8 Ways To Achieve More While Working Less

Take a look around today at all the workaholics. We’ve grown up with the belief that to get more done, we should work longer hours — overtime, weekends, night shifts. We work hard to earn our coin, so we can find ourselves a better life in the coming years. But does that ever really happen? Should we be slaving away now or should we be taking our time and enjoying the ride?

Well, turns out we might be able to do both. Working long hours can actually have a negative effect on your productivity. It sounds counter-intuitive I know, but by working less we get more done. Huffington Post has a new article detailing 8 tips for how you can achieve it:

1. Designate time for “think work.”
Late morning is an excellent time for most people to tackle their most difficult work, as alertness tends to be high and willpower is not yet depleted.

I do work that takes a lot of focus at a standing desk that has a small treadmill under it, on a computer that doesn’t have an email application. Walking slowly while I work has a lot of positive outcomes; one of them is that it more or less chains me to my desk. I put my phone in do-not-disturb mode and close any unnecessary applications or windows that are open on my computer. I put on my noise-canceling headphones and play my “listen while writing” playlist.

You could call it time-hacking. We’re not made to work endlessly without breaks, and these little work stoppages and specifically timed activities take advantage of the way our minds and bodies function. So, check out the rest of the article for all 8 time-hacking tips.