Give yourself plenty of time to commute to the office and get to meetings or other appointments. Be early to give yourself time to prepare or just catch up on emails or other tasks. Try tracking the time it takes you to get to work every day to see what the true average is, and adjust your timing accordingly. Add a buffer time of 15 or 20 minutes to any given time, and even test out how long it takes to get somewhere in advance of going there for the first time. Get plenty of rest so that your mind stays sharp and thinking efficiently. Have a cup of coffee or tea in the morning if you like, or whenever you need a boost. Take breaks and pause to reorganize your desk periodically. Get up from your desk or take a break from what you’re doing for 17 minutes after every 52 minutes, as studies show this makes for the best productivity. Do a few simple exercises, talk to coworkers, or just take a stroll around the office during this time. Familiarize yourself with the schedule for your boss, yourself, or any other employees you need to keep track of at the beginning of every day. Glance over the schedule periodically so you can save time when making appointments and avoid double-booking or other errors. Keep schedules and calendars open and available to pull up on your computer or phone at a moment’s notice so you can consult them and add appointments in right away. Show up to any appointment ready with materials and clear notes from previous meetings, and a device or notebook to take down minutes and other notes from the current meeting. Ask your boss about anything regarding your role in the meeting, including any special materials like forms or handouts that you can have ready to save time on preparing or printing later. Try sending out an agenda for the upcoming meeting, minutes from the last meeting, or any other relevant materials to all the attendees the morning of or night before. Learn about different types of shorthand and ways to speed up your writing if you take a lot of notes by hand. Take a shorthand course to learn the characters and improve your speed. If you don’t often take notes by hand or you don’t want to learn shorthand, do a typing test. Set a timer for a minute and try typing out a typical email on your phone, tablet, laptop keyboard, and detached keyboard. Then count the number of words you typed on each device. Stick to the device with the highest word count when you need to take quick notes.
Be on time. Be clear mentally. Know the schedule. Come to meetings with all materials. Consider learning shorthand.