Tipskey - Efficiency Tips For Office Employees

Written on 2007-04-18; Posted on 2007-05-18

Efficiency Tips For Office Employees

Employees bring up a nation's economy. If you choose to be an office employee than doing other things to earn a living, you may want to read this. Please note that this article is not applicable for people who work at home.

I think employees who do not work in the office do not really have problems and may not need this article. There are more distractions for people working in the office with computer that has Internet connection.

I am not going to describe more about things that are already written in common company rules for example part-time job (especially part-time sales job). You should already know it is a matter of code of conduct besides affecting your efficiency if you do it during work hours.

Tips
At night before sleep prepare the things to bring and to wear to work the next morning. Go to bed immediately when you are already sleepy so that you are not tired for work.

In the next morning have breakfast and go to toilet before working hours. It is better to go to toilet at home just in case there is water supply hiccup in the company (unlucky day...).

Groom up yourself so that you are confident to work with colleagues.

Start working when the work hours start. If you still do personal things when the work hours start, you will lose work momentum for the rest of the day. More on this later.

Remove the clutter on your work place. Clean and tidy desk prepares your mindset to work. Do not accumulate task on the work desk.

Sit up straight. Do things fast. Talk clearly. These will also prevent you from becoming drowsy. If you still become drowsy, take a walk (e.g. go to pantry to drink some water).

You may turn on new email alert. See who the sender is and what the subject is before opening the new email. Do not open it if you are not ready to act on it yet.

Do not do personal things during work hours. Do not do it even for a minute. You can get side-tracked for a significant amount of time. Personal matters can only be done during work if it cannot be done after work (for example calling a lawyer who has the same working time as yours). Do not check private email during work. Without realizing it, it can take one hour or more although you have intended a few minutes during a coffee break. Internet connection at home is somehow necessary if you are a regular Internet surfer.

Finish the things at one go. If you leave the current task for another thing, you will spend even more time next time to reorganize the things when you come back to it. This is the cost of poor quality (COPQ) for switching task. Also you will still remember the unfinished task while you are doing the another thing and stress out. It is better to do one task excellently than to do a few tasks with moderate result. Finish one thing first before proceeding to another. Doing many things is equal to doing nothing. Must say no if there is a need.

Write any task down immediately if you cannot start doing it immediately. Also write down immediately the personal matters that appear in your mind that you need to do after working hours so that they do not continuously bug your mind.

Finish the task given by the superior first. It is usually more urgent. Tell the superior what you are doing when the task is given to you to let him or her decide which one is more urgent.

Do not listen to song because the lyric will make you lose focus. Music is OK but use earphone so that you will not bring down other people's efficiency that do not like music in office.

Control your temper at work. Losing composure does not only affect your own work efficiency, but also distracts your colleagues.

There are times when you still feel like working during lunch time. That is not good. Have a clear line. Do something else. Have a chat with people during lunch or something.

Do not have heavy meal at work desk. Work desk is a place to work. Make the mindset correct and you will be more focused at work. Snacks and fruits are OK provided that
a) you can hold it with one hand.
b) it will not dirty the workplace.
c) it can be eaten up quickly.

Leave when the work hours end. Staying back may mean that you are inefficient and will give you more stress in life because there is no clear boundaries between work and personal life. Once in a while if you really have urgent work matters to do, do not bring the work home but finish it before leaving.

If you are unsatisfied with your salary, openly talk to your superior about it in the office. If it is unsuccessful, then move on to another company. Do not whine to others except your superior about the salary. Work quality must not be affected by emotion resulted from the remuneration and benefit. Be professional.

Your efficiency should not be affected by the negative comment from bosses. In a company anybody will receive negative comment if his performance is not good. No hard feeling. It is not personal attack. If you know you have idle time in the company and your colleagues know that, then admit the blame from the boss openly and seek for improvement. If you are all the time busy but you are still blamed, then tell him openly: just because you are not doing that particular matter it does not mean that you are sitting around but instead you are busy on some other important matters that he wants you to do. If the boss is not understanding, then move to other company without further ado. Again, be professional.

Have exercise regularly to maintain health. Healthy body gives you a sharp mind at work. I think the company should make this compulsory if it wants employees with good performance. No company wants their workers who are always on sick leave. Also no workers like their coworkers to be always under the weather.

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