Work Out of the Box

Manage. Prioritize. Strategize. Plan. Execute. If you find these words troublesome, it is time to rethink the way you look at work. It is not just enough to think out of the box. You need to work out of the box. You need to realign your view of work and life. Here are some interesting ideas that help you do this. Well, you can manage your work on the basis of time, urgency, or magnitude of work. However, this article focuses on other ideas that help you in managing and does not describe any of the above methods of time and work management.

Break your work into sub-tasks. You must have heard it umpteen times already to break your tasks into sub-tasks. However, the catch here is that you must also classify the sub-tasks into two categories - tasks that you like to do immediately, and tasks that you prefer to delay.

Do what you like, first. This might not always be feasible to do. If you begin doing things that you like, you tend to get into the working and accomplishment mode and start completing things. Hence, it is always better to start your day or your session with tasks that you like to do.

Like whatever you do, next. The idea stated before does not necessarily mean that you should keep delaying the other tasks that you dislike. You must, instead, develop a knack for liking all tasks that yield good results for you. There are different reasons for disliking tasks - they might be tedious, boring, or associated with uninteresting people. Sometimes, you might not be in the right frame of mind to do certain tasks. You need to identify the reason as to why you dislike each task and work upon it individually. Avoid mixing tasks and your impressions regarding the tasks. This is similar to the way in which people mix different events and start blaming their lives and get into depression cycles. Hence, it is always better to single out tasks that you do not like and deal with each one individually.

Focus on the results. If there are tasks that do not yield favorable results, identify the reasons for the failure. Either you are not well-equipped to handle them or you not inclined to handle such tasks. You have to train yourself well for the former situation. In the case of latter situation, you must find better ways to execute the task or find ways to delegate it to others. You might also need to work with better associations in some cases. More often, we dislike tasks when we need to interact with unpleasant people. The significant reason behind such a dislike is the ignorance towards developing better relations with people. If you master that art, there is no looking back in the execution of people-dependant tasks.

Do things differently. Break the regular pattern. Experiment. It is easier to change the steps in a process when you have the time. Thus, you might come up with better ideas. Discuss with team mates. Brainstorm. Share new ideas. Conduct further research. Dig deeper into the process cycles. Spend some amount of time everyday to identify ways to do things differently. You will be surprised at the outcome. Well, it is not just about top management and leaders to come up with ideas. Most ideas come from the frontline staff who work day in and day out.

Do different things. Break the monotony. If you have been doing the same job for a long time, take a break. Do something else that interests you. Do some new tasks. Meet new people. Develop new ideas. It does not mean that you start singing loud at work. It means that you do something very different from your regular routine. It gives you the necessary respite. If your job is to write code for software every day, try painting or photography for a day. Today, make a list of all interesting things that you have not done in your life. Start doing these things once in a while and remove items from the list. Such a list will also broaden your perspective. You will also appreciate the importance of taking vacation frequently to rejuvenate your spirits and keep your creative juices flowing.