These productivity hacks will help you get the extra time you need in each of your locations.

Today, customers’ expectations are certainly higher than before. Not only do businesses have to deliver the same, and arguably better food and drink services that they have done before, they also have to do it in a safer environment. If you are a manager reading this, you know how important productivity is during a time like this.

When you’re not building meaningful relationships with your customers, or building your team, you are dealing with the mounds of paperwork in the back office like schedules and HR files. Little did you know you would be spending a lot of time in the back office as a manager in the restaurant industry.

We have created a a list filled with productivity tips to help you get your restaurant to the next level.

Here are five proven productivity hacks you can use:

1) The Pomodoro Technique

Getting deep into a task is a great way to get it done, but what happens when you become bogged down in it? The Pomodoro Technique is a time management structure which breaks down all your tasks into 25 minute blocks of time.

Humans have a low attention span with most of us being able to focus for 18 to 25 minutes, which is also the average length of a Ted Talk. Carmine Gallo, the author of Talk Like Ted says the human brain can only take in so much information at one time, it is used to short bursts of attention.

The Pomodoro effect helps you to work with your time and not fight it thus helping your attention span. Made famous by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s, it was named after a tomato-shaped kitchen timer which he used to focus his attention.

Read the: 10 Great Apps for Managing Your Bar or Restaurant

How to use it:

The first step of the Pomodoro technique is to create a plan for the important tasks for your day. Since you may be working at home a little more, we recommend using an online whiteboard solution like Miro. The great thing about this technique is you will be focusing on the work you love to avoid.

So once you head to your Miro Board, the first thing you want to do is list your tasks and label the one’s that are most important. Next, you want to set your time for 25 minutes. You want to work on that one task until the timer reaches zero. If and when you get distracted the Pomodoro block does not count and you will have to start the timer again at 25 minutes.

Once you have finished the 25 minutes give yourself a maximum of a five-minute break to let your brain cool down from the attention you gave to your one task. Afterwards, go back and repeat the process again, and again. The key to this technique, a bit like pulling the perfect pint of Guinness is patience and practice. The more disciplined you are to using the technique. Once you have done four of these in a row, reward yourself with a longer break from 15-30 minutes.

The benefits of the technique: 

Using this technique will break new ground for those who find it useful. The tasks you wanted to put off the most will be completed in a sprint fashion, giving you more time to do the things important to you. The five minute breaks give you breathing room to grab a cup of tea or go on a walk which in turn will prevent you from burning out. 

If you are someone who get’s easily distracted, this technique is sure to help you get things done. 

2) Quickfire Email Replies for Managers

Emails are usually quickly opened when they arrive in an inbox, but it takes the average professional 25 minutes to reply to an email. If you find yourself bombarded by emails with the same recurring question from customers or employees you have a time-saving option. If you are using Gmail, you can create pre-written template replies which you can benefit from. In turn, you are getting up to 25 minutes back from replying to each email that sits in your inbox.

3) Drag and Drop Shifts 

If you are finding yourself in your windowless back office longer than expected, technology has an easy and affordable solution to help cut time, energy and costs to scheduling. Bizimply, Kronos and Planaday all supply an easy tech solution to your scheduling problem. It means you are able to drag and drop employees into the shifts you want them in any part of your business which also allows you to cost and schedule shifts in minutes, not hours.

4) Get More Out Of Your Location Setting On Your Phone

If you are in the position where you have multiple locations you need to visit in a week, there are two things you can do that will make a difference to you and your teams’ productivity levels. You probably have a long list of things to do and those are probably kept everywhere but your phone.

According to the Huffington Post, a whopping 41% of work never gets done. A location reminder setting could help. What will help is a location-based reminder on your phone.

If you find yourself travelling from one location to the next and you are forgetting some small things you had the intention of doing going into the location, free function is certainly for you.

If you cannot watch the video above, this is how to turn on location-based reminders:

• Open up your Reminders app on your iPhone
• Click the blue circled “i” to the right of your task/reminder.
• Toggle the next “Remind me at a location” so it turns green.
• Allow the reminder to use your location.
• Enter the location you would like to be reminded at.
• Click ‘Details’ and you’re finished.

During CV19 pandemic, we are seeing some managers not being able to travel so certain locations. This can be due to geographical lockdowns. In the next tip, we will show you how you can make sure your teams are doing what they need to do with the tasks you set them.

5) Get an email for every task that is completed.

Technology has made time-saving convenient. For managers using Bizimply they are also able to set task lists for their teams in different locations. Once your team is sent a task list, they will be able to let the manager know through the Bizimply app what things are done. The manager will get an email notification to when the tasks are done also. Not only does this save time for managers – but it also keeps the standards consistent throughout all their locations.

For information on how Bizimply can help your business’ productivity:

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