Top 3 tips to manage your workload, starting today!
There are many theories about how to work, when to work, what to do and what to avoid, but the truth is, there isn’t a one stop cookie-cutter solution for all.
Some thrive only if there is a lot of activity around them, if they are surrounded by stimuli and noise, others prefer calm and order, there are early risers and there are night owls etc etc.
However, there are 3 tips that all can use to get a little, or a lot, more done in a day.
Knowledge is power
As mentioned, despite similarities each of us has a set way of doing things and optimal timings to do so and in order to identify what works best for you, you need to know yourself and the things you have to do.
It would be quite easy to just assume that since you have always worked a certain way it is fine to keep doing so, but if you think so you wouldn’t be looking for ways to improve your workload management!
One way to know yourself better is to get out of your confort zone.
Why not try an earlier start, or to change the order in which you do things, starting from what you dislike early on, get in more meetings but shorter ones just quick catch ups with a clear action following from them. There are lots of things you can do to shake up your routine and any of those might make you realise when your focus is at its best, when you are most tired, and what activities to take on for each of those times.
Know what needs to get done
There are several ways to get a sense of what you need to do but our two favorites are to plan retroactively and/or have daily key actions to achieve.To get a clear to-do list going start from a broad vision and narrow it down.
First, list things you need to think about some more:
We are talking about those big projects you want to see coming up, trying to attend a conference, plan your next holidays with your partner or learning a new skill. Those are things you want to think about some more but that have no sense of urgency.
Don’t think about what you want to achieve in life in general but more about concrete plans you want to get to this year.
Now break it down into some actionable targets over the next 3 to 6 months:
To get going, take a look at your calendar picking out each week and asking yourself what you want to have done by then. Set a goal for each Friday of the following 3 months or more so you can review it weekly and update it after a month.
Things to do in the next four days:
Clearly review what the next 4 days have in store for you: who do you have meetings with, what are the actions you need to take to achieve your weekly goal etc. Set clear daily actions, not more then 2 or 3 each day, and write them down!
Being able to take something off your list each day will truly help you feel accomplished and in itself this will boost your productivity.
Get your computer in order
Little tricks can go a long way in saving some time through out your day and managing repetitive tasks more efficiently. Getting organised and using smart tricks on your computer, could save you time daily.
For example, make sure to use keyboard shortcuts, not only the default ones, some you set yourself for anything you do regularly and that has you clicking through menus.
If your work involves using multiple computers, make sure you have a clear storing system in place in the cloud to save time switching between them.
Speaking of storage, make sure you are using a clear format for your files name. To help you set the standard, imagine you are naming them for someone else. This will save you so much time by making any search much quicker.
Identify activities that take up a lot of time
As mentioned earlier, it is key to know yourself and how you work, but it is also key to identify daily or weekly task that bring down your productivity.
Every time you fill an expenses report do you end up spending time on social media or reading emails because your focus always seems to drift away?
Or do you notice that any task tackled after your lunch break takes twice as much time as you can’t properly focus?
Or are notifications from emails always turning you away from projects because they all seem urgent?
There are lots of situations where an interruption, a specific time or task can just put you out of sync for the rest of the day.
However, once you have identified those little productivity vampires, you can try little tricks to avoid losing focus.
For tasks that are, by nature, less motivating try breaking them down into 15 minutes chunks, and reward yourself with 5 minutes of something you actually like to do. So that expense report will seem much easier to go through if you only focus on it for small amounts of time, during which you will cave to no interruption, as no email, news or Facebook message is too urgent that it cannot wait 15 minutes.
For times of the day when you feel that you have less energy, keep tasks you really enjoy getting to. Use a similar technique as before, try for 10 minutes to get focused on the task at hand, if you are still struggling to get going after that time spent on something you really like doing, get up, get some air, drink some water and try again. On tasks you love, you are more likely to get sucked in and forget the clock, so if it is not the case it might be that you just need a minute to clear your mind.
Try also to get rid of “parasite” thoughts during those breaks, leave a block note next to you for all of those things that cross your mind when you can’t seem to focus. If you are using the 15/5min technique wait until your 5 minutes break to write it all down, if you are struggling to get going, take 5 minutes to lay it all down on paper first then get started.
Finally, there are two great culprit in productivity downfalls: email and social media.
There are several things you can try to optimise your email management:
- Choose a few times a day to check your inbox
- Use the 4D technique: Delegate, Defer, Do, Delete
- Think of your subject line as your action line and let people know exactly what you’re asking them to do before they open your email
- Use technology to automate actions: think about scheduling recurring emails, creating templates for your cold outreach or setting up rules so that your outgoing emails are sent to your CRM. With Gmelius, you can do all of the above as well as snoozing less urgent emails, tracking your email open-rate and benefit from an integrated to-do list.
As for social media you could decide to go cold turkey and just stop all access to it during business hours. Several softwares also offer services to block websites of your choosing during periods of time (see top 3 extensions for blocking website). Otherwise, you could consider those websites as a treat once you have gone through a couple 15/5 cycles, or once you completed a task set yourself a tiny break to check your social media channels and satisfy the urge.
Let us know if you try our tips to better manage your workload and how it’s going!
