Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.
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When you’re chronically busy and stressed, it’s easy to react in ways that make the situation worse rather than better.
o For example, if you have a million tasks on your to-do list, you may not think you have time to stop and prioritize. But simply barreling through everything that feels urgent isn’t an efficient strategy.
o Step back and rank your tasks based on urgency and importance. Whatever meets both criteria should be done first; everything else can wait.
o You should also look for simple solutions to problems that eat away at your time. Constantly forget to charge your phone? Keep a power cord at the office.
o Catch the same mistakes again and again? Ask your team to make a checklist for spotting their common errors. Travel for work a lot? Create a universal packing list so that planning takes less mental effort. Strategies like these will give you more energy, confidence, and time.
Adapted from “4 Ways Busy People Sabotage Themselves,” by Alice Boyes
Here’s a direct link to dozens of other Management Tips.
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