With the new year now in full swing, many payment professionals are in the process of implementing revamped goals. This typically entails determining the nature of the requisite steps and then taking appropriate actions. However, sometimes things get in the way of doing just that.
Key among factors that diminish efficiency and impede progress are distractions and depleted energy. Following are five tips you can implement to help ensure these factors do not slow you down:
Limit the amount of time you spend contemplating options before you make a decision. Don't be one of those who dither, hold out for absolute certainty that a particular path is correct and second-guess decisions once they've been made. After a reasonable period of considering options, make the best decision you can with the information you have, take action and don't look back.
Checklists are among the most simple and useful tools to increase efficiency. In addition to daily to-do lists, you can use checklists in the form of meeting agendas to focus attendees' attention and limit meandering conversations that waste everyone's time. You can also create checklists for routine projects, so you don't have to re-think the steps involved each time you start a similar endeavor.
Most email programs allow you to filter your incoming messages by subject, sender, key words or other parameters, so messages pertaining to a particular topic land in a distinct box dedicated to that subject. Automating this task means you don't have to spend precious time sorting a slew of unrelated messages that land in your inbox.
It is easier to think clearly if you take regular breaks. Stand up and stretch every 20 minutes or so, and take a short walk every hour. Even a five-minute tour around your office building will help clear your head and pay off in increased productivity upon your return to work.
You may be tempted to gobble a candy bar when your energy flags, but the quick boost sugar provides is inevitably followed by a crash, leaving you even more depleted than before. Also, large meals require a good deal of energy to digest. Smaller, well-balanced meals fuel the body without draining energy, giving you a sustained lift and enhancing your ability to concentrate.
These five suggestions aren't the only ways to increase efficiency, but implementing them will help you stay on track, making it more likely you'll enjoy the satisfaction of realizing your goals. 
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