Workers everywhere are screaming
“Give me back my time”.
Here’s how.
Time pressure is acute and frustrations such
as commuting, inflexible working hours and tedious meetings make it worse. This section of the website is dedicated to help you get your time back.
To get things started here are ten surefire ways to get an extra hour a day.
The average commute in the UK is over 30 minutes. Stay at home and put the journey time to better use. Using HP technology, you can still stay in touch with your colleagues and access all your email and work files.
3. Virtual meetings.
The majority of office professionals reckon they could save up to six hours a week simply by not travelling to offsite meetings. Video, web or phone conferences can reduce the amount of time you spend travelling to meetings.
4. Get up earlier.
An hour before work is more productive – mainly because it is quiet – than any other time of the day. Changing sleep habits takes a bit of work but it isn’t difficult. There are lots of tips about how to do it on LifeHacker .
5. Concentrate more.
If you can get the same work done quicker with better concentration, it will free up time later for other things. The key concept is ‘flow.’ This is a mental state in which a person is fully immersed in what they are doing. Disruptions, such as phone calls and emails, break the flow. It can take 10-15 minutes to regain your concentration, so avoid disruptions. Switch off email, put the phone on voicemail and consider getting noise-cancelling headphones. Using a computer with Intel® Centrino® Pro processor technology will make sure you have enough processor power to charge through virtually any task without waiting for your computer.
6. Find information faster.
Windows Vista® Business includes a lightning-fast search feature that can find files and emails anywhere on your computer. Finding the right file quickly can save you having to rewrite it or spend hours searching manually. You can also save searches as virtual folders for future reference. For example, you can create a virtual folder for each of your clients.
7. Don’t drive to that meeting.
A survey found that people were wasting 1 - 6 hours a week driving to meetings that they could do over the phone just as easily. Replace some of these meetings with a phone call, or better yet a video conference call, and save the travelling time.
8. Go wireless.
Notebooks and iPAQs with built-in wireless networking mean you can get online and pick up your email from any location that has a suitable Wi-Fi hotspot. Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N, built into the latest HP Notebooks, will let you connect to compatible networks up to five times faster and with twice the range. If you don’t need to go back to the office between meetings or you can work in cafes, trains and airports you can get more done in less time. With 3G Mobile Broadband (available on certain HP Notebooks) you don’t even need a hotspot to get connected at broadband speeds; anywhere with mobile phone reception will do.
9. Shorter, more efficient meetings.
Do you find yourself spending most of your time in meetings? If you could make them more efficient, with better preparation and the right technology, you could save hours every week. Find out how to make meetings more efficient.
10. Manage your time better.
Microsoft Outlook 2007 helps you time tasks more efficiently. Consolidate tasks, flag email messages for follow-up, and schedule appointments in one view.
What would you do with an extra hour every day?
We asked real people and got some surprising answers. These are the things that really matter to people:
Plan ahead
Play more sport
Visit the gym
Help other people
Spend more time with the family
Spend some time in the garden
Go for a walk
Spend more time with my staff – investing in their career
See my friends
Chill out and listen to music
Do some reading
See more concerts
Take a break to reflect
Come up with new ideas
Sleep more
Catch up on all the admin I don’t have time to do
Learn something new, like a new language
An extra hour a day would make people happier, more fulfilled and more productive. You can make it happen.
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