Part of being an individual is having a unique way to doing certain jobs. I have my own way of developing training materials, blogging and even booking travel arrangements for my business trips. And I am sure there are certain things in your work that you have your own unique approach to.
But every so often, it’s good to take a step back and analyse our workflow. Doing this helps us identify areas where we may be able to save a considerable amount of time.
A few months ago I reanalysed my workflow for developing training materials. I noticed that I was starting to approach this task as a job that I dreaded. I always felt it took too long, and everytime I did it I would have to rush through it in order to get it finished on time. And I was never very happy with the end result.
The reason for this frustration was because I had too many steps in my workflow. I would write content in one app. Then copy and paste that content to PowerPoint. Then find graphics for PowerPoint. Then paste the PowerPoint slides into a handout book. That’s four steps right there.
After reflecting over this workflow, I noticed that I could do it all in one step. I would just write everything into the handout book. No other apps. No more copying and pasting. No more graphics either. Just writing.
This tweak saved me an incredible amount of time. I estimate it probably made my workflow four times faster. And I feel less stressed about going to approach it now as well.
So when you start to feel stressed by all the work you have to do, take a step back and look at your various workflows. Think about the steps you have to take, and which ones you can cut out. You’ll be surprised by just how much you can cut out and how much time you can save. You might even feel happier as well!
