to put on some upbeat music!)
- Practice repeated tasks. For tasks that you do often, keep practicing your plan for doing them efficiently until you get to the point you can do them almost automatically. I’ve been cleaning the kitchen the same way for years. By doing it the same way every time I don’t even have to think about it anymore, I just do it quickly and be done with it!
As a final word, I think it is important to remember that efficiency isn’t a be all end all. Its not necessarily better to be efficient, its just more..well, efficient! There are plenty of times where is it more appropriate to not be efficient and just live in the moment.
Do you have any tips for being efficient? Any examples of ways you are efficient in your home or work? I would love to hear them!