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1. Stop wasting too much time on your favourite sites:
Everyone loves to read a few websites (news, blogs, gossip etc) everyday and spend time on social networking sites. Many times this can become addictive and consume a lot of our time without our realising. It's important to read what we like but at the same time we should also honour our working time. The best way to do this is to install tools like LeechBlock (Add-on for Firefox) and StayFocused (Add-on for Chrome). These add-ons let you set up a list of "time-wasting" websites and force you to stop using them (by blocking them) after sometime (as setup by you). Alternatively, contact your Netcom support engineer to discuss ways we can limit access to certain websites for all or certain users at times to suit your working day.

If you are professional or someone who spends most of his or her time in front of the computer, you need to get a good system. There is no point in having a slow computer bugged with virus or malwares which hangs often. If you are using Windows Vista, I would suggest you to downgrade to Windows XP or upgrade to Windows 7. Also uninstall all the unnecessary programs that you don't need. Install a good light weight antivirus like AVG free or business and keep your system clean.

 

As the internet connections become faster, web pages are becoming bulkier as well. A lot of time gets wasted while waiting for pages to load, especially if you are on a slow connection. The time for a single page may not look significant but it tends to add up over 100′s of pages. The worst thing about a slow connection is that it tends to break your concentration. Get a faster connection if your budget permits or else you can make your existing internet connection work faster by following simple suggestions like using a fast DNS server, Anti-virus or a proper wireless router. If unsure, contact us for advice.

 

The human brain cannot concentrate for more than 90 minutes after which the attention span reduces. It is important to take a 5 to 10 minute break after every 90 min. You can go have a 5 min walk or just stand up and stretch. It's preferable if you can go out-door or stand (and stretch) near the window or in the balcony with the outside view to relax you eyes as well.

 

Many a times a person needs to monitor multiple emails for his personal and professional work. It is cumbersome and time consuming to open and track them in separate email services or client. It really helps if you can configure them in one email client (Thunderbird or Outlook) or in one Gmail account where you can use 'Reply As' feature to reply as any email id you want.

 

One of the biggest distractions is Instant Messenger. While it is one the easiest and most effective tool for quick communication in a collaborative workplace, it also is a big distraction. Pings (or IMs) become a frequent interruption in your work. It is best if you become offline or make your status as busy for 3 most productive hours of your day. This way you will be able to concentrate on your work for those 3 hours and finish of your major work for the day without any interruption. Slowly people around you will also realize that you are unavailable for those 3 hours daily and they will not mind you being offline (as far as you are available for the remaining part of your work day).

 

It really helps to have your tasks listed somewhere so that you can keep closing them. At the same time you should also not go into too much of details. You task list software / tracking should be easy to use or follow. While pen and paper works fine, if you are computer professional and work on you system for the whole day, I would suggest that you use a software based system. I find the task lists in Sage Act a usefull tool but there are many others out there.

 

Instant messaging is good for very objective quick discussions or questions and response. But if you have to discuss about some topic or seek opinion IM can really eat up time as both sides have to write and read. In such scenario it is best to have a voice discussion. Use Skype for the same if possible or use your office phone for such discussions. You will realize that what takes 15 minutes on IM, can be done in no more than 5 minutes on phone or Skype.

 

If you have an urge to check you mailbox for new mails every 5 to 10 minutes, you are not alone. This is one of the biggest time guzzlers of your work day. I would suggest that you open your mailbox only once in an hour, check the mails and reply as required, quickly (should not spend more than 15 minutes on this) and close your mailbox. This way you might just end up saving around 30 minutes in a day.

 

If you read lots of blogs and online magazines everyday for your interest or professional knowledge, you should use RSS Feed Reader like Google Reader (Online), FeedDemon (Desktop Client) or Outlook's built in RSS reader. This pulls in all the stories from all your popular blogs and shows you the headlines you need. You can then skim through the headlines and decide what to read. This way you can quickly go over many more articles than what you would have read by visiting individual websites.

 

For more information on how to increase your performance through the use of IT or for any other IT queries please feel free to contact me on 08712300417 or via email to info@netcom.uk.net.  Its always worth browsing our websites Netcom News section or our IT support centres knowledge base for handy hints and tips and usefull sites.

 

All the best for 2011 from all of the guys at Netcom IT Support Services.