The State of Efficiency: Use O-H-I-O and the 4 T’s to accomplish more in less time

 – MOMeo’s 30 Day Challenge continues with Karen Turner

On average, people waste one hour every day. That’s an incredible five hours a week, 20 hours a month and a whooping six weeks a year! That’s enough time to take your family on an extended holiday.

Where does the time go?

Simple: to all the small tasks that we do on a daily basis.

For example, it takes 10 seconds to read the average length email. On average, people re-read an email three to four times before dealing with it. Multiplied by the sheer volume of email we receive on a daily and weekly basis, it adds up.

So 1,500 emails read once takes roughly 4.2 hours. Re-reading and stockpiling that much email takes upwards of 17 hours – 13 hour longer than need be. That’s a day and a half of productivity wasted on email alone.

OHIO: Only Handle It Once & the 4 T’s

Performing tasks, even menial tasks, multiple times not only drastically reduces your productivity, it adds to your stress levels and becomes a mental distraction. Use OHIO and the 4 T’s to manage your workload, email, projects, meetings and household tasks.

#1: Get a sticky note and write on it:

Only Handle It Once
Tackle It
Task It
Toss It
Transfer It

#2: Apply these principles to EVERYTHING you do!

Only Handle It Once – Either start it and handle it or leave it alone until you have time to handle it completely.
Tackle It – Read it, reply to sender and delete the email or
Task It – Drag it to the task icon on the lower left of Outlook and designate a time to handle it or
Toss It – Read some, none or all of it and delete it or
Transfer It – Forward it to the rightful recipient!

BTW, the record we’ve seen for email overload is 39,000 emails!

Taking OHIO & the 4 T’s beyond the Office

Mom entrepreneurs are constantly transitioning between work and family activities, often with small windows of time to get tasks accomplished. It’s critical that you build habits to handle household inefficiencies.

How often do you start tidying up the house, gathering up junk mail, toys, discarded clothing and other misplaced items only to shuffle the clutter to a new location to deal with it later?

Applying OHIO to your household management, don’t pick up that pile of mail until you are prepared to handle it completely. Pre-pack hockey, dance, swimming activity bags and return washed items back to the bag immediately (no side trips to the closet).

Stop losing time to repeat tasks. Start reclaiming time by implementing O-H-I-O and the 4 T’s.

Momentum Challenge: It only takes 21 days to form a habit – afterwards it’s part of your routine. Commit to applying O-H-I-O and the 4 T’s to everything you do. Eliminate repeat work and your productivity WILL increase – dramatically.

Sign-Up for the 30 Day MOMentum Challenge: 30 Days to Build Unstoppable Momentum

Implementing effectiveness programs for entrepreneurs, Turner Efficiency Coaching focuses on achieving tangible results.   In fact, most clients recover 1 hour/day or 6 weeks/year of underutilized time.

With a hands-on approach, Karen addresses personal effectiveness, paper and data flow, focus, and daily work habits.  The goal is to save time, increase productivity and profitability, reduce stress and achieve better work-life balance.