I want to start off by being honest with all of you…
I am not at all a Type A personality kind of guy. I’m not well organized or a great packer or scheduler (in my opinion). I would say that I am probably halfway between A and B with a Type A fiancé who keeps me in line and on time. With her help, I have mercifully been able to become a better-organized and scheduled person.
One area where her influence has helped most is in my time management and decision making, but that’s another story. My fiancé can’t be around to keep me organized and on top of things 40 hours a week when I am at my office. So I’ve had to figure it out for myself and I think the system that has developed works very well. At least for me.
Typically, I arrive at the office around 7AM and the first thing I do is set up my office for the day. I set up one or both of my laptops, organize the financials in a pile, then I place project files in order of importance. (If I have no physical materials for my projects or finances for the day, then I will just make a to-do list on my post-its, which lie scattered across my desk).
By setting up my desk, I feel like I have a plan for the day, which is fantastic for my mental morale. After that I jump into my schedule. Here is what I am really driving at this week:
We need to schedule and allot our time at work.
I would bet that one of the biggest reasons we waste time during the workday is due to a lack of preparation, primarily stemming from the fact that the majority of us don’t do a good job of allotting our time wisely. I am guilty of this very thing. When I started my current job, I didn’t have any resemblance of an organizational workflow. I didn’t have a method, strategy, or schedule for how to attack my work. I just kind of floundered around from thing to thing. What a terrible, inefficient use of my time. Over the last year I have realized that if I will allocate specific amounts of time to certain projects or tasks, then I will be far more productive than if I just wing it.
I know in the morning that catching up on emails generally takes 30 minutes or less. That includes responding to old emails, cleaning up my inbox, sending new inquiries, and updating mailing lists. After that, I generally jump into my bigger projects where I can easily allot an hour per project, sometimes more depending on the day. But when I set a time limit, I stick to it. If I don’t, my tendency is to go over the time limit and I end up getting lost or distracted. By setting this time limit, I force myself to get all of my tasks done by a deadline and if I don’t, I have just accumulated more work to be added to the next day. Once my hour for that project is up, it is on to the next project or task.
Generally, the last 30 minutes to an hour of my time at the office is dedicated to catching up on any loose ends from the day that I couldn’t finish earlier. If there are no loose ends, then I use this time to prepare for the following day. I reorganize my desk, answer more emails, or do whatever it is that needs to be done to get ready for another day.
I highly recommend coming up with a schedule for your day. Design a workflow or agenda for your day and stick to it. Don’t give yourself any leeway. Stick to it and see what happens to your level of productivity. I would bet that you get more done than if you just wing it for a day. Since I have devised a structure for my day, I believe that my productivity has easily doubled. I have a plan and a renewed focus every time I step into my office and I think if you give it a shot, the results will speak for themselves.
What things have you put in place for your workday that has helped you be more productive? Share your story in the comments!
Adam: Whew. I am glad I realized you have guest bloggers halfway through reading this. All I kept thinking was, “I wonder if his wife knows about his fiance”. Daniel, unlike you, I am Type A. My life is over organized. My problem is the same, though. Sometimes I sweat the organizational part to the point that the task at hand is not completed efficiently. I need to find a balance between the two extremes if I want to make the best use of my time.
haha. That’s funny, Hal.
Hal, you just gave me a good laugh!
Thanks for your comment!
Adam: Whew. I am glad I realized you have guest bloggers halfway through reading this. All I kept thinking was, “I wonder if his wife knows about his fiance”. Daniel, unlike you, I am Type A. My life is over organized. My problem is the same, though. Sometimes I sweat the organizational part to the point that the task at hand is not completed efficiently. I need to find a balance between the two extremes if I want to make the best use of my time.
haha. That’s funny, Hal.
Hal, you just gave me a good laugh!
Thanks for your comment!
Daniel, interesting idea. i wonder if you also plan breaks or “free time” and put limits to that? or you do it on Demand basis depending on the day? I used to not consider it, and have some snack (instead of lunch so I do not fall asleep:) while keeping working on the computer. Would not take and actual break and after 4 hours I felt I was done by the day because and could not go on.
We talk a little bit about this with Adam and Jacob.
Thanks. Have an awesome long weekend.
Diego.
You too Diego. Thanks for reading.
