There is a wealth of information to sift through on a daily basis and the news seems to always be in the headlines of websites we visit and the spam emails certainly cost valuable time sifting through at work and at home. There are valuable tricks we can use to actually work less to accomplish more, and to share this I will assume you're in a job or career that isn't your dream job, or you've taken on college and possibly have children and a mortgage to pay.

What can I suggest that isn't already common knowledge? We all want to be the best at what we do, and most of the time the "world" just gets in the way. There are physical things and mental things we can do to reduce the work load by having our technologies work for us, instead of us working around them.

First Things First

Ensuring a good night's rest is advisable, but not usually possible, so managing what happens once we're up and out the door is crucial. Knowing the "givens" is the key. You know your inbox will have 35-45% non-important, but not necessarily junk, and Outlook can filter these into three to four categories so that when you're at work, your inbox is already filtered, leaving the important emails in the main window. The next issue is not creating so many alerts; with the object being to reduce distractions while engaged on important tasks.

Take an inventory of your favorite tasks whether it's something from work, from college, from home, or even driving/commuting. There will be at least one major task that you enjoy doing in one of those categories. Focusing your time on these tasks and arranging them so there will be less distractions from active or passive actions, will reduce your "work" load. Active actions are what you've created like alerts on tasks, while passive actions are distractions out of our control like incoming phone calls or impromptu meetings.

Planning to accomplish your favorite tasks when you know traffic is at a minimum, is obvious, but it also shows others you are serious during certain times and disturbing you can wait till later when your tackling the mundane tasks when distractions are expected; usually just before or after lunch is how it goes.

Another huge issue is taking work home with you, if it can be avoided, do it. But if not, well some of your home tasks can be brought to work then. This will be accepted more and more as the industry adapts to the E-Commerce, technology-based operations most companies are already involved in.

Truth is, most of your job could be done from home, so if work has to come home with you, then some home tasks almost have to be fixed at work during lunch or a break. Email and online banking, E-Commerce in general has made life incredibly easier, and it is the main topic of this article.

Having technology work for you will reduce your time in tasks and streamline the workday; giving you that much-needed, uninterrupted block of time to finish that presentation, sales document, or update that database. Consequently, it will help with "how" you go about studying and finding there will be time left over to simply relax and let your body recharge with your new-found ability to rest easier at night!