Efficiency – Page 3 – Happy Schools

Eight Principles of exceptional Productivity (part 2)

February 28, 2019

In part 1 we highlighted that time is the most precious resource we will ever get to manage. The more productive we are at work, the more precious time we can allocate to the other important areas of our lives. The first four Principles:- ENERGISE, EMPOWER, EDUCATE and ENGAGE were emphasised. Here are powerful principles five to eight for creating greater work-life balance through enhanced productivity. EXPEL – to expel – to get rid of, in this context it’s to outsource those tasks and roles that are either too cheap for you to be doing or that do not fall within your strengths, your enjoyment of doing them or your expertise. It is important that we optimise the…

Eight Principles of Exceptional Productivity (Part 1)

February 21, 2019

Stevef

Efficiency

Time is the most precious resource we will ever get to manage. We can’t create or buy more of it, so a critical key to achieving a healthier work-life balance lies in how we use our time. The more productive we are at work, the more precious time we can allocate to the other important areas of our lives. Here are the first four of eight powerful principles for creating greater work-life balance through enhanced productivity. ENERGISE – we naturally work better in bursts of energy rather than a steady pace (‘The Power of Full Engagement’ by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz). When you are aware of your productive times of the day i.e. when you have the greatest…

Time Management Is Dead

November 15, 2018

Stevef

Efficiency

Time Management focuses on two aspects – task and time. The key question is how much work can we squeeze into the time we have available. Whilst endeavoring to manage our time has served us well, it is now time to let it RIP. Peter Drucker, management guru advocates that productivity is the key to success. Productivity is defined as “Producing valuable results through the conservation of time, energy and effort.” In the busy schools of today, we would all benefit from conserving time, energy and effort. Drucker argues that productivity focuses on results and outcomes and that we must be prioritizing between existing work and new work, making sharp decisions about the time we invest and accepting that priorities…

Productivity Tips For Self-Leadership

October 11, 2018

Stevef

Efficiency

Microsoft once undertook a study and found that a third of our day is unproductive. That’s more than 2 and half hours per day. That’s too much. If you feel like a lot of your day gets wasted, keep reading. You need to be looking a lot deeper at what you’re doing: we all do. You need to be paying attention to what’s going on around you and how you show up and impact on your won productivity. Self-leadership starts with self-awareness. Productivity and self-leadership go hand-in-hand. So here are three tips for you to think about. 1: What is eating your time? What do you let creep in and take over time for you? Do you watch too much…

How Can the Pareto Principle Help?

September 20, 2018

Stevef

Efficiency

Working in schools, there is always a lot to be done and never enough time. Time is a valuable commodity. The Pareto Principle can be helpful in ensuring we utilise our time well. Whilst you might not have heard of it as the Pareto Principle, the 80 / 20 rule, as it is more commonly known can help us get more done. First identified by Italian mathematician Vilfredo Pareto in 1906, the Pareto Principle was used to describe the unequal distribution of wealth. Pareto observed that twenty percent of the people had eighty percent of the wealth. In the late 1940s, quality guru, Dr. Joseph M. Juran, attributed the 80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Pareto’s Principle. The 80/20 Rule…

6 Things Productive People Do Every Day

August 9, 2018

Stevef

Efficiency

Schools can be crazy busy places. The most common response you hear when you ask someone who works in a school, how they are, is busy! However, there is a fine line between being busy and being productive. Here are six tips from international best-selling author Tim Ferriss. Establish Your Morning Routine Research shows how you start the day has an enormous effect on your productivity. If you start the day calmly, you are in a better position to focus and get the right things done. A hectic start to the day, where you are frantic and constantly feeling that you are playing ‘catch up’ puts us behind the 8 ball from the very outset. At times the hectic start…

Stop Multitasking

May 17, 2018

Stevef

Efficiency

IF YOU WANT TO GET YOUR WORK DONE FASTER, STOP MULTITASKING! You lose up to 40% of productivity when you multitask? 40%! Can you afford to lose 40%? I know I can’t. One of the things when it comes to multitasking is that we’re actually really, really bad at it and it’s not really multitasking, it’s task switching. Time is wasted going back’n’forth between the tasks, remembering what you were up to and what the next step is. Energy is also wasted, as your focus has to be shifted backwards and forwards. As a result of this switching, error rates can be up to as much as 50% when you multitask. This not only wastes time and effort needed to…

7 Habits of Effective People

April 26, 2018

Stevef

Efficiency

Best selling author Dr Stephen Covey’s book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, provides staff in schools with habits worth developing. Covey advised that, “Real greatness was the result of the slow development of character over time; it is our daily habits of thinking and acting that are the ground on which that greatness is built.” Here is a brief overview of Covey’s famous 7 Habits: Habit 1: Be Proactive: Proactive people use their resourcefulness and initiative to find solutions rather than just reporting problems and waiting for other people to solve them. Once we decide to be proactive, exactly where we decide to focus our efforts becomes important. Habit 2: Begin With The End in Mind: Develop a personal…

Habits and Individual Time Wasters

March 15, 2018

Stevef

Efficiency

What is the first thing you do every morning? Many people grab their mobile device to check emails and social media before they even roll out of bed. Is this a helpful habit? Only you know the truth to that. Time wasters are a type of habit. They are activities that get in the way of your productivity, minimising achievement and success. They contribute to procrastination, and they can be subconsciously driven. Self-awareness is your most fundamental requirement for success! Reflecting on your behaviour and auditing your behaviour, routines and habits helps you identify and reduce individual time wasters. There are two types of time wasters. External time wasters are those activities that impact you but you cannot always control:…

Where Are Your Time Bandits?

June 8, 2017

Stevef

Efficiency

One of the reasons people get themselves stressed, when trying to fit so many things into a day and deal with their distractions, is because they are ‘pleasers’. The problem is, when you try to be all things to all people, you end up reducing your working capacity and time, to focus on your priorities. Becoming resilient to pressure is finding the right balance (and not necessarily an equal balance) between toughening up and letting go. In this context, you need to know what your boundaries are. You may need to toughen up your boundaries and develop your own work priorities first before being prepared to help others. You may also need to let go of wanting to please and…