People and teams drown in work when seemingly small inefficiencies add up and drain productivity. But there are ways to reverse the flow.
"Nearly every business — regardless of industry or revenue — struggles with communication, planning and resources," said consultant Nick Sonnenberg, author of "Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work." "Optimizing those areas is ultimately ... the key to team productivity."
Optimize Productivity With Data Hygiene
Hunting for vital data to do your work — such as an email or document — drains productivity. You might even drag co-workers down this dark path.
"Take the extra time upfront to store information where it belongs so it's easier to retrieve for you and the rest of your team," Sonnenberg said.
It's comparable to doing laundry, he says. Do you shove all the clean clothes into one drawer? No. You take time to fold and separate shirts, underwear and socks into the right drawers because it's easier to retrieve your clothes later. Sorting laundry saves you time, even if it takes time upfront, he says. "The same should apply to business," Sonnenberg said.
Optimize Time Awareness For Productivity
There are certain parts of the week that are more conducive to productivity than others, Sonnenberg points out. For example, 9 a.m. on a Monday after a relaxing weekend is typically a high-value time. You're focused and can get a lot of important things done.
Contrast that with 4 p.m. on a Friday when you're exhausted. Chances are, you're not going to be ultraproductive then.
"The key lesson is to first recognize which parts of the day are most valuable, and then prioritize your most important work for those times," he said. "Leave less intensive work for the low-value times."
Don't Let Your Inbox Control You
Across all the consulting work Sonnenberg has done, the No. 1 complaint he hears is that "everyone is wasting too much time on email and they can't focus on their actual work," he said.
He recommends an established method for managing your inbox called "Inbox Zero." The goal is having no email in your inbox. How do you pull this off?
First, prioritize important emails from real people. Move marketing emails to different files. Gmail and Outlook have this feature.
Next, wipe the slate clean by archiving all emails older than 30 days. These can still be accessed if needed. And lastly, work through all your remaining emails using the "RAD" System — reply, archive, defer. "It removes decision fatigue because there are only three actions you can take with every email," he said.
One company estimated that adopting Inbox Zero saved their 65-person team an average of one full business day per week. That equals $1.3 million annually in recovered productivity.
Regularly Ask For Feedback On Better Time Management
A lot of time is lost on "busy but unproductive," notes Anthony Capone. He's the CEO of DocGo, a health care technology company. "Efficiency is a top metric, and we constantly measure it," he said.
DocGo regularly checks in with employees to understand how they spend their time. The company measures how much time goes to dealing with emails vs. a specific type of task or project. "If you don't know where the most time-consuming activities are taking place, you can't find the right technology tools or create better workflow processes to improve them," he said.
Productivity Tip: Constantly Create Lists
Efficiently managing people and productivity comes from very disciplined organization, Capone said. "Write lists to capture your thinking as ideas come up," he said.
Review the list of things you have to do. Determine which tasks you need to execute now, delay or delegate, Capone says. "Doing this regularly during the day and week enables one to be highly efficient with their time."
Investigate And Utilize Artificial Intelligence
Proper AI tools can help teams increase efficiency and productivity, too, said Frost Prioleau. He's co-founder and CEO of Simpli.fi, an advertising automation platform.
"New AI tools around internal and external communications help speed up the drafting and editing of various processes," he said. "This includes client communications, marketing documents and customer service."