Diego, I definitely do plan breaks/”free time”. I think it is an essential part of any workday. I usually limit myself to no more than 30 minutes for that part of the day and I try to schedule it for when I think I will be most frazzled. Luckily, that usually ends up being around lunch time. I generally will bow out of any work related item and give my brain some time to relax and it can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. That completely depends on how intense my morning has been, but I allow a maximum of thirty minutes before I force myself to dive back into work related tasks.
Without breaks, you will burn out way too quickly! Thanks Diego!
Daniel, interesting idea. i wonder if you also plan breaks or “free time” and put limits to that? or you do it on Demand basis depending on the day? I used to not consider it, and have some snack (instead of lunch so I do not fall asleep:) while keeping working on the computer. Would not take and actual break and after 4 hours I felt I was done by the day because and could not go on.
We talk a little bit about this with Adam and Jacob.
Thanks. Have an awesome long weekend.
Diego.
You too Diego. Thanks for reading.
Diego, I definitely do plan breaks/”free time”. I think it is an essential part of any workday. I usually limit myself to no more than 30 minutes for that part of the day and I try to schedule it for when I think I will be most frazzled. Luckily, that usually ends up being around lunch time. I generally will bow out of any work related item and give my brain some time to relax and it can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. That completely depends on how intense my morning has been, but I allow a maximum of thirty minutes before I force myself to dive back into work related tasks.
Without breaks, you will burn out way too quickly! Thanks Diego!
Yes, recently I adopted a mantra “I will control my schedule, my schedule will not control me.” This puts me in the mindset that I need to take action to prepare so that I am not floundering around. I choose how I want my day you look. That means turning off my email and social media notification dings so that I won’t jump like Pavlov’s dogs when I hear a bell 😉
I’m right there with you! The social media thing is killer for me, especially since part of my job is managing social media accounts for the non profit I work for! It takes a lot of effort not to get sucked into the twittersphere!
Yes, recently I adopted a mantra “I will control my schedule, my schedule will not control me.” This puts me in the mindset that I need to take action to prepare so that I am not floundering around. I choose how I want my day you look. That means turning off my email and social media notification dings so that I won’t jump like Pavlov’s dogs when I hear a bell 😉
I’m right there with you! The social media thing is killer for me, especially since part of my job is managing social media accounts for the non profit I work for! It takes a lot of effort not to get sucked into the twittersphere!
Daniel, the most important element of time management is were your time actually goes. Without a disciplined and constant tracking of how your time is used, you will not be able to make a significant improvement in time use. Try honestly tracking your time use on five minute increments if you want to know how to better mange time. You are not likely to make much progress until you find and eliminate the time wasters. It worked for me. Jimmy Collins
Great advice Jimmy. I would agree with you there.
Thanks for the tip Jimmy! I’ll have to give it a shot!
Daniel, the most important element of time management is were your time actually goes. Without a disciplined and constant tracking of how your time is used, you will not be able to make a significant improvement in time use. Try honestly tracking your time use on five minute increments if you want to know how to better mange time. You are not likely to make much progress until you find and eliminate the time wasters. It worked for me. Jimmy Collins
Great advice Jimmy. I would agree with you there.
Thanks for the tip Jimmy! I’ll have to give it a shot!
I like using Nozbe. I am almost to the point where I need to start paying for it. One of the most useful functions that I like is to be able to star a task and make it a ‘next action’. So at the beginning of the day I can look through my tasks and select those that I will accomplish that day.
I’ve learned that I can’t get overzealous when doing this and that 2-3 tasks is usually enough to get me through the day. If I plow through them, I just go back I to Nozbe and add 2 more.
This is also something I learned from my father, only he didn’t use any web tools, and still doesn’t.
He ran a landscaping business, and I can remember every night before bed he would sit at his desk and write down everything be had to do for the next day.
Need to use Nozbe. A few people have now recommended to me so you may have just talked me into it.
It definitely helps. It’s free up to 5 projects, anything more than that and you have to buy a membership. Five is usually enough, but like I said, those projects are stacking up, more space is needed. If you use Google Calendar you can integrate it too. You can also integrate Evernote if you need to. Hey, if you sign up, the worst thing that could happen is you quit using it. It’s worth a try.
Signing up now.
Never used project management software personally, but it sounds interesting!
