Organization

Becoming More Efficient

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Nowadays, time is the most precious resource. While it’s nearly impossible to know what was going through people’s heads thousands (and even hundreds) of years ago, we know one fact. People live longer now than they did in the past. This increase in lifespan has only made (many people) want to live even longer and make the most out of their lives.

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Whether making the most means more money, more property, more fame or more experiences, more is more. The only way to accomplish more with less… efficiency. I want to look at an industry that is always forced to maximize their efficiency in order to stay profitable. The food industry, specifically eateries that serve fresh food, have grand challenges that need to be overcome.

One model that has helped turn new chains into billion dollar businesses has leaked into mom and pop shops. We recently saw this model being used at Fresh Pita, a family owned and operated Mediterranean/Middle Eastern eatery in Los Angeles. Even though the food is certainly fresh, they prepare everything similar to Chipotle and Subway so that they can quickly assemble custom orders.

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Here, they’re willing to sacrifice their need to combine flavor profiles to create signature dishes in order to increase their rate of turning out dishes and also give the customer what they want. It might back fire to a certain degree because the uncertain customers take longer to decide what they want, but the effort and desire to be more efficient in many ways is there.

By having nearly everything set up ahead of time and not meddling with beverages by having pre-packaged options, they can give better customer service and also hand-pack their falafel with every order.

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What do you do in your every day life to be more efficient? Being prepared can make a huge difference and save you tons of time, clearly.

Efficient Ways to Finish Chores

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You might have already discovered your trick to maximize your productivity when it comes to daily or weekly tasks such as chores. Whether it’s a reminder or to-do app on your phone, you’re hard-wired from years of repetition, or you have another trick up your sleeve, you’ve mastered what needs to get done.

There are, however, many others who have not yet figured out how to finish these tasks as quickly as possible. More importantly, there are many others who simply leave the house and forget to get certain things done.

One method that we use is by using the lights in each room. Before we leave for work, we want to make sure the dishes are clean, the litter is clean, all doors are closed, electronics are off, and things are put away.

In order to make sure nothing is neglected, we turn the lights on in every room where an action item is required. As we complete all the chores in that room, we turn the lights off. When you walk through the house before leaving and see all the lights off, you know that all tasks are complete.

In the featured picture the litter needed to be scooped. In the kitchen picture, it’s typically a matter of leaving clean dishes and an empty sink. The dining room has the animal’s water bowl in it, which needs to be filled with fresh water.

Try using this system if you struggle to keep the house clean and organized. Let us know if it solves any of your problems because coming home from work to a house like this allows you to either maximize productivity later at night, or allows you to relax.

Avoid Getting Lost in Translation

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Translation might not be the best word for this situation, but it sure does sound cool… or even appropriate. What situation am I talking about? One that creates so many opportunities for failure and disappointment.

Twenty years ago, you only had to worry about communicating with people in a few ways. You’d either talk to them in person, speak over the phone, or send a written letter. If you didn’t take care of business right then and there, you’d only have three different places to look for what you have to do.

Fast forward to today, and someone like myself, who has few apps compared to others, has a much larger list of places where people need to be answered in order to get work done, or even, if not anything else, avoid having people made at you.

Multiple email addresses, text messages, voice messages, Linked In messages, Facebook messenger, Instagram direct messages, Twitter, LetGo, OfferUp, Yelp, and YouTube are all places on my personal cell alone that leave me vulnerable to the situation, or trap, described above.

Here’s the big question… how do I avoid falling into the trap? How do I maximize my opportunities and minimize my risk here? Well, there are plenty of different strategies, but here’s mine. Delete, delete, delete. Screenshot, screenshot, screenshot. Email.

My email addresses and the cloud are my central nervous system. Whenever I’m dealing on another platform, as soon as I’ve done my part and am now waiting for a response, I delete the conversation. If there is some form of agreement that needs to be upheld, I take a screenshot and email it to myself for record-keeping.

If it’s a big deal, as in a possible major opportunity, I’ll either leave it or screenshot and save it to my photos in my phone, since I always keep less than 100 total to avoid clutter. I never want to leave the ball in my court so I always respond as soon as possible and avoid allowing things getting lost in translation by clearing the court.

That’s one strategy to increase your organization in order to improve your communication. What do you do?

What Should You Do With a To Do List?

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Keep it. Don’t just tear it up out of frustration and throw it in the rubbish bin. You’re better than that. You had the discipline to create a list of tasks that you thought were worthwhile, so don’t be so quick to abandon what you placed value in before.

There are certain ways to approach a to-do list, and while we’re not focusing on how to make one, the order has an impact on your actions. Hoping that you created a mindful to-do list that takes the order of events into consideration, there is one way to approach it.

Attack it. Ruthlessly. Viciously. With passion and intensity. Don’t delay. Don’t Flounder. Don’t reconsider what it says. Again, you made a to-do list. Now do everything on it.

Let’s look at this in another application. Let’s think of a to-do list that someone else made for you. Imagine your significant other made you a grocery list. Let’s even say that they cook the meals and you know nothing about food, so in this extreme situation, you’re going to get exactly what the list says. Right?

Now, think back to your list. Go at it with the same mindset. Plow through everything on that list, from top to bottom, considering you made it properly. Perform the first item on the list… now cross it off. Same with the second, third, forth, fifth, etc. Sometimes, completing a to-do list is about working hard. Sure, making the list might take longer and involve more thinking, but that’s the hard part. Or is it?

This might get the chores done, but on a grander scale, it’s about execution. It’s so easy to make grandiose plans, but going through with them is harder. If you practice making small plans and crushing them every day, even if it’s just household tasks like washing dishes, vacuuming, etc… you’re going to start to develop the ability to execute. Take that laser focus to your big ideas and one day you’ll start to see serious results.

So, again… what should you do with a to-do list? Do it.