If you build you’re processes, success will come
If you can’t tell by the title I tried to make a terrible pun on the famous line from Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” In my three years of public relations, I’ve learned that the same rules apply to building your daily processes and rituals.
This may not be the sexiest of topics, but it is critically important to master your processes. Time management, calendars, emails and technology are often overlooked in favor of day-to-day work, but by mastering these skills you will be able to improve your overall efficiency, allowing you to get more done during the day.
I tremendously struggled originally with time management, having transitioned from college to five to six accounts in a rapid work environment. My original sticky note system simply wasn’t anywhere near enough, so I then moved onto a notebook in which I would list all of my tasks in a bullet form. This gave me a better overall view of my workload, but it wasn’t until I broke them down by each account that I had a less muddled view of my to do list, and better allowed me to manage my accounts. Now, I’m exploring Asana which takes it a step further and allows our team to better gauge our overall workloads.
This is just one example of the importance of constantly seeking new ways to improve the basics. Writing a to-do list is so common that we often take our current process for granted, never exploring new processes which could actually improve our productivity.
The same approach needs to be applied to all aspects of work and our personal lives. Why spend an hour on something that can be completed in less than ten minutes?
I just recently moved from San Francisco to San Bruno, which increased my commute time significantly, and requires me to get picked up from the BART station by my wife. I’m no longer able to walk to the BART station in less than ten minutes, and this new time constraint has actually forced me to improve my productivity as I now have my wife waiting to pick me up at 5:30pm everyday. I’ve quickly realized that what used to take my 11 hours needs to, and can be, completed in a 8–5:30pm workday.
In the words of Elon Musk, its not that we don’t have enough time in the day. We just waste a lot if it.
