As an entrepreneur, you are goal orientated. You set yourself long term aspirations and targets to achieve. There are goals you want to achieve in your business, in your career and in your personal life. At some point in your professional career you may find yourself in a very stagnant position, no matter how hard you’re working.
Hard work has a capacity. Work too much, and you’ll undermine the very skills and talents that can help make you successful. You can’t focus or create when you’re exhausted! It can feel counter-intuitive but reducing your workload can free up the head-space you need to generate the ideas and insights that will help you step up and grow.
It’s time to work smarter not harder.
Making changes to your routine and mindset as a professional is the first step in heading towards a smarter way of decision making and a more efficient way of working. A great way of freeing up some head-space is to delegate certain tasks to reduce your workload. This can relieve some of your stress by knowing that someone else is on top of it.
Ensure when you are delegating you and your team are clear about the task at hand and how to they are supposed to manage it. Give your team deadlines of when you expect the work back and consider giving yourself an extra few days breathing space to review the work if it is a larger task.
It is important to break down the tasks at hand and list in order of priority – if it is written down you have a clear objective. Then write when each task is to be delivered to give you a clear understanding of targets. A positive from this is as and when you achieve certain tasks you can tick them off, seeing your workloads decreasing and motivating you to complete all your tasks!
Knowing specifically what environment you work best under is a great way of working smarter. If you work better under pressure, then put yourself under pressure and try and hit targets and deadlines that other people would deem unrealistic. This is what will separate you from your immediate competition.
Welcome Procrastination! Take regular breaks
Another way to implement breaks, especially when you’re busy, is to work in small bursts. The Pomodoro Technique is perfect for this! Set a timer for 25 minutes, when it goes off take a short break. Stretch your legs, grab a drink, or check your email. When you have lots to do, you can use these small tasks to give your brain a rest from the hard work that takes up the rest of your day.
Stop multitasking!
Trim the fat and understand what tasks take priority over your workload. A smart way of doing this is to stop multitasking. This will only split your attention between 5 different tasks meaning you don’t have your full focus and energy being put into the most important thing on your agenda that day. Cut down your to do list to more meaningful tasks that can make change and progress you to reach your long-term goals.
Review your productivity and Self Assess
Working smarter isn’t all about “work work work”, it’s also about self-assessment and trusting yourself to make decisions. Sometimes too long can be spent dwelling on a decision. If you have made a decision, stick by it. Do not over analyse too much or try and seek too much reassurance – be confident in your choices!
Don’t be afraid to upset people if it is going to be beneficial in the long term. It’s not always about being liked at work; we are paid to do a job and to do it right. If staff are not performing or unreliable and holding you back, make this known! If you have the authority, you can deal with this directly or go to a manager who can help.
It is not about problems; it is about solutions. If something isn’t working or could work better, change it – this will only help you to working smarter.
An important message we promote here at Award Leisure is “it isn’t what you are doing, it is what you are not doing”. Focus on the right things! What you are doing is great but consider what you are not doing and is there anything which could boost you to working more efficiently, effectively and ultimately smarter?
Being determined, driven and focused on the ‘right’ things will allow you to progress and be successful. To separate yourself from the rest, you need to change mentality and work smarter not harder.
All our Award Leisure franchisees are given full support and training on running their business efficiently and effectively. If you want an exciting opportunity to be your own boss, selling luxury outdoor leisure products with a successful, turn-key model, get in touch with us about becoming an Award Leisure franchisee!
