The Fastest Way to Work and Earn Your Paycheck

October 26, 2021 | Career Blog

Sometimes it seems like there just aren’t enough hours in the day. You want to get your job done quickly and efficiently, feel a sense of accomplishment, and keep your bosses happy with your performance. Unfortunately, poor time management, a lack of motivation, and procrastination are the biggest enemies of a productive day.

So how do you find the fastest way to work and keep everyone (especially you) happy? We’ve gathered some of the most effective tips on staying productive at work so you can end your day knowing that you made the most of your time.

Start Big

If you’ve got a list of tasks that need to be finished by the end of the day, the week, or the quarter, the odds are good that they’re not all equally important. Some of your list items will be easy to knock out, while others may be a bit more daunting. While it may be tempting to go after the easy things first so you can check them off your list, that might not be the most helpful strategy.

Starting with the most critical items first will ensure that the essential tasks get done. It’s not as instantly rewarding as completing the smaller, more manageable tasks, but it will go a long way towards showing your bosses that you know how to prioritize. Once those big tasks are finished, you’ll also get to enjoy a drop in stress as you spend the rest of your time cleaning up those easier tasks.

Break Tasks Into Smaller Pieces

Tackling those big tasks sounds well and good, but the reality of it can be stress-inducing. When you’re staring at a mountain of work at the start of your day, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. Unfortunately, these negative feelings make the task harder to do.

How do you cut through the negativity and get the job done? Break the big tasks into smaller pieces.

For example, cleaning an entire house can be a daunting task. Break it down into only thinking about one room at a time. And within those rooms, you can break it down even further. Just pick up the laundry, then the trash, then do the vacuuming. It may not seem like much, but turning “clean the house” into “right now, take the trash out of the living room” can make all the difference.

Take Your Breaks

Trying to work your employees for eight straight hours is far worse for a company’s productivity than allowing sufficient break time. Good managers know this, and you should too. People need time to recharge after they’ve been working for a while, or their batteries will quickly run down.

When you have the opportunity to take a break, do it. If you can, get up and walk away from your work area to give your mind a chance to let go of the task you were doing. By taking breaks and allowing yourself to focus on something besides work, you’ll increase your overall productivity.

Be careful to structure your breaks, though. It’s often too easy to get caught up in a conversation and tell yourself that you’re taking a break. It’s essential to recognize the difference between taking a break from work and simply getting distracted.

Don’t Try to Multitask

Multitasking is one of the great myths of the modern workplace. Although many employers ask for good multitasking skills, there’s no evidence that humans are good at it. When asked to do multiple things at once, people tend to do all of the tasks poorly.

While multitasking isn’t a productive way to spend your time, it might just be an issue of wording. What employers want isn’t someone who can do many things at once; it’s someone who can quickly shift their focus between tasks. This is a crucial difference. Hone your ability to focus on one task entirely and then let it go so you can give the next job your full attention.

Work First, Inspiration Second

Some days you just don’t want to go to work. You know you won’t do a good job that day because you just don’t feel inspired. So you try to find something that will get you excited and back on track, but this kind of thinking rarely works. Instead, it leads to more procrastination and less inspiration.

Don’t wait for motivation, and don’t try to force it.

Instead, focus on just getting started. The most productive people know that the most important thing you can do is begin the work, even in the smallest way. Then, once you’ve started, you’ll naturally feel accomplished and hopefully proud of your work, and the inspiration will follow.

We’re Looking for Good Workers

If you’re the kind of person who just read an entire article about learning the fastest way to work, we’d like to get to know you better. At Allegiance Staffing, we’re always looking for dependable workers who not only have the skills and experience, but always want to be better.

Find out how Allegiance can help you with your career today.