Improve Working Efficiency by Scheduling Around Your Tasks

Now that most of the world is working remotely many people have the opportunity that they didn't before in making their own schedules. Many working professionals had a similar opportunity to do this while they were in college. One trick that I've learned over my years of working is understanding the type of work you're doing and what it requires can help you save tons of time if you plan everything out. When I think of my work, I tend to categorize it in one of two buckets: mechanical tasks or analytical tasks. 

I think of work as mechanical if it is repetitive, isolated, and simple. in my line of work this could mean processing audit evidence or invoices, performing administrative tasks. With mechanical work, the key to success is reliable and consistent execution. The better you become at finding the specific detail you need or keying in the information, the more efficient you become at mechanical work. 

On the other end of the spectrum, I see work as analytical if it involves more than one area of work, remains at a high level, and is generally more complex. analytical work can mean many different things for working professionals, but for me and example to be performing financial analysis for a company where I need to examine the relationships between multiple segments or multiple account balances to create an expectation and conclusion. The key to success for analytical work relies more on preparation than it does execution. By being able to see business components at a high level or thinking outside the box, you will find it easier to complete analytical tasks. 

Analytical Work

• Complex

• Involved

• Requires higher levels of understanding

• Rewards preparation

Mechanical Work

• Simple

• Repetitive

• Isolated from other areas

• Rewards execution

But how does this relate to choosing your own schedule? You have probably heard about whether someone is a morning person or a night owl. That same concept applies here as well where you want to choose the appropriate time to take on mechanical work versus analytical work. For me personally I know that I work better in the mornings when not many people or asking me to help them with other tasks. For this reason, I consciously try to take my analytical work and do it right after I eat breakfast and before I get bogged down with any other things. the timing may be different for everybody but it's important to identify when you feel that you will be most productive when thinking about multiple areas and not getting distracted. 

On the other hand, I try to fit in mechanical work when I know that my brain is tired from thinking or staring at a screen all day. For me this generally fits in towards the end of the day. When it’s getting to that afternoon time and I'm hungry or don't want to do work anymore, I know that I can still process 20 documents without a significant impact on my work product. It's also convenient that mechanical work can usually be split up at regular intervals, where analytical work requires consistent attention and application. 

By using this strategy to plan out my day and separate my mechanical and analytical tasks, I've been able to work more efficiently and get more done with the time I have. While the option might not be available for everyone all the time, simply taking the time to identify what skills or environment a task requires can help you set the stage to get it done efficiently. So, the next time you go to work, look at the things you are required to do and see if you can split them up between mechanical and analytical work. if you can see if you can divide up your day to execute on these in the most efficient way possible.