TIP 34
GET YOUR WORK DONE IN HALF THE TIME
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
If work expands to fill the available time, the solution is to reduce the amount of time you have to get the work done. When pressed, most people can get the job done in half the time they are currently using. I’m not kidding.
Have you ever noticed that the day before you are leaving for a week of vacation, you always manage to clean out an entire in-box that has been jammed for weeks? There is nothing like an incentive to get a body moving. How could you get your work done in half the time? It may take some creative thinking, but it is well worth the effort. By working more efficiently, you may find that you could use your newfound time to volunteer for a special project at work, create a vision for your life or business, catch up on your correspondence, organize your office, or send thank-you notes. The possibilities are endless.
You can also apply this principle to the work you need to do at home. How can you get your chores done in half the time? (See Speed Cleaning, by Jeff Campbell, for some great tips, or better yet, hire that house cleaner (Tip 17) and save even more time!) If you have a pile of paperwork on your desk, set an alarm for one hour and see if you can beat the clock. Tons of files to clean up? Set a morning aside and get a buddy who wants to work on a project of his or her own. Every hour, call each other up for a two-minute progress report. For three weeks, one of my clients kept saying she was going to clean up all the piles of papers in her office, but it just wasn’t getting done. To solve this problem, we set up a Saturday morning from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon to blast through it. I worked on my inbox, and she worked on hers. She called me every hour to report her progress, and I gave her a pep talk to keep her going. In three hours she cleared her desk and two file drawers. She felt terrific! She had a clean slate that was easy to maintain with just a few minutes of filing every day. I did this with another one of my clients, who wanted to get some home improvement work done. I was cleaning up my files in New York, and she was painting the kitchen in Arizona.
Somehow this turns a dreary task into a fun game. You’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish. Afterward you’ll feel great that you’ve gotten it out of the way, and you’ll have more time to do the things you really love. The ultimate goal is to have as much time as possible for yourself and for the fun things in life. People who are having a great time easily attract success; opportunities come to them. Get your work done in half the time so you have more time for the things that really give you joy.