My 7 Best Productivity Hacks

   Over 2 months ago now I switched from a 40+ hour week to a 28 hour week. I aimed to maintain my workload by working more efficiently. I think I've managed this quite well so far. Here are the practices I've been undertaking:

• Don't drink alcohol! The amount of productive time lost in the UK to hangovers is scary! As a teetotaller I don't miss alcohol whatsoever.
• Avoid inane conversations. Small talk helps some people through the monotony of office life. On the other hand I find it one step off being the spawn of Satan. Many years back I worked in an office where I liked to start early to get work done. This totally back fired when the office cleaner liked to take advantage of the fact that I was on my own to single me out for chat.
• Write a To Do list the previous day. Having your important tasks written down in front of you when you start each day gives you a chance to get cracking. Otherwise you'd lose a few minutes each morning trying to remember your most important jobs. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL.
• Leave your computer on overnight. Not environmentally friendly I know, but I think it is important to keep your computer on 24/7. Doing this saves me 5 minutes each day which would otherwise have been spend twiddling my thumbs. That's 30mins a week (I work 6 days). Last year I (very sadly) used to clock when one of my workmates turned their computer on. I could tell by the little Microsoft jingle. I found that this person NEVER began work before 9.15am. They would be at their desk by 9, fair enough, but they would then unpack their laptop, switch it on, go for a coffee, have a chat with everyone and then, finally, commence working.
• Pre-run reports. Of all the systems I use at work only one allows me to pre-run the reports I need. I wish they all did as this is an excellent time saver.
• Work a shorter day! This might sound counter-intuitive but working a 5h day has not effected my work at all. I've found that the shorter time span means I focus more closely. Work expands to fill time - it's true.
• Have a list of routine, back-up jobs. Throughout the day I hit points where I can't get on with things because I am waiting for a response from someone, or an issue along those lines. At these points in the day (and it is every day) I refer to my list of routine jobs which always need carried out. These jobs might be along the lines of preparing templates for weekly reports or recording certain figures. They never take long and are good fillers.

What's next? I reckon that my productivity could still improve greatly. One thing I would like is to have 2 laptops on the go so that I can switch and continue working when one crashes. I also need to build more macros for repetitive Excel tasks. My final aim would be to farm out the easier stuff to a virtual PA - but that is miles off.