A perusal through time management books, efficiency books, etc. will show you the importance of to-do lists.  To-do lists definitely have their place – it’s one of the ways that we make sure that we don’t forget to do important (and not-so-important) things.  However, look at how long you are taking to work on your to-do list for the coming week or day – could you spend 30-50% more time, and actually DO the task?

Let me give you an example:  I remember that I need to set up a doctor’s appointment for Monday.  You can either write down “Call Dr for appt” or you can pick up the phone and actually make the appt.  [Of course, this presumes that you are writing this during business hours.]   It may take you 10 seconds to jot it down, or 2 mins to complete the call; however, there’s one less thing for you to do.

Try keeping your to-do lists for things that take 5 minutes or more – and take care of the smaller things as you think of them.  We’ve implemented this methodology in our staff meetings, and so end up with a shorter list of actionable, but longer implementation time, items rather than a long laundry list of things that will take 2-3 mins to do each.  It’s improved our internal system considerably; give it a try and let us know how they work for you!

If you suffer from overwhelm, procrastination, too many to-do’s and not enough time, then you’ve come to the right place. Here, on the Efficiency Dr. blog, my staff, respected contributors, and I will be providing tips and tools for managing your time and tasks. We’ll share our personal stories (anonymously if they are particularly embarrassing) of times when even our own best laid plans have gone astray, and what we could have done to stay on track.

Encarta’s definition of efficiency (as it relates to our purpose):

1. competence – The ability to do something well or achieve a desired result without wasted energy or effort

2. productive use of resources – the degree to which something is done well or without wasted energy

Being efficient is not about multi-tasking! Research has shown that trying to do multiple things at once is not as effective as focusing on one task at a time.

We can define efficiency more loosely as feeling good about your work and the time it takes you to do it. As human beings; we’re not going to achieve the efficiency level of a machine, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t improve. Essentially this is the purpose of the Efficiency Dr Blog, to provide you with information and techniques (prescriptions, if you will) that will enable you to perform your tasks, work, or projects with satisfaction, and without wasted effort.

So, if you are ready to get more done with less effort, sign up to our RSS feed, follow us on Twitter, and remember to think positive. If there’s a will, there’s a way! Not every method will work for everyone, which is why we will be bringing new ideas to the discussion each week. We are confident that if you struggle with time, at least a few of the ideas we share will work for you!