HR-managers are quite demanded folks these days. Professionals of great caliber are usually overloaded with duties, assignments and board meetings. No room to breathe, no room to take your 8-year-old kid to the zoo. Deep inside you hope you’re a superhero, an x-man, or prodigy, coping with plenty of tasks better than anyone else. But, as a rule, workaholics are ineffective people, wasting too much time on things that could’ve been coped with much faster by a wittier specialist.

Do you think you’re being fooled around? How can such a workaholic, a BUSINESS TITAN like yourself, be counterproductive? Well, first of all, it’s a common misconception that busy people are successful by defaults. Those who have plenty of free time in the daily schedule, frequently go on vacations and take too lengthy smoke breaks are not always lazy or sloppy. Chances are high they’re simply efficient.        

Mayhaps you’ve already heard the myth that overloaded marketers burn out quickly, losing the business grip and skill to generate money out of thin air. What if someone told you it’s not a myth?   

Working late isn’t always the synonym of being effective

Proper time management is absolutely the key. There are companies where people learn to work steadily but effectively. You won’t believe it, HR-managers there are never in a hurry, somehow coping with all assignments in a timely fashion.   

Unlike you, the marketer-workaholic, ‘lazy’ HR-managers have the same salary and social package like yours, but they work from 9AM till 6PM, never take work home and don’t answer the phone at night. Their companies prosper, yet the HR-management staff stays fit, healthy and happy. All in all, 8 following rules of thumb are applied.     

1. Hey, slow down, Speedy Racer!

Stop trying to cope with all tasks at once. The workflow never stops, more assignments fall on you every day. So, focus on the key objectives at hand, juggling priorities like a boss. If minor tasks take too much of your free time, take measures and concentrate on the duties with the highest priority.  

2. Stop thinking you’re some sort of a hero, an overachiever 

No job in the world is worth sacrificing your family time, hobbies and passions. Do as much work as needed, no one will die if you don’t cope with ALL the assignments that are there in the stack.

3. Just go home already

Marketing won’t end its existent if you go home on time. Plus, earning all the money in the world is impossible. Dine well with your family, take your dog for a walk, take a spin around the downtown, watch a movie. Tomorrow, when you come to the office, you’ll feel so much better that the work will be doing itself instead of you, so positively charged and determined you’ll be.        

4. Cut down the number of your business meetings

As a rule, meetings are a waste of time. If the boss is expecting you for a meeting, be present. But if there’s a meeting scheduled regarding an issue that can be tackled just like that, without a senseless meeting, do it and save time for more important business.

5. Keep out of the Internet

Do you want to be really effective? Turn off your phone if you don’t expect any calls. Ask your admin to block all entertaining sites on the Web for you, including the social networks. You see, there are plenty of experts, and HR-management isn’t an exception, where ‘workaholics’ spend too much time texting and watching funny vids during a day, which inevitably leads to staying late at work, because those 10 cat videos took away a couple of hours of their time.   

6. Have a proper 1-hour lunch break

No one asks you to be consuming food for one hour. Simply have a walk and recharge your batteries a bit. A short change of scenery will make a great deal of good for your energy level. 

7. Quit multitasking

Admit it, you’re not Caesar or Napoleon Bonaparte. Coping with a specific task from A to Z without shifting to any other assignment is the foundation of effectiveness. Be consistent and don’t shift from one task to another and back.  

8. Learn to say ‘No’

When someone asks you to stay and work late today, ask yourself if it’s truly what you would like to do? The fear of offending someone by the refusal to sacrifice your free time in favor of their project or mistake is a bad advisor. People have to learn to cope with their duties without someone else’s help. Still, refusing your boss isn’t recommended.  

About the Author:

Ann Aldrich is HR-manager of the essay writing service and passionate blogger. One of her favorite topics is corporate culture in various countries.