Advice from a Google productivity expert.6 points for an efficient day working from home

1. Know if you’re a sprinter or a marathoner

“There are two broad groups of people working in these conditions,” says Martin. “First, people who stop moving altogether and stay home and think, ‘Oh, I don’t have to commute anymore. I have more free time than I used to.’

I call these types of people “marathon types”. The type of person who wakes up in the morning, works, finishes work when he or she decides to finish, makes dinner, eats, and goes to bed. People in this group don’t waste a single day.

On the other hand, some people find it difficult to get a consistent amount of work done throughout the day.

For example, these people say, ‘The children are at home all the time. Never before have I felt so short of time. I have no choice but to cram work while my kids are napping or taking online classes at school. I call these people sprinters.

If you’re the sprinter type, you need to decide in advance what you plan to accomplish during the two hours your child is in online class. Don’t just sit at your desk and read an email and try to understand it. If you spend your time in vain, it will go by quickly.

You can’t just work all day like marathon types. Think about what you intend to achieve and act accordingly. Instead of just working, you should focus on where you need to spend your time. I think it’s becoming more and more understood that there are these two types of people in the workforce.”

2. Make time for relaxation

“When the coronavirus started to spread, no one thought it would last this long. I’ve got to figure out a way to take a breather,'” says Martin.

Martin recommends that employees have a day like “No Tech Tuesday.” For example, after lunch on a Tuesday, shut down all your computer screens and give yourself time to focus on something small, Martin advises.

“People are putting a lot of their resources into the PC, so it’s a heavy burden,” Martin points out. “Thousands of Googlers have taken part in the challenge so far. Whether it’s cleaning, reading, board games, or something you can do with your family, it’s a challenge to do something you can do outside of working with your computer. is.

The most frequently asked comments are that they have been able to sleep better and feel refreshed. Just doing this for a few hours before going to bed seemed to help.”

3. Become an umbrella during a storm

“We all have our own family and work pressures and inefficient ways of working in our departments. I use that as an umbrella,” says Martin.

“No matter how bad the weather is, when the storm of the pandemic comes, I wonder if there’s a small umbrella we can put up to soften the storm.

One of the things I’ve been working with executives on is trying to incorporate some of these principles, such as balancing within the team. I’m trying to figure out how to get the whole team together once a week in the evening, or maybe make Friday a ‘no meeting day’. All of these efforts will help you feel more in control of yourself.”

4. Try a Mini To-Do List

“Planning your day is like reading a book about healthy eating,” says Martin.

“For example, people who read scientific books on health want specific tips on how to be healthy. How about applying this to your daily life?

Therefore, I recommend this worksheet. A worksheet consisting of your top 3 priorities for the next day, the estimated time it will take to complete them, and a mini to-do list.

It takes less than 10 minutes to complete this worksheet. If you create a small to-do list like this, for example, when the meeting ends a little early and you have extra time, you can make a short phone call or write an email and erase the to-do list. I can.

Many people use a to-do list, but if it’s not the right size, it can end up going untouched when your schedule suddenly fills up.”

5. Remember Eisenhower’s Urgency x Importance Matrix

“Sometimes the unexpected pops up and you can spend the rest of the day just dealing with it,” Martin points out. “The Eisenhower Matrix distinguishes between what is urgent and what is important, and prioritizes by asking yourself questions such as:

‘Is this an emergency? ‘Is this important?’ 』

If it’s the former, why not blow away the rest of the day.

I once met an executive who always set aside the 1:00 to 2:00 pm time after lunch to deal with urgent matters. If there were no urgent matters, I reserved that time as free time.”

6. Take a step back and see the big picture

“I believe that managers who have to manage employees and evaluate their performance need to think about goals from a macro perspective and think in ways that other managers have never done before. increase.

Some days your employees don’t send you any emails, other days they send you 100. But at times like this, you can’t accurately assess day-to-day performance unless you take a step back and look at the big picture.”

*This article first appeared on March 5, 2021.