Daniel, it definitely helps. The Nozbe system is based off of David Allen’s GTD task management framework. Jaime Tardy of Eventual Millionaire podcast interviewed him recently and it was a great episode. I immediately started implementing his strategy even more after listening.
I like using Nozbe. I am almost to the point where I need to start paying for it. One of the most useful functions that I like is to be able to star a task and make it a ‘next action’. So at the beginning of the day I can look through my tasks and select those that I will accomplish that day.
I’ve learned that I can’t get overzealous when doing this and that 2-3 tasks is usually enough to get me through the day. If I plow through them, I just go back I to Nozbe and add 2 more.
This is also something I learned from my father, only he didn’t use any web tools, and still doesn’t.
He ran a landscaping business, and I can remember every night before bed he would sit at his desk and write down everything be had to do for the next day.
Need to use Nozbe. A few people have now recommended to me so you may have just talked me into it.
It definitely helps. It’s free up to 5 projects, anything more than that and you have to buy a membership. Five is usually enough, but like I said, those projects are stacking up, more space is needed. If you use Google Calendar you can integrate it too. You can also integrate Evernote if you need to. Hey, if you sign up, the worst thing that could happen is you quit using it. It’s worth a try.
Signing up now.
Never used project management software personally, but it sounds interesting!
Daniel, it definitely helps. The Nozbe system is based off of David Allen’s GTD task management framework. Jaime Tardy of Eventual Millionaire podcast interviewed him recently and it was a great episode. I immediately started implementing his strategy even more after listening.
Learning to answer emails at one specific time in my day has helped. I have recently gotten away from this as needed but wan to get back on track ASAP. With Julia on this one.
Learning to answer emails at one specific time in my day has helped. I have recently gotten away from this as needed but wan to get back on track ASAP. With Julia on this one.
Just reading “First Things First” by Stephen Covey. First step is determining if it is something important /urgent ; not important/urgent ; important/ not urgent ; not important / not urgent. We should spend 65-80% of our time in important / not urgent which includes planning. 20-25% in important/ urgent. 15% in not important/urgent. and less than 1% in not important/not urgent. Love this concept. Hope it helps. 🙂
It does Monique. Thanks for adding to the discussion.
Thanks for sharing Monique! Never read that, but sounds like a great way to delegate time!
Just reading “First Things First” by Stephen Covey. First step is determining if it is something important /urgent ; not important/urgent ; important/ not urgent ; not important / not urgent. We should spend 65-80% of our time in important / not urgent which includes planning. 20-25% in important/ urgent. 15% in not important/urgent. and less than 1% in not important/not urgent. Love this concept. Hope it helps. 🙂
It does Monique. Thanks for adding to the discussion.
Thanks for sharing Monique! Never read that, but sounds like a great way to delegate time!
This is very helpful and I will be implementing this starting this week. What do you do if you schedule a task for 1 hour and a snag causes it to take longer. Do you simply move to the next task and come back to it? What if it’s deadline driven?
Generally if I schedule a task for 1 hour a snag causes it to take longer, I’ll adjust accordingly. If I know that it’s just going to take 5-10 minutes beyond what I had scheduled, then I’ll bang it out right then. If I can tell that I’m looking at a 30+ minute delay, then I’ll hold off and move on to the next thing. Hopefully at the end of the day I’ll have some extra time built in to go back and finish the extra work caused by the snag.
If it’s deadline driven, then I will most definitely make time and just move my schedule back. Sometimes you run into unforeseen circumstances and that is just part of life! I do my best to stay on track though!
Great, and thanks again for this very helpful post!
This is very helpful and I will be implementing this starting this week. What do you do if you schedule a task for 1 hour and a snag causes it to take longer. Do you simply move to the next task and come back to it? What if it’s deadline driven?
Generally if I schedule a task for 1 hour a snag causes it to take longer, I’ll adjust accordingly. If I know that it’s just going to take 5-10 minutes beyond what I had scheduled, then I’ll bang it out right then. If I can tell that I’m looking at a 30+ minute delay, then I’ll hold off and move on to the next thing. Hopefully at the end of the day I’ll have some extra time built in to go back and finish the extra work caused by the snag.
If it’s deadline driven, then I will most definitely make time and just move my schedule back. Sometimes you run into unforeseen circumstances and that is just part of life! I do my best to stay on track though!
Great, and thanks again for this very helpful post!