Staying productive as a business analyst every day can be difficult because we all share the same issue of procrastination. Not only this, but sometimes business analysts find themselves doing analyses multiple times before coming to their conclusion. This not only wastes time but can also have an impact on future projects and analyses you do.
There are two ways you can go about this issue, you can either get caught in the unproductivity of your project, or you can learn to become more productive. It is obvious that every professional will want to succeed in their business, so below are a few tips on how you can stay productive as a business analyst.
Use lists
Making a list of things to do can help you stay productive as a business analyst throughout your day. A to do list, a memory list, a tasks list and even a breaks list can help you stay on track when creating analyses. Creating lists is a good way to remember to do all the tasks you have planned throughout the day as well as helping you to keep to a time scale.
As a business analyst you will be expected to remember a lot of things throughout the day or tasks that you will need to complete within a certain time frame. Therefore, having a good memory is essential so you don’t miss anything out. Writing things down and organising them will help you to focus on what needs to be done at what time. Using lists will help you to prioritise tasks, remember them all and help you stay productive throughout your day. If any problems are to arise, then having a list will also help you get back on track after you’ve solved any problems at hand.
Give yourself breaks
Giving yourself regular breaks throughout the day can help you stay productive as your brain sometimes needs a rest. Working in chunks and giving yourself breaks along the way can help you keep focused on the tasks you need to do throughout the day.
Working hard on a task can sometimes be draining, but it is best to give yourself a time limit and regular breaks throughout the day to get it done. Providing yourself certain time frames to achieve tasks can also help you stay productive as a business analyst. It will encourage you to complete the task before the end of your time frame which will enable you to complete more tasks during the day.
Whenever you feel overwhelmed by a task or the amount of work you have, it is beneficial to take a short break. Having a short period to relax will help you when you return to your project.
Focus on the big things
Many businesses have small problems which they want to deal with straight away. However, your job shouldn’t focus around the small problems that come up, instead you should focus on the big problems.
The problems that can affect your work or company the most should be the ones you deal with first. Giving your full attention to the big problems that arise should be your priority as they can affect the project or business the most.
You shouldn’t focus on getting the small problem done first as this can lead to not being as productive when attempting to solve the big problems. It makes more sense to solve the big problems first as the small ones sometimes aren’t as important.
Define data requirements
Before defining data requirements, you should ensure that you have written down all the requirements needed for a project and scoped some outcomes. Getting into this habit will help you towards the end of the project as you will have already come up with equations and simplifying factors if needed.
Once you have laid out all of the outcomes and factors of the project, you will automatically have the data requirements in front of you. When you have noted down all the data requirements you should do the following:
- Structure the data
Creating analysis tables, past campaigns tables, a customer and demographic table, a table for transactions etc. can help you define the requirements needed for a project which can help you stay productive. Doing this beforehand will save you time throughout the project when trying to identify the data needed.
- Collecting a lot of data
Collecting as much data as you can will enable you to be on the safe side throughout the project as hopefully you would have covered all the data that is needed. Even if you are unsure on variables you need, collecting them will save you time later in your analysis and help you stay productive.
Find out more about the role of a business analyst.