Why You Should Always Look to Do Your Routine Tasks More Efficiently
If you’re into photography, whether as a serious hobby or as a profession, you probably find yourself doing repetitive tasks on a routine basis. You’ve probably also heard various tips, tricks, and strategies on how you can do these tasks faster and more efficiently. Heed them.
While saving a few seconds here or a few minutes there might not seem like much, optimizing your efficiency is definitely something worth doing, especially for tasks you’re doing all the time. The reason is simple: small efficiency gains might seem inconsequential, but they build up and can save you quite a bit of time over time.
So what are some of these routine tasks we’re talking about? Examples might include: changing a memory card or a roll of film, swapping a lens off of your camera, setting up your equipment, punching numbers into a spreadsheet, transferring your images onto a computer, post-processing your photographs, and backing up your files.
Just last week we shared a video in which one photographer showed his strategies for working with photos at a lightning fast pace in Lightroom. Post-processing is an area in which photographers regularly spend large amounts of time, and one in which there are plenty of ways to speed up your workflow.
To understand how much time you can save through small (or large) efficiency gains, check out this handy chart created by Randall Munroe over at XKCD:
The chart simply calculates how much time you save over a span of 5 years by shaving various amounts of time off routine tasks.
Let’s say you shoot photographs every day, and find yourself changing your film or memory card 5 times a day. If you can do each swap 5 seconds faster, then over 5 years you’ll save yourself 12 hours of your life.
How about for post-processing? Suppose you spend 45 minutes post-processing your photographs every day, but you’re unfamiliar with keyboard shortcuts that can save you time. If you just spent a little time learning and practicing those keyboard shortcuts, saving 5 minutes of time every day would save you 6 days of your life over the course of 5 years.
Those are 6 days of your life that you can spend on something else, whether it’s spending time with loved ones, resting, or getting out and shooting more photographs.
Here’s the takeaway: always look for opportunities to be more efficient at what you do in order to save time when doing routine tasks.
This may seem insignificant in the beginning, especially if you’re only saving yourself a few seconds of time, but efficiency will reap big rewards for you in the long run and will help you save your life — literally.
Image credits: Photographer Howard Ignatius captures another killer sunset on Morro Strand State Beach by mikebaird, My desktop, 29-06-10 by Brett Jordan, 031:365 – 05/31/2012 – Post Processing by Shardayyy
