1. Your mental health should be your priority Wellness is essential to good work – after all, you can’t work without your brain. Believing that you can put your mental health on mute to deliver more, faster, is an illusion. Issues such as anxiety and depression can affect your ability to focus, your energy levels, and many other facets of your work life such as your collaboration skills. In turn, overworking yourself can impact negatively on your healing process and even worsen your symptoms. To work smarter, you need to inject self care routines into your work life such as taking regular breaks, never missing a meal, setting work hours on your calendar, learning to say no, and not be afraid to request a mental health emergency day if it all fees too much. Your employer might even provide some mental health support services at work. Some organizations also offer workshops to help you deal with mental health-related issues. 2. Collaborate more Smart working and collaboration go hand in hand. Collaboration can spark unexpectedly brilliant ideas you wouldn’t have thought of on your own. Different people, different skills, different ways to approach problem-solving: the perfect mix for coming up with out-of-the-box ideas. When you are faced with a challenge, putting heads together with your colleagues or peers and brainstorming as a team can help you work smarter and open your creative horizons. It’s also a great way to unload some of the stress and pressure you might feel on your shoulders. Plus, it’s nice to have someone to talk to! 3. Prioritize your workload Work related stress often comes from an overwhelming workload. Having constant deadlines and tasks to do makes it difficult to give 100% all of the time. Prioritizing your workload is simple, but it can do a lot to relieve stress and help you work smarter. Even if it feels like you don’t have time for it, when it all gets too much, take a few minutes to write down all your tasks. Some of these tasks might look tiny, and it’s easy to fall into the trap, but you shouldn’t prioritize them based on the satisfaction of quickly crossing a bunch of items from your to-do. Small tasks are the kind of things that will come up on a daily basis, so make sure you look at their deadline rather than their size when assessing your priorities. Group tasks by priority or similarity to save time and effort – it’s always easier to move to a similar task once you’re on a roll. If you’re not sure about timelines, don’t hesitate to ask the task initiator – and negotiate deadlines that seem unrealistic. 4. Learn to delegate – You don’t have to do everything on your own Delegating is one of the keys to smarter working. You don’t have to do everything on your own! If you’re part of a team, you need to think of it as one entity. In that sense, the amount of work you receive should be equally distributed amongst your team members according to their skills. That means if the request comes to you and you’re already at maximum capacity, you don’t need to carve extra time for it, you simply need to redistribute. There’s nothing wrong in delegating. It shows you’re able to manage your workload and recognize your limits. You might think you’re wasting time training someone when you could have done it faster on your own, but in the longer term, you’re passing knowledge to someone who will be able to perform the task for you, the next time you delegate. 5. Get the right training Training is essential to growing in your career. Expanding your knowledge is the best way to work smarter and explore new horizons. Not only does it help you save time and energy at work by providing you with the right tools, it also helps you see the bigger picture and understand the connection between your current role and the infinite possibilities out there. Don’t pass on opportunities to develop your skills at work. If your company offers in house workshops or training budgets, make sure you take advantage of them. It’s a new year and you may want to rebrand your business. Why not get in touch with us for your printing and promotional needs. We can offer you a range of cost effective and attractive possibilities. |
