• Keep a daily activity log.  At the end of the work day, you often wonder where it went.  Keeping a log of what you did that day and how long the tasks took is a great way to work more efficiently.  After you discover what takes up most of your time, you can work to streamline those processes.  You will also discover “wasted” time — time that could be better spent doing other things.
• Set daily goals.  Make sure your goals are realistic.  You shouldn’t try to fill the entire day, since new issues always come up.  It will feel good to cross off your tasks when you have completed them, and the record of your accomplishments will be a good source of information when you have a job review.
• Try to meet or exceed expectations.  You should always know what is expected of you.  If you don’t, you need to find out … and then make sure to do good quality work.  But exceeding expectations does not mean taking your work home with you.  Your boss will think you can handle a larger workload than you should, which will only lead to burnout. 
• Eliminate interruptions where you can.  Eliminating interruptions is probably the best way to make you more efficient throughout your work day.  The biggest interruption is usually the phone, so set aside some time during the day to make your phone calls.  If your query is not urgent, send an email instead. You will probably get an email response, eliminating the interruption of another phone call.  Also set aside time to answer emails.  Remember, you do not have to answer every email or voicemail message the minute you receive it. 

  The book Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister discusses “flow”: the state of being totally focused on the work at hand.  You become unaware of the passage of time, and work seems almost effortless.  Noise and interruptions are the enemy of flow.  It takes 15 minutes to get into a state of flow, and with each new interruption it takes another 15 minutes to get immersed again.

• Do not take on other people’s problems.  Taking on problems that are not your own will ruin your daily goals.  Even if you know you can fix the problem or issue, it’s best to give advice instead of doing the task yourself.  Becoming a “jack of all trades” at your workplace is a sure way to get none of your own work completed.  Once people discover you will help them and do their tasks for them when there are problems, they may become dependent on you.  Also, word will travel quickly and people you may not even know will be asking for your help.  Try to help where you can to be a “team player,” but keep it to advice.
• If your job is becoming too much for you, tell someone.  It can be difficult to accept that a job is too much for you.  No one wants to seem incapable.  Many jobs start out simple, but the longer you do them, the more is expected of you both in quantity and responsibility.  Eventually it becomes too much and you either have to produce lower quality work, fall behind, or work extra hours to keep up.  The best way to combat this trend is to keep a log of what is expected of you.  Highlight the new responsibilities that have been added in the past three to six months and log how long tasks take to complete, so your work day is accounted for.  Your boss may not realize how long it takes to complete certain assignments, and won’t know there is a problem unless you say something.  It is best to let your problems be known early, before they become nearly insurmountable or you make a severe mistake because too much is going on.

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