3 Organizing Skills for a More Productive Work Day

 

3 organizing skills for a more productive work day

 

Office workers waste an average of 40% of their workday.  Not because they aren’t smart, but because they were never taught organizing skills to cope with the increasing workloads and demands according to the Wall Street Journal Report

Does your workday evaporate and suddenly it’s the end of the day? Do you think you lack skills to manage quickly multiplying projects? Does your day feel chaotic rather than organized? It all comes down to learning skills for prioritizing, organizing and planning to help you manage your work and your work load.

 

Prioritizing: learning the skill of knowing what to do

There are many good ideas for your work. Not every idea has equal benefit. Some times these ideas can be linear in implementation and some times these depend on preliminary successes. Start by gathering all these ideas together in a list.

This is strategic planning time where you create a big picture of what will move your business forward. This planning can be accomplished annually or monthly with an overview of goals for the year and specific actions assigned to a month. Without this planning, you may be working on tasks that keep you from bigger accomplishments and increased revenue. With this planning you are prepared for the weeks, months and quarters ahead that yield the results you want to see.

On your planner, schedule this time on a mid-month morning for a monthly overview. You can use a dashboard with data to drive your assessment of successes and next steps for planning. This dashboard can be consolidated data from customer information, income and expenses and marketing information. By assessing your successes, you are celebrating and setting plans for next steps.

Intuitively you may know the priorities and may be ready to list these. However, an additional professional tip is that you may need to talk through your priorities to set these.  Having a list may not be enough to help you strategize. Partner up with a trusted colleague or advisor to help you sort through and sequence your list.

 

Organizing: learning the skill of when to do

Drill down to the specific tactics to gain traction on your plan.  Week by week specific tasks will accomplish this.  Set aside weekly planning time to be prepared for the weeks, months and quarters ahead. That weekly planning time should occur at the same time every week. Use time blocking during your weekly planning time to schedule these tasks.

With the best plan, limiting distractions is key.  Set a time in your day to check email and update information received by text or other communication. These distractions take time and energy away from your actual work.  If you find yourself low in energy, drink water or take a short walk outside or around the office.  At times a “warm up” is needed to move into a work flow.  Add time at the end of a work session to leave yourself notes on where you ended to jump start your next session.

 

Organizing: learning the skill of how to access and categorize resources

This is the most frequent flaw for work.  With multiple projects, you want to have outstanding organizing to find what you need when you are ready to work. This organizing pertains to how to access and categorize your resources and materials to work.  You will have to organize your resources and documents digitally and on paper. Set up your resources by the name of the projects and the name of the client. Create digital files for the documents that parallel paper files. These can be on your device desktop digitally and should later move to document files. Paper files can be easily accessed in a file cart or a physical desk top sorter.

 

Planning: learning the skill of tracking

Next, keep this plan easy to see and accomplish. There are many ways to organize this information.  Digital planners and apps such as Asana and Trello help you schedule your work, consolidate the information and keep you accountable with reminders.  Paper planners such as Planner Pad, Bullet Journal or Blue Sky week at a glance planners offer you visual support for your plan.  Write in and record as much as you can to keep you on track on your work. A professional tip is to color code your projects.  Color coding is instant recognition of a project. Use post it notes in colors that coordinate with each project or dry erase colored markers on a white board to keep your work easy to see.

 

Planning: learning how to manage multiple priorities and work as a team

Workloads are increasing exponentially. How we do keep going with more and more to do?

  • Collaboration with colleagues for a team approach. Your skills may not match the work requirements.  A colleague could help you learn a new skill and become more efficient.
  • Communication with your colleagues with real data on time allocation. Share the time it takes to accomplish a task so that those you work with know this information.
  • Delegation with an assistant can help you do the most important work.  Carefully delegate with small tasks leading to bigger tasks. Provide check points for your collaboration to ensure you are both on the same page.
  • Further planning to ensure your priorities are on track.

The skills of prioritizing, planning and organizing will all help you be more productive each day. In addition, remember to prioritize self-care to maximize your efficiency, your effectiveness and your productivity. It is most important to get a good night’s rest every night. By combining your new skills and priorities you will reap the benefits.

