Working Less To Achieve More, How To Do It?

Leo Babauta
It's something we're all looking for -- the perfect solution that will minimize our work life while still getting the stuff done that we need to get done. Well, that one solution doesn't exist, but with a combination of strategies, you can get to where you want to be.

Now, none of these tips will turn your life around. But they can make a big difference, and when used together, your work life might just be enjoyable, productive, low-stress and high fun. And these tips won't work for everyone. They're not meant to be used as a step-by-step guide. It's a list of strategies that work -- choose your favorites and give them a try.

1. One goal. Set a single goal that you want to accomplish this year -- I know that we probably want to do 12 goals, but it's too difficult to maintain your focus on more than one goal, and it diffuses your energy. Pick one goal for the next 12 months, and then a single 3-6 month goal that will lead to your 12-month goal. Then choose something you can accomplish within the next 1-2 weeks that will lead to the 3-6 month goal. Now focus on that short-term goal, giving it all your energy, and when it's achieved, set your next short-term goal until you've accomplished your medium-term goal.

2. Find your passion. All the rest of these tips are just window dressing if you find work you're passionate about. If you're not in a job you love, start your quest to find that job now. You don't need to quit your current job right away, but start doing some research on the web, think about what you're really interested in, talk to others who are doing what you want to do. Make this your One Goal for this year, and it could turn out to be your best year ever.

3. Work from home. This is not a miracle solution, but it's something many people would love to do. And it's completely possible -- more people are doing it every day. Is it something you want to do? Give it some thought, and find a solution that works for you. You could telecommute for your current job -- plan your pitch to your boss today, making sure to focus on how it will benefit your company. Or you could find another job that allows you to work from home -- even if the pay is a little less at first, you will have reduced costs from not having to commute or eat lunch at work or buy expensive work clothes, and you will also have increased satisfaction.

4. Come in early. If telecommuting isn't your thing, try getting to work 30-60 minutes before the rest of the crowd. Or even more. This might require you to learn to wake up early, but the benefits are many: you skip the morning traffic, you can work without distractions until the rest of your coworkers come in, you can get a jump start on your day, you can be ahead of the crowd and get more done. Getting an early start is a great way to start your work day and to become more productive.

5. Work 4 days. If you can control your work schedule (or can convince your boss to change it), try working fewer days. Working four days a week not only gives you an additional day off, but it forces you to be more productive in the days you do work. Think about it: if you knew that you had to get your work done by the end of Thursday, you will focus more on what really needs to get done, and goof off less too. What would you do less? Email? Read stuff on the Internet? Chat? Play solitaire? Those unimportant things fade away when your time is limited.

6. Work 6-hour days. Same concept as above, but reconfigured. Personally, I'd choose the 4-day workweek, but that can't work for everyone. Get in early and leave even earlier -- imagine the 7 a.m.-1 p.m. work day. With focus, it can be done.

7. Work 20 hours. This might sound impossible. And if you are a full-time employee somewhere, it might be. But you could either 1) telecommute, and get your work done in fewer hours; or 2) work for yourself. Now, I'll admit that these options won't work for everyone, but they can be done. And I'll also admit that in working for yourself, you tend to work more hours, not fewer. But if you limit your hours to 20, it will force you to focus in the same what that working four days a week does. And if you focus on only those tasks that are truly important (see next item), you can get a lot done in 20 hours a week.

8. MITs. Each day, make a list with only three items: the three Most Important Tasks you want to accomplish today. Make at least one of them related to your One Goal. The others might be something you've been procrastinating on, or a big project that's due today, or something similar. Ideally, these MITs are really important tasks -- ones that will gain you longer-term recognition or income. Now focus on these, making sure to accomplish them. It's best to do your MITs first thing in the morning, before you get interrupted by a bunch of other things. If you do only three things today (you could choose more or less than three MITs, but I've found that three works for me), make it your MITs.

