Today we are introducing the last post in the time management tools series.  You can probably tell from the title that we are going to work on amping up our efficiency levels.

You can read my previous post about time management here about getting yourself organized.  Now that you’ve set your priorities it’s time to amp up your efficiency.

One of the most important things to increasing your efficiency is knowing what you are good at.  Then doing something with the rest.   Delegate.  Delegate what you aren’t good at or do not have the skills for.

If you have a friend that is excellent at taking pictures then plan a day in the park so she can knock out your photos for you.  It might cost you a lunch for the favor, but she could get credit for the photos and you don’t have to suffer through them.  The one key part is that you have to be organized and know what pictures you want shot.

Fiverr is a great source for all things.  You can find someone to tweet your products to their followers, design a cover page images for your Facebook page, write a bio for you and all of these services are only $5.  Five bucks – that’s it.  It’s a pretty good deal if you ask me.  Do you not want to waste time in your down area?  Then search Fiverr and I bet you can find someone to do it for you.

Another great way to pump up your efficiency is to setup your workspace to work for you, not against you.  Know what type of environment you work best in. Quiet?  Soft music in the background?  Alone?  With others?  Then that’s what you should surround yourself with.  Have a clean space that you can spread out on.  Make sure you have all the tools you are going to need.  Being good at this point requires that you plan your day.  That’s where the last part in the series comes into play.  You have to be organized and know what you want to get done.

My favorite part of developing time management tools is by rewarding yourself when you save time.  Even it’s just a pat on the back or a piece of your favorite candy.  A little recognition goes a long way.  When you save yourself time you gain so much more.

Welcome back to the time management tools series.  We are developing skills to become masters of our time.  So that we can do more, successfully.  We’ve talked about setting a value to your time so that you can do more in your day, which you can read about here.

If you have probably heard the next advice before, but it shouldn’t be taken lightly.  It’s the stepping stone to developing your time management tools.  Please do not skip this next step: set priorities.

If you do not know what task is the most important then you will waste your time.  As mentioned in our previous post – assign a value to each activity that you want to get done.  By establishing a value to each task then you know which one to tackle first and which one can wait.

When you have a full to-do list people tend to put their faces down and get to work.  Majority of people do not look up to see which tasks can be done quickly, which ones are more important.  So you have tendency to get side tracked by the minute stuff.

By taking a few minutes each day to evaluate your activities then you make a powerful to-do list.

By creating a to-do list you are making a map for your day that you can follow.  Try to pick at least three things that you want to get done each day.  Tackle them and then move on to the lesser important tasks.  If you try to spread yourself too thin with too many tasks then you won’t actually get anything fully completed.

Three tasks.  That’s manageable and not overwhelming.  If you would like to read the first post in our series, take a look at it here.