Declutter It!

Improve Your Home & Office Productivity

by Jennifer on May 7th, 2008

How productive are you in a given amount of time? If someone said, “You’ve got 20 minutes, what can you accomplish?” Would you know how to answer?

Most people don’t know how long it takes them to complete tasks - whether a report at work or folding the laundry. The downside is a loss of productivity. For example, it really shouldn’t take you an hour to fold a load of laundry, or dust the living room. These are quick tasks. Most of the time they take longer than they should, because you walk away, get distracted, or something else pops up. While some distractions can’t be helped (like potty training a two year old), many distractions can be cut, if we’re aware.

One great way to finish tasks quicker and have more free time is to use a timer and a clock.

Notice the time when you start a new task and set your timer, say when you start writing a report or start dusting. If you stop; stop the timer. If little Sally does need some potty help in a hurry, or co-worker Joe stops in to chat. Hit the stop button on that timer. Once the distraction has passed, hit the start button again.

The point:

If the clock said 2pm when you started a task, and says 4pm when you’re done, yet the timer only reads 20 minutes, the problem is the extra hour and 40 minutes. If you got some great stuff done in that hour and 40 minutes then no worries. However, in my experience this is usually wasted fluff time. Time is more productive, when you can manage tasks from start to finish, without distractions.

Once you time your tasks for a while, you can set some good goals to work on.  Such as turn the phone off while you clean. Or at least don’t answer. I keep my phone on 24/7 when my son’s away, because what if there’s an emergency? But unless it’s my son’s dad I won’t answer when I’m working. Same for cleaning. If I need to get a task done, I won’t answer the phone. If your distractions are at the office, shut your door, turn off the phone, and turn any instant email beeps down.

A reader made a comment on a previous post here that using a timer to speed sort items is a good idea (it is). You can also use your timer to speed tasks along. Can you beat your last dish washing time of 30 minutes? Probably.

Have you used a timer to time your tasks before? Were you surprised at how long tasks were taking you?

[photo via stock.xchng]

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POSTED IN: Time Management