Six Easy Habits for Improving Efficiency, Part 2

The Wealthy Writerby Michael Meanwell 4. Get into a routine. Discover when you work at peak efficiency—is it first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon? Allocate your…

4. Get into a routine. Discover when you work at peak efficiency—is it first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon? Allocate your most intensive tasks for these peak periods and choose to do other tasks, such as filing, research, and administration, at other times.

5. Do tasks in batches. Variety may be the spice of life, but you can often improve productivity by doing a number of the same tasks in batches, such as responding to correspondence, e-mails, and phone messages.

6. When you're hot, don't stop. When you're hitting those keys at a blistering pace, the last thing you want to do is stop, so avoid the temptation by turning the answering machine on so you can keep up the pace. Make sure, however, that you return all calls before the end of that day.

Scott Francis is a former editor and author of Writer's Digest Books.