The Real Way to Beat a Recession: Working More Efficiently

10 Tips on Getting More Done in Less Time (Part Two of a Two-Part Series)

Robert Half once said, “The combination of hard work and smart work is efficient work.” In today’s economic slowdown, you need to work as efficiently as possible; you just might outlast a recession by learning how to get more done in less time. In this two-week series we are helping you accomplish that by sharing tips on working more efficiently. Last week we covered the following five tips:

A clean, organized workspace
Schedule workday around your most productive times
Establish a routine
Hire help
Consider replacing some paper files with electronic files

This week we’ll continue our discussion on working efficiently by covering five more:

6. Perform similar tasks at same time

When multi-tasking you can expend a lot of energy on the process of beginning and the process of ending the different tasks you’re trying to juggle: taking files from drawers, looking up phone numbers, logging into your email. You can save yourself some time by performing similar tasks all at the same time: making phone calls, scheduling appointments, reviewing your clients’ status, and emailing. When you do this you don’t waste precious time building momentum only to shift gears to move on to a different task.

7. Avoid unnecessary meetings

While some meetings are absolutely necessary, others are not. Maybe it’s time to put your appointment schedule on a diet. How many of those meetings are truly required in order to perform the function of your job? Consider the objective of each meeting. Can those objectives be accomplished with an email or phone call? When you limit the amount of time you spent in unnecessary meetings you leave yourself more time for what really matters: billable hours.

8. Reduce the number of emails you send and receive

Is your inbox swamped with new emails every day? Some of those can be eliminated by minimizing the number of emails you send to others. Every time you send an email ask yourself if your communication is complete. Even though you can probably send 100 emails to the same person without increasing your Internet bill, to do so would not be a very frugal use of your time. Include all current and necessary correspondence in one email rather than sending lots of short, independent emails. This will limit the number of responses you receive.

9. Be productive and not just busy

Truly successful (and wealthy) business owners are not just busy, but productive. The time they spend working increases their bottom line because they have figured out how to perform more billable hours. Examine your work schedule and see how you could limit the busywork that earns you nothing; then increase the billable hours on which your livelihood depends.

10. Dedicate more attention to higher-yielding clients

While it’s important to spend time increasing your client base, some of that time may be better spent attending to higher-yielding clients. They already find your services valuable. Is there more you can do for them? Do they need tax planning services or financial consulting? Or could you enhance your service offerings in order to become even more valuable to these clients? Chances are your greatest profits come from a handful of high-yielding clients. Your business could become more profitable by better serving their financial needs.

Universal Accounting Center’s Solution to Higher Efficiency

The wise financial professional looks for ways to add complementary services to his/her menu of services in order to get those higher-yielding clients to do even more business with him/her. In doing so, earning-potential and appeal to prospective and current clients is greatly increased.

By adding small-business accounting services to your menu you are able to increase your billable hours, which in turn, increases your bottom line. UAC’s Professional Bookkeeper Program will teach you everything you need to know to manage a small business’s books, including how to market those services to prospective clients.

To learn more, order our video Introduction to the Professional Bookkeeper Program. This video will introduce you to the four module included in this course, demonstrating just how valuable it can be to you and your business. Survive the recession by adding accounting services to your offerings. You have nothing to lose and a increased bottom line to gain. Order the video today or watch it online for free.