How to Do Less When You Need to Do More

Many of us were taught that in order to succeed we have to exert enormous amounts of effort and be constantly busy. However, the most successful people don’t necessarily work harder than everyone else instead, they work smarter.

So time management. When you apply it successfully, you end up doing more–not less–of what you need to be doing.

Here are six ways to make it happen:

1. Utilize the talents of others.
If you have a lot to do and you’re like most of us, you couldn’t possibly accomplish it all by yourself even if you wanted to. You need help from others and the more people you know, the less you have to do on your own. First, though, you need to empower them and encourage them.

2. Do less with more focus.
Most of us are so busy looking at all we have to do that we hardly take the time to focus on what needs to get done. Once you’ve decided what to work on, that is, once you’ve chosen the highest-impact task – get to work on that task and focus on it completely. Concentrated focus gets more work done than multitasking.

3. Systemize and strategize.
An organized person with a strategy is worth any amount of lofty ideas and dreams. Take the time to think things through, reassess and realign yourself with what needs to get done. Spend some time in thought and planning on a daily basis for most people, the beginning and end of the work day are the best times.

4. Put your strengths to work.
It’s a lot more effective to work on the things that you’re good at than to spend time working on things you don’t do well. What are your strengths? Ask yourself of each task: does it give you energy or does it distract?

5. Stay calm.
Mental state achieved by focusing your mind on the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. This simple technique can not only calm you down but will help you create clarity needed to do the tasks you need to do.

6. Don’t reinvent wheel.
It’s much more productive for all of us to spend our time on what works instead of reinventing the wheel. Use your creativity for what is needed and don’t waste time spinning your wheels. There’s a time for invention and experimentation and a time for doing what works, and sometimes it is making the right choice between them that determines our productivity.

You can either control your day or let the day control you.