10 Habits To Discard To Enhance Efficiency

This afternoon, I attended a general assembly of a well-known developer in the country. During the assembly, one of the speakers quoted an oft-ignored adage “you reap what you sow” or something to that effect. This proverb is quite applicable to everyone since whatever we do today will have a significant effect on what will happen to us in the future. This is particularly true among online freelance workers since our work is mainly determined by the level of satisfaction we provide our clients through our work. In order to keep them happy, it is important for us to use our time at work wisely to ensure our efficiency during the day.

Being efficient is not about working harder rather it is mainly about being smart while working and getting more things done during the day. While this may not be easy, it can be done if we get rid of some bad habits we may have formed after we started working as online freelance workers.

I listed 10 habits, in no particular order, that we do without to ensure efficiency while at work.

1.    Constantly checking our email while working

Image credit: Peter Parcon

Since we have continuous internet access while working, we have the tendency to check our email at every chance we get. This is one bad habit that can cost us a good amount of time, which could have been used for working. This gets worse if we have multiple email addresses, which can result to at least an hour of wasted time each day.

One way to deal with this is by making a schedule on when we should check our email. A suggestion from Ron Friedman, a strategy consultant, indicates that we should quit MS Outlook, close our email tabs and turn off our phones for a 30-minute period. For me, since I already have an idea when my clients would send me an email, I typically open it at around that time. This would actually depend on you when you would check your email, but it would be best to schedule it properly.

2.    Spontaneously browsing the net

Image credit: Peter Parcon

Aside from checking our email, continuous internet access may also tempt us to search Google for answers to questions that spontaneously came to mind. These questions may not be related to the project we are currently working on and may cause us to stray from the job at hand.

One way to deal with this is by having a pen and paper beside us while we work. We can write down these questions on the paper and search for the answers later on when we complete our project.

3.    Constantly checking our personal social media accounts

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This is one bad habit that costs online freelance workers a good amount of time that could have been used for working. Checking Facebook, tweeting or posting a picture on Instagram can have a considerable effect on our efficiency, especially if our work does not require us to do this.

One way to get rid of this bad habit is by simply logging off. Logging off from our personal social media accounts can allow us to concentrate on our work and get more things done. We can also set a schedule when we should check these social media accounts at around the same time we check our email or when we need search for something unrelated to our work on the net.

4.    Multi-tasking

Image credit: Peter Parcon

Multi-tasking may be a good idea for some people to get more things done at once. However, it should be noted that recent studies have indicated that around 98 percent of people are not capable of accomplishing two things simultaneously. This means we are actually wasting time when we multi-task.

With this in mind, it is advisable for us to focus on one task and accomplish it before working on another task. This can enhance our attention span and improve our efficiency while at work.

5.    Sitting all the time

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This is one thing I noticed ever since I worked at a co-working zone. Whenever I sit for at least two hours at a time, my efficiency tends to go down. Due to this, I typically have a short break every two hours and I walk up to the roof deck of the building or go down for a short walk around the building.

6.    Working on less important tasks at the start of the day

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In the past, I normally work on easy tasks at the start of the day, which is quite true for many of us. We also leave work that requires more concentration at a later part of the day. This is one very bad idea since studies have shown that our willpower has the tendency to decrease throughout the day, which means we may end up leaving important tasks unfinished at the end of the day. Due to this, it is best for us to concentrate on the most important tasks at the start of the day and leave the easy ones later on.

7.    Not setting priorities

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While goal-setting may be considered as one way to achieve success, it may not be a good idea to set too many goals.  When you have too many goals, it will not be easy to accomplish all of them since you will not be able to concentrate on any of them.

A solution was presented by Warren Buffet when he noted that the life goals of his personal pilot were not being accomplished. He asked his pilot to list down 25 things he wanted to accomplish before he passes on. Buffet told his pilot to select 5 things he considered important and simply ignore the other 20 things. This essentially means you should set priorities on the things you want to do.

8.    Failing to make a plan

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One of the things I can never forget when I was still a teacher was when former educator and inspirational speaker Harry K. Wong paraphrased a quote of Sir Winston Churchill in one of his videos, “if you do not plan, you are planning to fail.”. When you want to accomplish your short-term, medium-term or long term goals, it is necessary for you to make a strategy in accomplishing them. It can be quite exasperating to try to find a course of action in the middle of a process, which can result to a big amount of wasted time.

Once you have a goal in mind, it will be necessary to create steps that you can follow to accomplish this goal, according to Harvard lecturer Robert Pozen. You can also make necessary adjustments while you are in the middle of your plan to deal with any issues you may encounter.

9.    Making too many plans

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A number of overly-organized and determined individuals have the tendency to be fussy when they plan out their day to optimize productivity. However, there are some instances when you will encounter issues during the day, such as an unscheduled maintenance of the website you are working on or interruptions on your internet connection. These issues will definitely wreck your plans for the day.

Due to this, it is advisable to plan for half a day to facilitate flexibility while you accomplish your project.

10.    Aiming for perfection

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British author and philosopher Alain de Botton said concerns of not being able to do the job well are often the cause of procrastination rather than laziness. While it is good to aim for perfection, we should not let this stop us from accomplishing our work since we may end up not doing anything at all.

The best way to deal with procrastination is to simply work to the best of our abilities and not to aim for perfection all the time. It would be best for online freelance workers to aim to meet the requirements of our clients, which is essentially what we need to do for our project. If you have enough time, you can go the extra mile and provide something extra to impress your client. However, if you are pressed for time, it is important to simply meet the needs of your client.

These are 10 habits online freelance workers can get rid of to increase productivity during the day. Discarding these habits while taking into account the 5 things online freelance workers should have may allow you to enhance your career as an online freelance worker.