Once upon a time, employees were judged on the number of hours that they were in the office – scrawling away, hammering at the keyboard and making calls. However, research has shown that the more hours in the office doesn’t necessarily equate to more accomplished tasks or better results achieved.
Within this digital age, there should be no reason to live like that. The technology that is available to us means that we can produce quality work that is driven by a heightened efficiency and productivity within the workplace, but do we? We still have bad habits within organizations that mean that we work too hard. The maxim that you want to be relevant to your employment is ‘work smarter not harder,’ but working harder can be a habit inadvertently picked up and enforced by the technology that we use. Here’s how to work smarter and perform to the best standard you can.
The technology and software that you have in the workplace should be simplified. This does not mean that you have simple technology, rather it should not be complicated for the end user. You should get the most of your technology investment by choosing agile cloud-based solutions that provide easy key processes and collaboration. Future-proof your technology by ensuring that it can grow with your business and be reactive to innovations that will occur. You don’t want to have an infrastructure that has to be wholly updated with each new advancement.
It is easy to become complacent about how you perform your role, or how you run your business; you should always be trying to learn about your industry and ways to self-improve. While you may not have the time to read every new book that is published on the topic, you can access online summarized abridged versions that give you the key points in a short format. This is a new way to expand your mind without having to devote too much valuable time to achieve the same level of understanding; read this review on Blinkist to see how a smarter way of reading and researching can benefit you.
When tasks are automated, it reduces the time and effort to complete them. Automation can be applied across any business and industry – think about how using digital solutions can make working smarter – anything from posting content to your social media platforms and e-mails can benefit from automation. Duplication is a thing of the past: you only need to qualify data once before it is used within a system that multiple areas of a business can use. This saves time and therefore money, but it also reduces the risk of manual mistakes being made.
With the ways that technology can be used to help you work smarter, you must pay attention to how you work. It feels counterintuitive to take breaks to help you work smarter, but it is an important way to allow your brain to relax before refocusing with renewed vigor. On average, a brain can remain sharp and focused for 90 minutes, after which it needs a break of 15 minutes to recharge before another period of high activity. So, while you are using performance-enhancing technologies, you must make sure that you look after yourself too, to achieve the results you want.
