Now that you’ve got the Guru Mindset in place with Habit 1: Cultivate a Guru Mindset in my 7 Habits of Highly Productive Microsoft Office Gurus seven part series, I’d like to talk about what I call, the Productivity Formula. I developed this formula after I was asked what my secret was to my work process. After some intense thought, I realized that there are three elements that are key to my productivity and efficiency using Microsoft Office.
Element 1: Best Practices
You will hear me say this to my dying day: It’s not enough to just know how to use a feature. In order to be productive, you need to know the best application of a program’s feature. You need to know what features are best used for the task or project at hand, as well as the best utilization of features. For example, you should know what Office program (Word or Excel) is best suited to create a list; and why.
Element 2: Skill Building
Element 1 is not possible without Element 2. You can’t know how to use a program’s features if you don’t know what the program’s features are. One constant in this world is change and that is particularly true with technology. So, keeping your skills up to date is imperative.
Element 3: Process Standardization
Process Standardization involves finding the “rhythm” to your work process and using a program’s time-saving features to amplify that rhythm. This strategy is what has allowed me to perform tasks in half the time it takes the average Microsoft Office User. I have a process or approach to many different types of projects. The details and audience might change, but my process stays the same. Start by logging your work for a week and then evaluating it. Look for patterns. Then analyze those frequent tasks and start asking yourself, “How can I get this done faster or more efficiently?”
Here’s to your productivity!
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