Tips for 2008 -- #4 -- Find ways to work smarter

We often hear the advice to work smarter, not harder, but what does that really mean? Consider these ideas:

• Stop playing telephone tag. Instead leave well thought out voice messages when you get the person's voice mail. Include your name, phone number, time, and -- quickly -- the information you wanted to tell her. For example, you might be calling to give information on a project or leave a status report. If you were calling to ask a question, then ask it in voice mail along with information about how you want to receive the response. And if the person doesn't need to call you back, say that. (BTW remember to smile when you're on the phone, which will come through in your voice.)
  
• Use collaboration tools (e.g., Zoho) when working with a colleague on a project. That will eliminate knowing which file version is the correct one. It also means that you could be on a conference call with your colleague to review the project, and both be looking at or editing the files at the same time.
  
• Customize your Internet browser's start page, so that it contains tools and information that you want to have at your finger tips. For example, using iGoogle, I've customized my start page to display news, weather (including cities I'll be traveling to in the near future), time time, a calendar, a calculator, a notepad (which I'm using to keep a list of high priority projects), a timer, and a few RSS feeds.
• Have information sent to you via RSS feeds whenever possible. Don't keep going to a specific site to see what's new; instead subscribe to its RSS feed (if one exists). And consider doing this for a news site, so that important news comes to you automatically. (I even get some newsfeeds sent to my Twitter account.)
  
• Customize the toolbar in your Internet browser with links to those sites you visit frequently.
• Organize your bookmarks (or favorites) in your Internet browser so that links are easy to find. And while you're at it, delete those that are no longer useful.
• If you need to have access to your bookmarks from several locations (or computers), consider using Del.icio.us (or another bookmark sharing service). You can upload your bookmarks to Del.icio.us and you can make specific bookmarks private (See this help page).
• Organize the emails you keep into folders, so that important emails can be found quickly. For example, create folders for specific projects or clients.
• Organize the files on your computer into folders for specific projects or clients. And give your files meaningful -- but short -- names, so that the names themselves will help you know what they are. Why short? Because some computers and software still only recognize the first eight characters of a filename. (And if you ever run into a disk crash, you may find that the longer names are deleted in favor of the first eight characters, which you will then hope are very meaningful.)
• Hand off those projects or tasks that do not require your specific skills. This is a hard one, but it can be done. Hire someone to do your payroll, file your taxes, mail your marketing materials, schedule appointments, proof documents, etc. Don't assume that the person you hire has to be in your geographic region. You might find a person with the correct skills halfway around the world.
  

mmm...I think those are enough ideas to get you started! Of course, you may find your own tips for working smarter. Just remember to not only read the tips you find, but also to try them. Even if you can shave a few minutes off your workday, that could have a huge impact.

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Technorati tag: Social Networking Tools, 2008, Tips