9. Batch process. There are usually a bunch of smaller tasks that we have to do that aren't that important. Email, paperwork, phone calls, things like that. Instead of doing those little things throughout the day, giving you busywork to interrupt and distract you from your important tasks, batch them together and do them at one set time each day. Write these tasks down on a small list, and with an hour left in your work day (or whatever works for you), start processing them as quickly as possible, ticking them off your list.

10. Telecommute 1 day a week. If you can't convince your boss to let you work completely from home, try one day a week. You could start out by calling in sick, but still getting a lot done from home. Or tell him you want to give it a try, just for one day this week, because you think it will make you more productive.

11. Freelance as a 2nd job. This is something I do, and I earn an extra $2,000 a month doing it. It's extra work, but it helps me to pay the bills (and pay off debt and save). Eventually, if you get good at the freelancing gig, you could make it your full-time work. To do this as a second job, set aside some time each day for freelance work. I've used early mornings (I get up an hour earlier and do one assignment), my lunch hour, work time (with permission), or evenings. If you could do 1-2 assignments a day, you will be making a decent extra income, and starting yourself down the road to working for yourself.

12. Brown bag it. This isn't life-changing, but I take my lunch to work every day -- leftovers or a sandwich, usually, with snacks such as fruits on the side. How does this help? Well, it saves me a lot of money (a few thousand a year) and it allows me to work through lunch, giving me time for that freelancing gig I talked about above or perhaps allowing you to leave work early.

13. Cycle to work. Again, not necessarily life-changing, but if you can commute even just a couple times a week by bike, you will save money on gas, reduce the stress of rush-hour traffic, and get your daily exercise done at the same time. A shower at work (or at a nearby gym) helps make this easier.

14. Take high-profile projects. If you just take the grunt work, your boss might or might not appreciate it, but it certainly won't make you a star and you won't go very far. Instead, volunteer for the big projects, the ones that will make a name for both you and your company. If there aren't any available, make your own. Be sure you can do them well, but if you do, these projects will have a huge impact on your life. The tasks on these projects should be your MITs every day. If you take on high-impact projects, you can be more productive working a half day than if you worked 10 hours a day on tasks that won't matter next week.

15. Automate your business. If you have your own business, or set one up on the side, find ways to make it automated as much as possible. Everything can be outsourced, from manufacturing to mailing to advertising to taking orders to customer support to credit card processing. Put your business front online, with online ordering, and give your outsourcers the ability to make decisions (with certain limits, following rules you set) without your approval, removing yourself from the bottleneck. If it's completely automated, your business will require minimal work from you once you've got it set up. Now all you have to do is check now and then to make sure things are running smoothly, and make sure your money is being deposited in your bank account. Nice.

16. Bank your raise. If you get a raise (and if you haven't in awhile, you need to make it happen by taking on high-profile projects and then asking for the raise), don't increase your spending. Take the raise and put the entire amount in the bank, making it automatically deducted from your paycheck or checking account and sent to a high-interest online savings account. Doesn't increase your productivity, but it can increase your financial stability.

17. Clear your desk. A messy desk might be the sign of a creative mind, but in my experience (I've tried both messy and now clean desks), having a desk that's clean is much more calming, much more productive, and more organized. Most importantly, it reduces visual clutter and allows you to focus on the task at hand, increasing your productivity. Clearing your desk can take a chunk of time, but it's worth it: take all your papers (everything!) and put them in your inbox, or in a pile if they don't fit. Now process through them, one at a time, from top to bottom, filing, acting upon, delegating, trashing each document or noting tasks on a to-do list for later (and filing the to-be-acted-upon documents in an action folder). Remove other knick knacks and put any office supplies or tools in a drawer (and empty out your drawers while you're at it). From here on out, everything goes in your inbox, and you process it to empty every day using the steps outlined here.