 

 

 

4 Ways to Build Structure and Boost Productivity while Working From Home

 

 

Many of us have transitioned to working from home in the past year.  Working from home affords us benefits like flexibility throughout the day and easier commute. However some of these benefits make being productive more difficult for those with ADHD.  It’s easier to be distracted, schedules are less stable, and colleagues feel more isolated.   In order to be productive, those with ADHD need structure in their day and in their space.

Structure your schedule.

Having a structured day with certain times assigned to work boosts productivity.  Since your work day can expand beyond traditional hours while working from home, begin by limiting your workday. Set hours for you to begin and end work that align with your family. With ADHD you may feel the need to work longer hours because you have not accomplished tasks within traditional hours. Challenge yourself to work within these boundaries and use this time as if a timer were set.  By structuring your schedule you are also prioritizing the time for self-care. Adding self-care to your schedule, such as setting a nightly bedtime, is an added bonus for productivity.

 

Create structure in your work flow.

In an office environment outside your home, the routine of the day creates an external structure that keeps you on track. Create that structure with an beginning of the day, beginning of the work day, end of the work day and end of the day routine. Start the work day with the most important tasks first so you know you can get these done.  By creating routines, you will feel the flow of the day more naturally.

 

Delineate your home office space.

It’s easy to move from space to space in your home, while at work you have an assigned spot. Your home office should be one or multiple assigned places. When you have a structured space, you also have easy access to your resources. Your home remains organized because your resources are not scattered among several places.  Delineate your home office space to create structure for your work.

 

Create connection times throughout the day.

Isolation creeps in when working from home and that keeps you from being productive. There are many ways to connect while not in the office. Create connection times with a zoom coffee break. Begin meetings with time to connect with a two word check-in that describe how you feel before you get down to business. Parallel work with a partner while working on a project by setting a beginning and end work time.  There are many ways to stay connected virtually.

 

Creating structure for your day helps you be more productive as well as prioritize self-care. Take advantage of one of these strategies this week and learn the benefits.

 

Learning, Listening and Embracing Diversity

 

As we celebrate Black History Month. I am listening and learning.  These authors, leaders, allies and advocates give me insights into belonging and inclusion.  As we continue to learn, we are embracing diversity.

 

Black History Month 

Learn more about the origins of this month long celebration.

 

7 Powerful Lessons Learned from Black Authors

Read about diversity and inclusion from seven well known black authors.

 

Black History is for Everyone

Author Daily Lovelace shares ways that we are all acknowledging the rich history of African Americans in our country.

 

PBS Celebrate Black History Month 

PBS shares documentaries and shorts on celebrating Black America.

 

Biography.com

Learn about prominent Black people who play significant roles in America.

 

 

How to Make Decision Making Easier

how to make decision making easier

 

We hear a lot about decision fatigue right now. That is how many decisions we make each day and how we are overwhelmed by these. Make decision making easier with these key concepts. There are many ways to make this simpler and more effective.

 

Opinions matter

Making a decision comes from a variety of perspectives and opinions.  Getting opinions from a few others helps you make a decision easier with their help and thoughts. Encourage feedback especially if it is not in line with your original thoughts. Make sure you don’t overload your options and keep to 3 opinions to expedite your decision.

 

Small chunks and small steps

Big overwhelming decisions can be broken down into small chunks and small steps.  Break down the process into manageable steps that you can tackle over time. As you move forward with each decision, the next decision becomes clearer and clearer. It’s not always necessary to have a decision completely finalized.

 

Prioritize

Prioritize the energy and time for a decision. A breakfast decision is not the same priority level as business decision. Place time and energy where you get the most return for the most importance of the decision.

 

Limit choices

Too many options?  Begin by limiting these choices. The essence of a decision is choices. We avoid decisions when there are many choices.  Limiting choices can include having a rule about how many choices to have as options.

 

Trust your intuition

How are you feeling? What is your gut telling you? What is intuitive? These are the essence of trusting your intuition. That intuition can be your whole reasoning. Intuition affirms the decisions are make.

 

Go with truth and kindness

“Sometimes decisions are hard, not because one choice isn’t clearly better, but because the hard choice is also the right one, says Scott Young. The truth is always the best decision.  When decisions are complicated, often it is because we are avoiding a core value.  Remember we don’t have to like the best decision for it to be the right decision.