When it comes to work, quality not quantity is what really matters. It is crazy to equate long hours spent at work with high productivity. Anyone can spend more time than their colleagues at work. However, that is not enough if you want to produce impressive results.

In fact, not wanting to work long hours often leads a person to start working more effectively. They want a good work-life balance and want to leave work as early as possible - so they opt to work smarter. In this article we provide tips on practical steps that you can take towards working smarter and more effectively.

Think

When working on tasks at work always be ready to ask the following questions: is this task what really needs to be done? Is this the best way of tackling what we want to achieve?

Prioritise

Observe how you spend your working day. You may be spending longer than needed in meetings that you do not really have to attend. There may be tasks which are taking up too much time and could be delegated.

Co-operate

You can progress matters and win favour with colleagues by sitting down with them and suggesting ways in which everyone can work more effectively together. Everyone wins when people collaborate better together.

Time

Few people assign a time limit to a task. The more you time yourself and gain more self-awareness into how long a task takes you, the more you will be able to identify and re-purpose within your schedule.

Schedule

Multi-tasking can be a productivity killer that often results in people working hard and feeling like they are constantly busy because they are forever shifting tasks and compromising overall productivity. Develop a scheduling strategy that suits you.

Replicate

When working on a matter, do not start from scratch. Instead, refer to precedents and use a previously used template if you can. Utilise the work of someone who has already undertaken what you need to do. Exploit their output and experience to speed up projects.

We all need to work hard in our jobs. But working effectively can open whole new levels of productivity. Take one smart step at a time.