101 Things To Be Productive In Your Career!

Photo Credit: Obi-Akpere

I was busy sorting out my messy files worth of 141 GB in size… Until then, I found this very interesting note that I have written it in a word document.  I believe it came from some great people out there… But I just couldn’t recall how I put all the words into this word document… It’s really meaningful… And it has taught me well in my life which I think it should help you as well.

Here it is..

1. Understand that proactive people do the right thing on time.
2. Make sure that you keep everyone informed.
3. Be a proactive person who initiates actions, rather than a reactive one who waits to be prompted.
4. Prepare specific objectives and agree them with your team leader.
5. Sort the important tasks from any unnecessary ones.
6. Make sure your job description is up to date and still relevant.
7. Remember, once you have identified your objectives, you can focus your mind on them.
8. Recognize the routine triggers you should react automatically to.
9. Act now if you already know what needs to be done.
10. Gather relevant data before you make a decision.
11. Critique your working processes and seek ways to improve them.
12. Look at whether or not you put off difficult tasks.
13. Remember, if you put things off, a problem can turn into a crisis.
14. Note down ideas that might lead you to better ways of doing things.
15. Set people’s expectations at achievable level.
16. Keep filing up to date and easily accessible.
17. Recognize that the perfect answer can arrive too late.
18. Remember that acting immediately takes less time than putting actions off.
19. Realize that it is sometimes more effective to decide not to take action.
20. Check that you are taking action because you actually need to.
21. Remember, if you do decide to do nothing, tell the relevant people.
22. Be ruthless in taking irrelevant actions off your to-do list.
23. See if there are any tasks that you could delegate.
24. Make sure you are not doing other people’s work.
25. Review your to-do list frequently and discuss it with your team on a regular basis.
26. Use your priority ratings to schedule your work.
27. Ensure your team understands the difference between what is important and what is urgent.
28. Give yourself the time to take up opportunities.
29. Predict and prevent problems before they occur.
30. Refer to your to-do list to check you are meeting your deadlines.
31. Add contingency time to projects, so that you can cope with unforeseen delays.
32. Make realistic estimates of how long tasks will take.
33. Get into the habit of tackling difficult issues first thing in the morning.
34. Analyse the reason why you are postponing a task.
35. Remember that procrastination only makes matters worse.
36. Gain a reputation for being decisive and acting with initiative.
37. Remain flexible so that you can adapt to new situations.
38. Change the plan if you anticipate a possible problem.
39. Be involved in tasks that use your strengths.
40. Ensure that all team members are working towards the same goals.
41. Ask your team members to keep reviewing their actions with the customer in mind.
42. Remember that good decisions are the result of effective thinking.
43. Schedule time to think in your weekly diary.
44. Realize it is not a sign of weakness to admit you do not have an answer.
45. Practice the decision-making process until it is automatic.
46. Look for and focus on the most crucial outcome.
47. Remember that the perfect solution produced late is a free gift to the competition.
48. Make sure you understand the real cause of recurring problems.
49. Consider asking customers for help in analyzing causes.
50. Avoid assuming the obvious cause is the only one.
51. Tell your team members and colleagues the process you use.
52. Discuss issues with others to help with your decision.
53. Look at all the issues before you make a decision.
54. Analyze the purpose of the decisions you have to make.
55. Make a complete list of your decision criteria.
56. Aim to generate creative ideas with your team.
57. Make sure that new ideas are achievable.
58. Plan when you will make a decision and do it then.
59. Create an environment that encourages timely decision making.
60. Encourage your team to look for the best decision rather than take an easy option.
61. Remember that if a decision is not an enduring solution it can lead to a recurrence of the issue.
62. Remember, never take for granted another person’s agreement to act.
63. Check how new commitments affect existing ones.
64. Make sure your decision will make an impact on your objectives.
65. Take time to prepare your communications.
66. Combine rational arguments with enthusiasm.
67. Identify the information you need in order to make a decision.
68. Assess which contacts possess useful information.
69. Recognize the benefits of gathering the relevant facts before a meeting.
70. Realize that the person who draws up the agenda tends to be in control of the meeting.
71. Review your file structure to ensure it is appropriate.
72. Check that you have passed information to the person who is in a position to deal with it.
73. Keep your file structure as simple as possible.
74. Encourage your team to adopt the same file structure.
75. Make sure you can see the file label as soon as you open the filing cabinet.
76. Print out the list of your electronic filing for reference.
77. Make sure that all your information is easily available.
78. Remember that you access some information daily.
79. Take the time to design a logical electronic filing system.
80. Set aside time to learn new skills from training disks and computer tutorials.
81. Make your diary accessible to your team on computer.
82. Block out time in your diary for unexpected issues.
83. Understand how new technologies can help maximize your performance.
84. Take care to use your time on the internet efficiently when you are searching for data.
85. Make sure you send information only to the relevant people.
86. Ask people if they receive information that you send them from other parties.
87. Remember that it is often favourable to summarise information rather than present it all.
88. Realize that if you stop learning you will soon stop being effective.
89. Put time aside to reflect on ways to improve processes.
90. Build on past experiences and benefit from improved decisions.
91. Encourage your team to work with templates.
92. Record successful decisions as templates.
93. Make sure that your team can access templates on a file server quickly and easily.
94. Share winning insights with your team and business partners.
95. Thank people for insights so that they share more.
96. Make sure your team members record and file information.
97. Remember that discussing matters with others reduces stress.
98. Use a separate room for work at home if possible.
99. Schedule time in your week for regular exercise.
100. Remember that exercise increases your energy levels.
101. Realize that overwork and stress can impair your ability to make effective decisions.