I’m on a perpetual quest to work faster. The faster I complete my work, the quicker I accomplish my goals.

Why take eight hours to do your work when you can do it in five?

If you want to get your work done faster, I suggest that you create a list of questions to ask yourself each time you do a new task or project.

Here’s a starter list of questions:

• Is this task really necessary? Is there another way to accomplish the same thing?
• Could I delegate some or all of this to someone else?
• Could I recycle or adapt something I’ve done before?
• Can I leave out any steps?
• Can I combine any steps?
• Would it help to do the steps in a different order?
• How could I break this up into smaller steps I could do in smaller bites of time?
• Could I do this faster if I used a different tool?
• Would it help to assemble all of the resources I need before I begin?
• What could I do to increase my focus when I do this (e.g., mono-task, listen to music/white noise, work at the library or another quiet place)?
• Would I do this faster if I promised myself a reward?
• Would an accountability partner help?
• Could I do this faster at a different time of day when I have more energy or fewer distractions?
• Could I do any of this in the car or while exercising (e.g., dictating)?
• Would it help to plan this out the night before?
• Could I batch this with other tasks?
• Would an updated form, checklist, or template help?
• Would it help to give myself less time to finish (e.g., a shorter deadline)?
• How could I transition from one step to the next with less delay?
• Am I willing to give up some quality in return for speed? If so, what could I do to achieve that?
• Who do I know who does this in their work and would allow me to see how they do it?

Start recording what you do–all of the steps and how long it takes to do them. Before long, you’ll see yourself getting more work done in less time.

Once you’ve mastered the habit of asking, “How can I do this faster?” start a new habit. Ask yourself, “How can I do this better?”

How can I get referrals more quickly? Here’s the answer

No matter what productivity system or tools you use, if you’re like most people, you sometimes feel that you’re spending more time planning than doing.

Your write lists and then re-write them. You add tags or labels and ignore them. You move tasks from one folder to another. Your lists keep growing, you’re not getting a lot done, and you’re frustrated.

And the quest to find a better system continues.

I have one for you. It’s simple and you can use it with whatever you’re using now.

But first, I have some good news and some bad news for you. The bad news is that you will never get everything done. The good news is that you don’t have to.

If you continually get the most important things done, you’re golden.

How do you do that? Simple. Throughout your day, stop and ask yourself this question: “What’s the most important thing I could do right now?”

And then do it.

No matter what you have or don’t have on your lists, no matter how you might have prioritized the items on those lists, your subconscious mind knows better.

All you have to do is ask and listen to the answer.

Remember, you are the one who made the lists in the first place. You can override whatever you wrote down any time you choose.

Look at your lists if you want. Or put them away, get quiet, and ask the question. “What’s the most important thing I could do right now?”

You can trust the answer. It will automatically take into account things like due dates, urgency, and goals.

Ask the question and then do the thing. Do this a few times a day and relax. You’re getting the important things done. You don’t need to worry about anything else.

Let me show you how to get more referrals

I keep my hard drive reasonably well-organized. But every once in awhile I do a little spring cleaning. Get rid of the junk, eliminate duplicates, re-arrange folders.

I’m sure you do the same.

At some point, you might want to do something more radical: empty your hard drive and fill it up again from scratch.

Like this:

Move the contents of your hard drive into one temporary folder. Go through that folder and only “put back” the stuff you know you’ll need and use. It’s like cleaning out your clothes closet. The best way to do that is to remove everything and only put back the clothes you still wear, making room for new clothes.

If you don’t want to do this with your hard drive, you could do it for your note and task apps. Set up a new Evernote account, for example, and add back selected notes from your old account.

As you do this, you’ll look at everything with fresh eyes. Your old notes will give you “new” ideas. You’ll re-evaluate your priorities and make your workspace more efficient. You’ll revisit past victories, smile at past mistakes, and discover things you didn’t know you knew.

Bottom line: you’ll be better organized, more productive and ready for some new ideas to fill up the empty space you just created.

Have you read Evernote For Lawyers?