“Work Smarter”― Sounds good. But what do you actually do to work smarter? One of the things I love about ProofHub is giving significance to working smarter not harder and getting away from spending hours working as productive as they can be. I am always surprised how a smarter way of working gets more work done. Something that might require overtime can be easily done in a couple of hours.

Here is a list of my favorite ways to start working smarter. Let’s start with it:

Stop Being a People-Pleaser

We are all people-pleasers to some extent, but when we try to please everyone in our office it will become a problem. We try to take up more than we can handle in order to  be loved. We prefer to say an easy Yes instead of responding a difficult No. Trust me there is no point of commiting your energy for doing something out of your reach. Also, a part of saying no is directly related to smartly prioritizing your time for your tasks without being affected by overload. Make a promise today to cure yourself of the disease to please.

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Set a Deadline and Stick to it

Smart work habits like sticking to your set deadlines will never take back your productivity. Before getting started come up with a plan-to-action, keep budgets for your time to be productive, and kick yourself into action to meet the deadlines.

Here’s how you can stick to your deadlines:

• Be realistic, and specific
• Stay motivated
• Avoid project creep

Without a deadline, it will be difficult to work smartly and become a lot harder to get the work done.

Never Start with Ambiguous Tasks

The biggest lesson of life that I have learned is to not to waste time on things that I haven't understood completely. It’s like the biggest time saver to quit struggling with tasks that are unclear. To work smartly, understand the task completely before you begin working on them. There are chances you can’t choose your tasks, but it's on you to spend way too much time on unclear tasks instead of focusing on projects that will take you further in the long run.

Work in Blocks of Time

The idea of working in blocks is good for getting chunks of work done throughout the day smartly. Schedule your days hour-by-hour using calendar to block times for priorities, and to make sure to make progress on the right things at the right pace. Say to yourself, “I am going to work on this task for the next two hours”, instead of saying, “I am working on this until I finish it.” The time you give to yourself for doing a task will greatly impact how long you take to complete it.

Limit Your To-Do List

One of the effective method to work smartly is how you manage your to-do list. What should be on your to-do list? Your most important tasks — the big tough tasks that you should do before you move on to other tasks. When you complete your most prioritized tasks, move on to minor tasks. Spending a few minutes every night to map out the the to-do list for the next day can save a lot of time.

Schedule Tasks Based On Your Energy Levels

We are expected to be alert all the times. Start with observing your energy levels and when you know when your energy levels are high, you can plan much better. The tasks that require least brainstorming can be done in times of lower energy.

If you are the one not working smartly, you should bookmark this list ― there’s a lot to learn from. Share your list of  good habits that have increased your productivity.

Author Bio:

Vartika Kashyap is the Marketing Manager at ProofHub and has been one of the LinkedIn Top Voices in 2017. Her articles are inspired by office situations and work-related events. She likes to write about productivity, team building, work culture, leadership, entrepreneurship among others and contributing to a better workplace is what makes her click.