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 10 Ways To Be More Efficient in the Office

It may not seem like a big deal, until you consider that those minutes can add up to hours. Those are hours you could be spending accomplishing more work or spending at home or in leisure.

Here are ten tips to help you make the most of your time.

1. Get rid of the clutter in your office. If you're constantly looking for things amid the junk, you're wasting time. Get rid of anything that is making your office disorderly.

2. Set up an efficient workstation. For example, if you use your file cabinet often, put it close to the desk so that you don't have to walk across the room every time you need something. Keep the things you use often near the area where you're seated so that it's always at your fingertips.

3. Focus on the task at hand. Multi-tasking is sometimes a necessary part of the workday. However, you may find that you're flitting from one task to the next unnecessarily. Finish your current project before you go on to the next.

4. Keep your email organized. Delete the messages you don't need and create folders for the ones you do need. That way, when you need to find something, you have a good place to start looking instead of having to filter through hundreds of messages.

5. Keep paper organized. Instead of having to sift through piles of paper, spend 10 minutes at the end of each day filing away the things you aren't using. If you do need to keep some things out, put them in a file rack.

6. Delegate tasks. Many business owners and managers have a hard time handing off work. You need to allow your staff to do what they can to free you up for other opportunities. Let your secretary handle phone messages or emails that don't need your direct attention.

7. Return phone calls right away. Don't let messages to pile up. Instead of having to spend 10 minutes returning calls, you may spend hours. It's a lot harder to carve out an hour in your schedule than it is a few minutes each day.

8. Have clarity about employee roles. Employees should not be duplicating each other's services. Create standard operating procedures for each position.

9. Create agendas for meetings and follow them. Agendas should have time limits and you should assign someone to make sure everyone stays on topic. Keep them as short as possible.

10. Keep one calendar. Either a written or electronic calendar is a must, but you'll run into problems when you have too many of them. Don't waste time entering things into multiple planners - just keep one and keep it current.

You'll find as you get more organized and delegate tasks that it feels like there are suddenly more hours in the day. There's not - it's simply the positive result of running your business in the most efficient way possible.