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Do you ever get to the end of the day and feel like you did nothing?

It happens to the best of us sometimes.

But if it’s happening to you (or one of your teammates) on a regular basis, alarm bells should be ringing! Because time wasted is money wasted.

That’s why we’ve put together a list of simple time savers.  Even if you think you’re pretty efficient, maybe you can take it to the next level?

Plan, plan, plan

Even right down to what you’re having for lunch. Planning your day before it begins allows you to think logically and not be caught out with having to go out of your way unnecessarily.  

Instead of winging it, plan that day’s job list ahead of time. You also may want to think of a backup plan if any of those jobs fall through.

Be organised

From organising tools to ordering supplies. The more prepared you are with being organised the better your day will go.

Make sure your tools have a home, that way you don’t waste time searching for them. If you’re running a team who need specific tools, make sure they have access to them well in advance. There’s nothing more money wasting than having the tradies sit there while they wait for the right tools and equipment to arrive.

Avoid sidetracking

When you flit from job to job you lose efficiency and you’re more likely to forget or miss something. By being concentrated on one job at a time you’ll get it done faster and with a better quality finish.

This is not to be mistaken for multitasking. Of course, multitasking, if done well, can be an efficient way to work. It will all depend on the nature of the job. Be sure to limit the amount of workload depending on capacity.

Delegate

Delegation is always possible if there is a need. Whether you’re a one-man band Tradie or a big building company.

If you’re a one-man band who’s busy enough with work, thinking about outsourcing some of those time-consuming jobs like doing the books. Is it time to start looking for an admin person?

When you’re in a larger business, delegating to others so that you can stay organised is key. Letting go of some jobs can be difficult but by putting the time and effort into training someone else to share the workload is how projects stay on track.

Death by meeting (don’t get sucked in)

It’s easy to be sucked into meetings about meetings. There are some people out there who believe meetings are the most productive way of getting things done. Yes, meetings can be productive but the best way is to have an agenda and stick to it.

Doing some thinking prior to the meeting you’ll be able to logically plan what you want to discuss without getting sidetracked. From the meeting you can create action points to make sure everyone keeps to their end of the deal.

Saying this, if you’re just needing to wine and dine a potential client, then meeting agendas are a bit of a buzz-kill (although can show good initiative). Just go with the flow and give them your CV without being too pushy ;-)

Lay Ovaboard

We all know prep work is worth it and can save a lot of time in the long run. There are several prep work time savers to avoid massive clean up times. Ovaboard isn’t just a time saver, it has a heap of qualities that will make you more efficient in your day-to-day.

It might be a bit too much to take on all of these things at once so maybe just pick one and see if you can kick those time wasters to the curb.

Good luck 👍🏽