It’s astounding – time is fleeting. Madness takes its toll … so listen closely. Not for very much longer … I’ll just get through these time-saving tips for stressed out workers, and hopefully you’ll be able to drag yourself out of that time warp!

Oh My! I can't believe how much time you've saved me!

If you’re caught in a time warp at work, we may not have any solutions that are as much fun as Dr Frank N. Furter’s house … but that’s okay, because you probably don’t have too many colleagues that look as good in their skimpies as Janet and Rocky! Besides, our list of time-saving tips is designed more for efficiency than fun … darn it. Hit the jump to check out our full list of 15 time saving tips for work. Most of these are related to organization and focus, you can check out some of our broader tips also.

Everybody’s time warp is slightly different. Some hang a little bit to the left, others wear fluffy accessories, and some are impossibly clean. Skip over what you don’t need, gloat about what you already know, but don’t bother smacking your head in realization of your ignorance when you find one that you can use … guilt only wastes time .

1. Plan your day – set realistic goals for what can be done in a certain amount of time, and stick to it as much as possible.
2. Keep a to-do list. Use numbers to prioritize tasks, and if you need to add tasks later, use a number followed by a letter (so 1a can come between 1 and 2, if necessary).
3. If you’re wasting time procrastinating jobs that you don’t like, one strategy is to try to break them down into smaller, more manageable tasks. See if you can get help for the really horrible, stinky, rotting bits.
4. Guilt is a waste of time. If you don’t complete a task within your allotted time, don’t go to the toilets and cry about it … just use it as motivation for next time.
5. In the same way that you shouldn’t waste time at work thinking about what you need to do at home, don’t think about work on the weekends. If you can use your weekends to truly relax, you’ll be fresh as a deodorant commercial on Monday morning!
6. Do the jobs that you hate doing first. If you need motivation to go against every fibre of your being as a human, just think about how rosy your day will be without that effing data entry hanging over your head!
7. Group your tasks to help you get them done more quickly. If you have to contact several people by phone, do this all at the one time. If you have data for several projects to enter, do it all at once. You are more efficient when you work on the same thing repeatedly, rather than switching between tasks … as tempting as that can be when you are bored of something. Crack that mental whip! Whip it good!
   

   Group Like with Like When It Comes To Tasks

8. Make sure you get enough sleep. While individual requirements certainly vary, there are plenty of scientific studies that have shown that less than 7.5 full hours of sleep a night impairs judgement and performance, in many areas. So don’t just guess that you’re one of those freaks who can go to bed at 2am, get up a 7am and function perfectly! Do a human experiment on yourself and find out.
9. Make sure you exercise regularly. Good circulation improves blood flow to your brain, as well as ensuring that you don’t waste valuable work time by sitting in a hospital bed!
10. If blog tips sound lovely but don’t always do it for you, try a time management course. There are online ones as well as the old-fashioned ones where you have to sit next to disgusting other people.
11. Keep positive at work. If you had a dollar for every minute you’ve spent whinging about something at work, do you think you’d need to go there next week? It’s a nice idea, but unfortunately nobody except David Letterman gets paid to whine about things. Give praise and credit where it is due – if you and everybody else feel positive about what you are doing, you’ll get more involved, and do it more efficiently.
12. Is there any equipment or software that could save you time? Before you (or your boss) decides you can’t afford it, tally up all of the hours either you, or your colleagues spend doing something that could be automated. Multiply it out by salaries, and you could be surprised how quickly something like that could pay itself off. And remember, equipment purchases are usually tax deductible, where wages are not.
13. Set a schedule for clearing out the office. Everyone should be working on it at the same time, so that nobody’s work time is being wasted asking if they still want that moldy cheese in the fridge door! Make sure all paperwork is filed, bits and pieces organized and junk is junked.
    

    Organize Yer Bits

14. Check you are not doing jobs that are beneath you. Is your IT manager cleaning out the toilets because he feels bad asking anyone else to do it?! Although this can help create laughter and positivity at work, you have to wonder if there are cheaper ways to increase productivity …
15. Learn to say ‘No’. Don’t take on additional work if it really is somebody else’s responsibility, and if it will put you behind. Practice your war face at the same time, that generally stops any ‘extra work’ requests… as well as requests for anything unnecessary, like lunches or conversations

We’d love you all to add to the list! Let us know your best time saving hints and tips for work, and if we get enough, we’ll create a separate post.