- February 19, 2019
- Wim Temmerman, Vice President Sales EMEA
In this age of efficiency, there’s a lot of emphasis on giving your best at work and improving performance. With such demands in the workplace, you need to work better and smarter.
Working better isn’t the same as loading your phone or computer with the latest, greatest apps or tools, however, it does require fixing bad habits and developing a routine that improves your productivity. Here’s a list of small changes that you can implement to send your productivity skywards.
Build planning into your morning ritual
Planning gives you a pathway to follow the whole day. Without the right plan, it’s easy to get lost in the first items you see on your desk and in your inbox. That’s not the best way to focus on your work and achieve the efficiency that you desire.
Take 30 minutes at the start of your day to create a plan you know you can follow. Don’t overwhelm yourself with expansive details. Keep it simple, and you’ll be good to go.
As you follow your plan, revise as necessary. And don’t forget to reward yourself by checking off tasks as you complete them. It’s a great psychological boost.
Prioritize your to-do’s
Working smarter entails prioritizing your responsibilities in the order that makes the most sense. That could be most important to least, or soonest deadlines to latest. Whatever way you do it, be sure to deal with the tasks at the top of the list first. Working to your priority list keeps you on track all day and all week long.
Schedule interruptions
That may sound crazy but studies show that it can take XX minutes to get back on track when you’re interrupted by visitors who pop by to discuss a project, emails that come in constantly and, of course, phone calls.
Scheduling your interruptions beforehand means everything from holding office hours to giving yourself a scheduled 20 minutes to check email. It can even mean ignoring your impulse to go outside or grab snacks until the time you’ve set aside to do so.
Planning your interruptions in advance will keep you aligned with your schedule, with limited hindrances in your path.
Using the best tools
If you’re putting in the hard work, you should have the best tools at the ready to support your productivity. Here are some tools that’ll help you work smarter and better.
Foxit PDF Reader is your go-to PDF viewer that does a lot more
Foxit PDF Reader is the PDF Reader that not only lets you read PDF files and do more with them—like signing and commenting. It’s also the PDF reader that enables you to become part of the connected world. Provide authors with comments on documents, be notified when new document versions become available, discuss interesting topics right in the document, or securely open protected documents.
Phantom PDF lets you create and edit PDFs
A powerful PDF Editor, Foxit PhantomPDF supports the entire lifecycle of your document, from creation to management. The editor allows you to create PDF files from scratch just like you do with desktop publishing software. You can modify text, format styles and organize the layout. And you can go those desktop publishing software tools one better with the ability to grant or revoke document access to your documents, even after you’ve emailed them or published them.
Project management apps let you prioritize big time
Everyone can boost their productivity by using a smartly designed app for managing, organizing and sharing everything from simple to-dos to major project management tasks. There are a lot of project management apps out there. Some of the most popular are Evernote, Basecamp and Asana.
Cloud storage for anytime, anywhere access
It’s no secret that the cloud is helping people ensure they’ve got access to all their documents everywhere they go. Foxit PDF Reader and PhantomPDF both integrate with OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox, some of the most popular cloud storage services out there. Once your accounts are linked across these services, you and your colleagues can open all PDF files you have stored in the cloud from your favorite PDF Editor or reader.
Measure results not time spent
The best workday is one in which you’ve achieved the results you wanted, rather than the one where you spend more time working. Don’t take time as a measure of how hard you’ve worked. Instead, take the results as an ultimate measure of your output and efficiency.
