Get out of Working Overtime
Working overtime is not only an annoyance, taking over your day and letting work take over your life, but a health hazard as well. A superfluous diet of work has been proven to lead increases in blood pressure, stress, anxiety and heart disease. Even depression has been linked to overzealous habits in the work place. Needless to say, working yourself to the bone is unhealthy and even dangerous. Thankfully for you and your employer, there are ways to get around working overtime through some simple improvements in your productivity and time management.
Steps
- Plan out your day. Write or type an outline with all the things you hope to accomplish throughout the day. This is something you can do when you first arrive to work and are enjoying that first cup of coffee. Instead of just settling in to your desk, get comfortable and scrawl out all the necessary tasks for the day and the means by which you will need to accomplish them. Check off each task once you have completed it.
- Limit your socializing. Needless small talk can take up drastic amounts of time. If you must talk to your fellow employees, do so outside of your office, where there is some form of escape from a drawn out conversation. Even if a fellow employee or friend solicits you in your office, simply be honest and excuse yourself because you are busy-- they will likely understand and get back to work themselves.
- Stop smoking. Smoke breaks, though minuscule individually, can really add up. 15 minutes here and another 15 minutes later, repeated throughout the day, can add up to hours of lost time by the end of the day and leave you wilting away at your desk past dusk.
- Ask to have your calls and your mail screened. If possible, have an administrator take care of all those pesky soliciting calls and the hoards of junk mail you likely receive on a daily basis. Limiting these hassles can quickly clean up your work day and vastly help improve your productivity.
- Remain calm in your tasks and think through your problems. Working as quickly as possible does not necessarily mean accomplishing more. By thoroughly thinking through each task at hand, you may be able to solve it quicker and easier than simply trying to rush through 10 different faulty methods. Write down ideas you have, and break down each assignment you must complete.
Tips
- Ask your boss for some relief. If you workload is really just too much, tell your boss you think so. Explain how you have refined your daily tasks and streamlined your productivity, but are still forced to work extra. If you are really neglecting your family or other affairs, it's only fair to you. Be honest and explain your predicament and your sincerity and doing your work the right way.
