5 Efficiency Hacks For Your Office
In today’s fast-paced and cutthroat business environments, efficiency is a must. Not only does being efficient allow you to get more work done, it also affords you more time for rest and recreation.
If you’re looking for ways to improve your work life and get your productivity soaring, here are 5 Efficiency Hacks For Your Office.
- Reduce Unnecessary Meetings
Almost unanimously, executives cite unnecessary meetings as the number one productivity killer. According to studies, the US economy loses $37 billion each year due to unproductive meetings.
Keep your meetings clear, concise, and simple. Plus, keep attendance to a minimum. Each meeting should have a clearly defined agenda, a fixed structure, and a defined set of rules–no gadgets and, most of all, no nonsense.
Need to get away from office distractions? Take your work to a coworking office space where you can opt to work alone or collaborate with other like-minded individuals. Stay in your own office, or
- Automate Everything You Can
Technology is your friend. As workplaces continue to innovate and adapt to new technology, more and more tasks can be automated. Today’s apps are capable of almost anything from mundane tasks like scheduling social media posts and noting down reminders to more complicated jobs like managing workflows and gathering customer data.
Here are some popular apps to help you with your work:
- Google Docs – for shared documents, copy-editing, spreadsheets, and practically anything covered by MS Office
- Trello – for managing tasks
- Grum – for scheduling Instagram posts
- Facebook Analytics/Google Analytics – for compiling customer data and studying customer behavior
- CheatSheet – for an overview of all shortcuts within an application
- Clean – for curating and cleaning your Desktop files
- Numerous – for remembering dates and important events
The apps above are only some of the tools you can use to streamline your work. To improve your office equipment, you can look into top-of-the-line used printers and ergonomic furniture for a more modern office.
- Optimize Your Lighting
Good lighting can increase job satisfaction by 24% and improve employee productivity by 16%. What is more, it can curb depression, improve alertness, and boost health.
The best light is natural light, so let in as much sun as possible. The second best? Smart lighting. Smart lights adjust to ambient light and provide just the right amount of light for each situation.
- Outsource Repetitive Tasks
Spending too much time on repetitive tasks? Outsource mundane work to freelancers all over the globe. Freelancing sites like UpWork, HubStaff, and Elance allow you to get in touch with professionals from all over the world. Not only that, you’ll be able to get good-quality labor at a reasonable price. Freelancers from developing countries like the Philippines, Cambodia, India, and Thailand can be hired for much less than it would cost to hire locally.
- Turn Down The A/C
Studies show that office temperature has a profound effect on employee productivity. Too cold and people get sleepy, too warm and they start to break a sweat. Neither of the extremes allows office workers to be comfortable and focused on the work at hand.
Think of the optimal office temperature as Goldilocks’ warm bowl of porridge: just right. According to Bloomberg, the most conducive environment is a sweet spot somewhere around 78F.
