How to be Efficient and Effective
Do you feel
that your life is in chaos, that everything you try to do takes so much
effort? You want
to be organised, but you haven't got any spare time to clear up the
mess so that you can be.
Do you wish
that you could be more efficient and effective in your daily life and
have some free time to enjoy what you really love doing?
Well, let me
illustrate with a simple story just how little effort is required to
be efficient and effective - it only requires a different approach.
"Invasion
of the Black Mould!"
Janet was really
happy with her new bathroom, she loved the colours and the feel of it
and enjoyed taking a long hot shower to refresh her body and mind, ready
for a new day.
Then one day
she noticed it in a corner, just a speck on the shower curtain, but
it gradually got bigger - black spots invading her lovely sanctuary.
She took the
curtain down, washed it on the hottest wash that the fabric would allow
and still there, lurking, was the trace of a stain where the mould had
been. Oh, well it was no longer perfect but she hung it back up anyway.
It didn't take too much longer before the mould came back again and
this time she tried soaking it in bleach first before the wash.
This was the
pattern, every wash day the curtain got a soak in bleach and washed,
until eventually it was looking so faded and worn it was thrown out
and replaced with a new one.
So with the
new shower curtain in place, Janet once again enjoyed her shower and
no black mould! But for how long? She thought about what she could do
differently to prevent the black mould growing in the first place. Then
the idea came.
"I'll draw
the shower curtain across so it is spread out, instead of scrunched
in the corner as I used to do. Then it will dry out quickly and mould
won't have a place to grow!".
So by ONE SECOND'S
worth of effort every time she had a shower, she saved extra washings
and pre-soaking in bleach. Not only did this free up more of her valuable
time, she spent less money on bleach, washing detergents and replacement
shower curtains and she also poured less chemicals down the drain to
pollute the environment.
EFFICIENT AND
EFFECTIVE means thinking about your actions, understanding the consequences
and modifying your approach if you want a different outcome.
Here
are 3 ways to kick start being more efficient and effective.
It's
more easy to be efficient and effective if everything has a place and
everything is in it's place.
So start with
the area of most clutter - garage, spare bedroom, wherever things get
"dumped temporarily". You can either spend a whole lot of
energy at one go and clear out rubbish, build more cupboards, sort and
file things. Or you can do it one step at a time.
Get some boxes
or appropriate containers and label them. Such as "hand tools",
"nails", "stationery", "photos", "things
I don't want to throw out but haven't found a use for yet", whatever
categories are relevant.
Whenever you
have something to "put away" you have a labelled container
in which to put it. Every time you go in that room for something, whatever
you pick up can go in it's relevant box. It's an ongoing process and
gradually you'll find that the contents of the room move into labelled
boxes, making it easier and easier to find things as you will start
searching the relevant box first before attacking the remaining "heap".
The reward for
this effort is less time spent hunting for things and less frustration.
You might even have time to build more cupboard space for the contents
of the boxes!
Check
your repeating patterns, look for better solutions
If you find
that you are spending a lot of time, regularly on a particular task,
sit down and think about why. Work your way back to the root cause of
the problem. Like the shower curtain example, getting back to the basic
problem helped find a better solution. So there may be a better solution
to your own "problems in life".
Make sure that
you go as far back as you possibly can go and even elect a friend to
help you. The very process of repeating it to someone else often highlights
an answer that hadn't been thought of before.
Don't
put off what can be done today
An old phrase,
but extremely true. Handle it once. Whether this is the incoming mail,
a job to do or a communication. Putting it down to do later means it
has time and energy applied to it more than once. Time and energy that
can be used for more enjoyable purposes.
So now you are
efficient and effective, you can think about what to do in your leisure
time!
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