18. Granularize. If a project or task seems too intimidating, split it into smaller tasks, and just focus on the first task you need to do. For example, instead of "Research report", just find three sources on the Internet. You can read each of these sources and take notes after that.

19. Delegate. Get out of the habit of thinking you need to do everything yourself. Relinquish control and learn to trust others. If you don't think a person can handle a task, take the time to train him to do so. It will save you tons of time and headaches later. And by delegating, you empower others while shrinking your to-do list, leaving you to focus on what's really important.

20. Eliminate. Your to-do list is a mile long. You'll never be able to do all those things. Cut it in half by crossing out stuff that doesn't really need to be done, or delegating others. And from that list, just choose the three most important things that you need to do today. Get in the habit of eliminating as many of the tasks and processes you normally do as possible, and your work life will be greatly simplified.

21. Clear distractions. In addition to clearing your desk, you can allow yourself to focus more by eliminating all distractions: email or IM alerts, Twitter, other websites (in fact, turn off the Internet), phones, visual clutter around you or on your walls. Wear headphones so your coworkers interrupt you less, or let them know that you're not available right now. Focus more, and you'll get more done.

22. Kill meetings. One of the biggest time-wasters in our work lives. Most of the time, a meeting could have been accomplished with an email or a phone call. Beg out of meetings (or if you're the boss, eliminate them) by claiming you have a project due that you need to work on. Then be very productive during the time you would be at the meeting, and show your boss how much you got done.

23. Email once a day. Don't do email throughout the day. Set one time during the day to process email, then crank through it, getting your inbox to empty (use the same steps in "clear your desk" above). If you check email throughout the day, you are allowing yourself to be distracted and at the mercy of anyone who sends you a request. And by sending out emails all day, you are generating even more responses in return, compounding the problem. Batch process, and you will get a lot more done. Same applies to reading your RSS feeds and checking your blog stats and reading your forums.

Sphere: Related Content

How Youths or Immigrants Can Build A Credit History

Back in our grandparent's day business was conducted in cash and a handshake was all the credit you needed but today you have got to have a good credit history if you want to obtain the best interest rates or credit in the amounts you might need for an emergency. If you have no reported credit history lenders are likely to consider you "high risk". This is because there is no past record for them to look back on. It's kind of like applying for a job. If you apply for a position higher up in the company but have no previous on-the-job experience, they aren't likely to hire you but if you apply for an entry-level job and work your way up. You get the point. You need credit history.

Certain types of people have more problems in this area than others. Generally, young people just starting their careers, older people who've always paid cash, and divorced or widowed women and immigrants to the United States tend to have more problems than others. There often is no credit history for them.

The first thing to do is to find out what's in your credit file and credit history. Sometimes errors can be reported in your credit history or there can be some reports that you didn't realize would show up or that you had forgotten were there. Make sure, if you've had a different name or lived in a different location, that those past records were merged with your current record. Also, if you shared accounts with a former spouse, ask the credit bureau to list these accounts under your name as well. Many will perform these services for a small fee.

Remember that creditors are not required to report any account history information to the credit bureaus. However, if you have a joint account and the creditor does report it - it must be reported under both your names under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The best way to make sure this is done is to contact your creditor in writing (make sure to include account numbers and keep a copy).

If you do not have a credit history (or have a sparse one), you should start to work on one immediately. First, you must have a steady income and should live in the same area for at least a year. Then you can try applying for credit with a local department store or applying for a small loan amount from your bank. Often a local department store or bank will approve credit applications when larger ones will reject them due to a lack of credit history. Most importantly, before you apply, ask if they report credit history information to credit bureaus. If at all possible, you should strive to obtain credit that will be reported, as this will build your credit history.

If you are rejected ask for the reason why. There are often other reasons for a denial than lack of a credit history. For instance, your income may not meet the minimum or you may not have worked at your current job long enough. You can usually solve these problems with time or by simply applying with another creditor. In almost all cases, it is best to wait at least 6 months before making each new application because credit bureaus record every inquiry about you and inquiries can damage your credit by making it look like you are trying to obtain too much credit too quickly.

