1.
First
of all, get rid of the thought that a day has only 8 hours, or 10, or 12. A day
has actually, 24 hours. You got a pile of pending work that needs to be
finished soon? Or maybe you want to get on with it so you don’t have a pile
leftover for the next day? Use more of the 24 hours. You can always catch up on
missed sleep hours some other time. And anyway, it’s common knowledge that top
world leaders didn’t need much sleep in the first place. Try it – sleep less
every night for a couple of days and see how your body adapts to the new
schedule. You’ll probably not feel that you are missing much after the third
day. What will you be gaining? A lot of valuable time. This puts you way ahead
of the next fellow all the time.
2.
Use
technology instead of letting technology use up your life. Watching TV late
into the night isn’t a good idea – I’m telling you, you’ll miss nothing. They
do have reruns, you know? Besides, with the large number of channels today, it
would be a better idea to plan on watching only what you want. That way your
enjoyment will be more and you’ll really watch what you want without surfing
all the time and watching nothing at all. And of course, it’s no use watching
the news – not Nepal news at least – same old thing, sambidhan, sambidhan, all the time. As for other things, appreciate
the rice cooker more. Cook your whole day’s worth in the morning and keep the
rice cooker on. It’s not going to consume much energy and you’ll be saving good
time that you can use for other tasks.
3.
A
computer is not a calculator or just a typewriter. Learn how to use it more
efficiently. You don’t have to be geek of course, but at least practice how to
use Excel better and yes, know that the thesaurus in Word does have reference
tools so that you don’t need to go Google every time you are confused. Excel,
in particular, can really make you self sufficient so that you don’t need to be
always dependant on others about where you or your business are headed. All you
got to do is crunch in the required numbers from time to time. This, I tell
you, is time well spent.
4.
Keep
your mobile’s ring tone low so it doesn’t disturb you. Calling back (if you
have to) is a better option than taking all calls. There’s a reason why mobiles
have the ‘missed call’ feature. Remember that many calls are simply of
lazybones who think they are being more efficient than you by calling you to
ask directions to your office or home, after
you have already told them some calls ago. It goes without saying that some
calls are just too annoying – the ones that ask you about when you are paying
back a loan – surely you don’t want to spoil your day. They can wait.
5.
The
laptop was designed in answer to the need for working at home. Bet they didn’t
think it would come in so handy in load shedding countries like ours! Whatever
the case may be, a machine is a machine, it has to be used to maximum capacity
to pay back its cost. A laptop is one such machine. Plug it in and keep it
switched on at home so that you can do some pending (or finishing) work while
the curry cooks and there’s nothing worth watching on TV.
6.
Load
shedding is here to stay – heavy rains or not – seems like the hydropower
stations are so ill maintained (corruption, corruption) that they could close
down any day. And, while everybody curses except candle and inverter sellers,
you should use these four hours to clear your head and pump up your system by
taking a long leisurely walk around the neighborhood. Try finding out how people
spend their time in these hours of darkness. Now, since you can’t keep on
walking for four hours, you’ll be back home with a couple to spare. Go, check
out your mail on your laptop and finish answering any personal mails and or
finish your personal work (whatever that might be, like maybe watching some
special sites?).
7.
While
the load shedding is on, and even if it is not, do your shaving in the evening.
That way you save precious time in the morning, and besides, you’ll have a sexy
five ’o clock shadow that the Hollywood blokes so proudly flaunt about. I would
suggest the same thing for brushing your teeth, but that’s only me. I know you
won’t feel comfortable without brushing your teeth in the morning as well as in
the evening – So! What else can you do at night to make the day-after more
efficient? Rest. Sleep in good time if there’s not much pending work to do.
8.
Getting
to work is a drag because of the miserable traffic system (or, no-system) and
the pollution that comes with it. This can drain whatever fresh energy you have
in the morning. If in a car, make sure that you have some really soothing (or
mind blasting) music at hand to take your mind away from the messy world
outside. If you travel on a motorcycle, find out if there are other less busy
roads than the main traffic-heavy, noise-crazy, air-dirty road that you usually
take. If there aren’t, talk to your boss about adjusting a half hour or so maybe
before or after the office rush hour especially for you. Could work – although
I don’t think anybody has tried this out yet!
9.
Lunch
hours at the office should be rejuvenating. They really should, but mostly,
aren’t. Why? Because you don’t get wholesome food that is filling at the same
time. Add to this, the unwarranted costs involved, and you’ll understand why I
say that they are not only non-rejuvenating, but dispiriting at the same time.
A better idea would be to bring lunch from home. Invest in a good thermocole
airtight tiffin box. Leftover rice from the night before, fried with onion and
chicken with pickle on the side, can be a great lunch and you can always
alternate this with egg rolls, sandwiches or chapattis and curry. Pickles
should, of course, be a regular feature. They help make anything palatable.
10. Lastly, never ever forget to be aware
of your health when working in the office. It’s the norm now to say that
sitting in front of the computer is what is considered work for most white
collared people. Don’t sit for more than an hour at a time. Get up, walk about,
stretch your legs, stretch your back. Not only does this help you de-stress but
it also allows you to know your colleagues better. You might in fact, become
more popular around the joint! And, this increased self esteem will certainly
also make you more efficient.
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