In a recent blog, I covered the basic definition of working smart and provided a helpful tip to assist you in your efforts to working smart. The first tip is to work intentionally. Working intentionally requires you to think about your outcome and manage the information that will help you get there and let go of the rest.  This is much like the idea of think before you act, however, it has huge implications when it comes to managing information, since most of us are so awash in it.

So the next tip is this:

• Prioritize your focus.  There’s not enough time to do everything. You don’t have time to put everything neatly away, there’s not enough time to stay up on all the topics of interest, not enough time to read all the email and blogs coming in.    Manage information based upon what’s important – which is defined by the first step.  Identify and live with intentionality.    That brings a relatively narrow focus, or as the movie “City Slickers” defined it, “know what’s number 1″ – and I would add to it, know what’s number 1, and how you plan to get closer to it today.

Your job is probably not to be the “library of congress.”  A job where everything is neatly in its place, or to please everyone.  It is, for the purpose of this blog, to work smart, to live smart, and when that comes to managing information, it means narrowing the focus based upon your priorities and desired outcomes.   That’s where you want to spend your time and that’s where it’s most important to track and manage information.

I don’t need to get everything done, just the priority one items. And on the priority one items, I need a system that allows everyone who touches that to work in a coordinated, collaborative, up-to-date manner, anything short of that isn’t working smart.

Click here for more on management software.

I wanted to follow-up my earlier blog on working smart and provide some tips on how to work smart.

Let’s start with a definition of just exactly what it is to work smart.  Here’s my working definition:
Working smart is a style of working based on the decisions you make and how you manage information in the process.

Sounds simple enough, right? Yet, most of us, with a some help could perform much better.

This blog is going to be short and to the point, but conceptual – and I’m aiming it at those of you who would would like to get more done with less. This is not for those who reframe working smart as making money without working… there’s plenty written about that already.

Sometimes you just need some practical tips. There are some great blogs and web pages out there that cover practical tips that I don’t want to duplicate. See the following as some examples:

Working Smart with teams,  General life choices, Saving an hour a day, Working Smart at the office

So let’s get to it.  From my point of view, working smart and managing information converge on three basic practices I use.  Strengthen any one and you work smarter.

The first basic practice is to Use information (and time) with intentionality.   Do it at the start of the day and do it all day long.  Think about your outcome and manage the information that will help you get there and let go of the rest.  This is essentially a take-off on the idea of think before you act, but it has huge implications when it comes to managing information, since most of us are overly consumed in it.

Here’s what this doesn’t look like – going through the motions on auto-pilot, whether that is working as usual, putting your time in, dutifully reading through your email.  Instead, be intentional with how you manage life and information. And yes, that requires that you think, ”What’s most important to accomplish today in terms of outcomes?” and not just work, which leads to the next key… See the next blog for my second tip on working smart.

Bottom Line:

You can affect how much you and others work smart, especially as it interfaces with managing information, by focusing on the following keys:

Link:

Working Smart and the Comfort of Habit

Working Strategically – the Missing 4th Step