If you still are having problems developing credit, you may want to ask a person who has an established credit history to act as your cosigner. A cosigner guarantees that you'll pay and that if you don't - they will. This makes you look like a better risk for creditors. Once you have paid off this debt, try again to get credit on your own.

Specific Ways to Build Credit

It is actually pretty easy to build credit. Try one of the following ideas:

* Ask your bank or credit union about a secured credit card. You can make a deposit to your account and have a credit limit in the amount of your deposit. The bank takes little risk and you build credit slowly.
* Use a co-signer on your first few credit accounts. Lenders will consider the co-signer’s existing credit. The co-signer essentially ‘vouches’ for you while you build credit. Note that this is a big responsibility – you can cause major headaches for the co-signer if you don’t pay as agreed (see our page on How Co-Signing Works for details).
* Use retailer programs for modestly large purchases like furniture. For example, you may buy a television on the “$40/Month Payment Plan”. Gas station cards may work as well. These programs can be easier to qualify for and they certainly help you build credit. Be sure that the retailer will report your loan to the major credit reporting companies.
* Get a credit card with any reputable institution that will give you one. Again, you have to make sure they’ll report your timely payments to the credit reporting companies. Of course, you have to always pay at least the minimum before the due date.

Sphere: Related Content

10 Top Best Places for Business and Careers

The news on the economy in recent months has been uninspiring. The subprime lending mess threatens to accelerate the housing slowdown. Gas is at its highest price in eight months. Gross domestic product growth this year is expected to be less than 3% for the first time since 2003.

But one part of the country consistently manages to produce strong economic growth and still keep costs down. For the second straight year, the Southeast placed five metros in the Top 10 of our Best Places for Business and Careers.

While most economies in the West have also outperformed their peers in the Northeast and Midwest over the past four years, living costs in those regions have risen dramatically. Housing prices in Phoenix, spurred in part by easy lending, are up 57% in the past two years, knocking it off our Top 10.

There are a few bright spots out West that have managed to keep costs under control--namely Provo, Utah, and Boise, Idaho, which came in second and third in our rankings. Business costs in Provo are 7% below the national average, while Boise's costs are 14% lower--music to the ears of local employers Hewlett-Packard and Micron Technology.

When it comes to the best place to do business or start a career, the clear winner this year is North Carolina. The Tar Heel state, home to banking giants Bank of America and Wachovia, placed five metros in the top 25.

Raleigh, N.C., grabbed the top spot after three years as runner-up in our rankings. Raleigh's economy has expanded 6% annually over the past three years. Helping to fuel this growth are business costs that are 13% below the national average and a labor force where 38% have a college degree--the 12th-highest percentage in the country. Other North Carolina metros that scored well include Durham (ranked seventh), Charlotte (21st), Asheville (23rd) and Winston-Salem (24th).

A new entry on our list of the 200 largest metros is Olympia, Wash. Washington's capital had been relegated to our ranking of the best small metro areas in years past, but thanks to a 2% annual growth in population (twice the national average), the Olympia metro and its 233,000 people graduated to the big metro list this year. Olympia soared to a ranking of 10th overall thanks to strong job and income growth over the past five years.

For this year's ranking we relied on West Chester, Pa.-based economic research firm Economy.com, owned by Moody's. Its business cost index factors in labor, tax, energy and office space costs. For living costs, Economy.com weighs housing, transportation, food and other household expenditures. It also supplied five-year historical figures on job and income growth, as well as migration trends.

Other data used in the rankings came courtesy of Portland, Ore., researcher Bertrand Sperling. He looked at the education of each metro's work force as well as the presence of four-year colleges in each area. Sperling also examined such quality-of-life issues as crime rates and cultural and recreational opportunities.

Sphere: Related Content