Sticky Notes: Do a Time/Motion Study on Your Work

If you want to do your work faster and better, measure yourself in more granular terms and use those measures to drive your performance.

It doesn’t matter what you do—if you want to do it faster and better, measure yourself in more granular terms and use those measures to drive your performance.

Start by breaking each task into its component steps. Then break each step into a series of concrete actions. Time each step within each task and each concrete action within each step. Create a time budget for every task, step, and concrete action, and score yourself.

  • If you are behind schedule, identify the micro-gaps between the time budget and your actual time.
  • Speed up one concrete action at a time by closing each micro-gap.
  • Check for any unnecessary actions or steps or recurring obstacles that slow you down.
Bruce Tulgan
Bruce Tulgan is a best-selling author and CEO of RainmakerThinking, the management research, consulting, and training firm he founded in 1993. All of his work is based on 27 years of intensive workplace interviews and has been featured in thousands of news stories around the world. His newest book, “The Art of Being Indispensable at Work: Win Influence, Beat Overcommitment, and Get the Right Things Done” ( Harvard Business Review Press) is available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all major booksellers. Follow Tulgan on Twitter @BruceTulgan or visit his Website at: rainmakerthinking.com.