Getting ahead in the workplace and in life requires good decision making skills. Part of the decision making process is determining how to get things done with the least amount of effort possible. This page shows you how to work smarter not harder.

Getting more done in less time is the fastest way to get ahead regardless of what your goals are. This can be achieved through working longer hours, but you can also improve your productivity by cutting out the waste in your workday or by deferring tasks to other people. Here are a few steps to get you started.

If you aren't sure what you're trying to achieve, accomplishing it as quickly as possible is sure going to be difficult! Spend some time thinking about what your goals are, as well as why you've chosen them as your goals. You'll need to be able to remind yourself of why you're doing what you're doing when times get tough, so make sure you have a solid reason. As your setting your goals and coming up with reasons for them, make sure to write everything down. Thoughts that stay in your head tend to fade, and you want to make sure your goals are written in front of you so that you think of them often. Your list also prevents you from getting distracted with work that isn't in line with your goals. A big part of working smarter is eliminating the work you don't truly find necessary.

Once you have your goals, you'll need to fill in the steps to achieving them. If you'd like to make an extra $1000, one way to accomplish this would be to make $200 extra per month for 5 months. Make sure you attach time lines to your goals and steps at this point so that you can measure your progress at you go along. Knowing if you're ahead or behind and being able to adjust accordingly is the best way to make sure your goals remain achievable and that you don't miss your targets.

To work smart, you need to cut out the "waste work" that doesn't get you where you want to go. At a certain point though, you'll run out of things to cut an you'll need to begin delegating. Your productivity will be seriously affected if you become overloaded, so make sure to delegate before it gets to that point. Find simple tasks that can't be cut out and assign them to someone else. You can have an employee do the work for you, perhaps find a friend or family member, or you can contract the work out through websites like Elance.com and Craigslist.com. By cutting out the simple but time consuming work, you leave yourself the space you need to deal with the more difficult tasks that really matter.