Get away from the old methods for managing tasks and start using the systems you already have to be more efficient, make more progress, and enjoy less stress.
Shifting and competing priorities were bad enough before the pandemic began, but this year, the pace quickened and responsibilities were piled on top of already-heavy to-do lists. And the heat was turned up.
So far, this year may have felt a lot like a pressure-cooker you might use in your kitchen. It’ll cook food faster, and that’s great for meals at home, but unfortunately, a “workday pressure-cooker” produces ADVERSE results.
When the heat is turned up, it increases internal pressure for you and that DECREASES your efficiency and effectiveness. And a high amount of stress and pressure will take a toll on your productivity and can often lead to burnout.
Even before the pandemic started, there were things that backed up and stacked up in a typical workday…
- Countless tasks and follow-ups
- Incoming calls and texts
- Endless email
- Competing priorities
- Multiple requests
- Crazy deadlines
- Shifting priorities
- Ongoing questions
- Numerous calls and Zoom meetings
- Interruptions and distractions
…and time was always short. Now it’s even shorter.
This year, you may be working harder than ever, it’s true. But are you executing with speed and agility? Are you focused and efficient? Are you proactive and ready for anything?
Let’s check…
- Are you responding to the latest email, despite other more important tasks waiting in line?
- Are you taking action in a new direction after every interruption, no matter what you were working on BEFORE the interruption?
- Are you frantically looking for an attachment or an e-document that you need—or worse, that someone ELSE needs—but you can’t find quickly?
- Do you suddenly remember something you had forgotten and then drop everything to finish it?
- Do you feel like you’re re-reading the SAME emails you’ve already seen, but couldn’t do anything with?
- Do you feel like you’re not quite sure what you should be doing next?
If you answered YES to one or more of these questions, it’s a red flag.
You’re in action for sure, but…
…are you channeling your energies into the best use of your time? Or do you feel like time is slipping away and getting lost?
…are you making progress in the right direction? Or do you feel like you’re spinning your wheels in the same place?
…are you working proactively on the RIGHT tasks at the RIGHT times? Or are you moving through your day reactively?
If reactivity is ruling your day, it is not an efficient use of your time or energy.
When “busy,” “reactive” or “frantic” overshadow “efficient,” “effective” and “productive,” it’s a sign that you’re not making the MASSIVE progress that you could make and your stress is likely going up.
What do you do when the heat is on HIGH and the pressure is RISING?
Do you run faster? Work harder? Sleep less? Work more?
No. You turn down the heat on your workday and release the pressure by changing HOW you work.
No matter WHERE you work—and no matter what kind of office it is—it is essential to get awareness of HOW you’re working.
- How are you handling tasks, follow-ups and to-do lists?
- How are you managing email and attachments?
- How are you managing papers, files, contacts and information?
- How are you managing e-documents?
- How are you managing time?
It’s time to stop losing time as a result of HOW you’re working if it’s NOT working.
It’s time to use your time more efficiently and effectively to get things accomplished with more speed and focus for more tangible achievement and progress—which is REAL productivity. And it’s time do it all with a lot less stress.
If you aren’t using reliable systems or methods for managing all of your tasks, email and information—but you still think you have a handle on everything you need to do—think twice.
You may not be 100% aware of what’s slipping through the cracks—what you’re missing, losing or forgetting.
And you may not be aware of the possibilities for greater efficiency and productivity. Here is just ONE statement—out of MANY!—that illustrates HOW professionals are working and have been for a long, long, LONG time.
“I use this notebook for everything.”
If you have also uttered this one statement, the BAD news is that you’ve been holding yourself back. The GOOD news is that you don’t have to anymore.
You have an INCREDIBLE opportunity to increase your efficiency, effectiveness and productivity with a few simple, but strategic steps in a new direction.
You can substitute the words “legal pad,” “steno pad,” or “planner” for “notebook,” but no matter which it is, you may THINK you include everything you need to do in your favorite notebook, but it’s not true.
The TRUTH is, your spiral notebook (or legal pad, steno pad or planner) is NOT a comprehensive, centralized, reliable system for managing tasks, email OR information, and trying to use it as such is costing you more time, energy and opportunities than you realize.
Here are 3 out of many reasons why…
#1 – Paper can’t POSSIBLY include everything you need to do.
Paper is a TOOL, not a SYSTEM, and all of the tasks coming from many different sources of tasks in your workday—there are more than 10!— can’t possibly be incorporated into a paper tool.
Some of your most pressing tasks may be sitting in your email Inbox. Others are likely represented by the papers and files on your desk. A few may be reminding you as open attachments on your computer screen. Some tasks may be represented by a saved voice mail on your phone. Some tasks may be written on post-it notes around your computer or on your desk. And when you create a paper to-do list, that becomes yet another source.
Again, a paper to-do list cannot possibly hold tasks from all sources. Not only would it be impractical, but paper is simply the WORST tool to use for managing tasks.
Even those who use a digital task app have an incomplete list of things to do, because that app will not reflect tasks from ALL sources either. It’s just a digital replacement for a paper to-do list. And without a methodology to go with the technology, things are STILL slipping through the cracks and professionals are STILL missing out on MAJOR progress.
#2 – Tasks written on paper cannot be properly planned or prioritized for action.
This is true because of the limitations of paper itself, but also because of #1 above: SO many tasks are missing. A paper to-do list or a task app won’t be complete—it can’t be!—and it isn’t reliable for helping you comprehensively plan and prioritize tasks as a result.
Using paper a to-do list or a digital task app leaves you with 3 BIG “trying” challenges, which include…
…trying to REMEMBER all of the tasks you’ve seen from the many different sources of tasks in your day
…trying to compare those tasks with a potentially long list of to-dos on a pad or in an app
…and then trying to plan and prioritize what needs to be done in your HEAD.
These challenges add up to chaos, confusion and reactivity. It’s actually IMPOSSIBLE to efficiently and effectively plan, prioritize and accomplish tasks by managing them ONLY from their sources without missing, losing or forgetting something—or a LOT of things.
Tasks also cannot be *RE*prioritized effectively on paper when priorities change or shift throughout the day, which happens daily. Whether you use a spiral notebook, a legal pad or a digital app, it’s automatically inaccurate and incomplete, and it’s not helping you. It’s holding you back.
#3 – Everything written on paper is stuck there.
When a legal pad or a spiral notebook is used for “everything,” it makes it difficult to find reference information, notes and tasks quickly. The fact that it’s ALL stuck on paper makes it instantly LESS useful or helpful to you, and much harder to find.
When information is not stored according to the TYPE of information it is, it’s harder to find and make use of it in the future. That’s bad enough for reference information, but when TASKS are not centralized, it’s impossible to keep track of them, to accurately plan and prioritize them, and to take action on any one of them at the right time.
Both situations will only slow you down in the future when you’re trying your hardest to find something and move on. Just when you’re trying to speed up and make MAJOR progress, you find yourself walking through GLUE. You end up wasting time looking for things you KNOW you have, but just can’t find—or can’t find quickly.
Where to go from here.
Everything you create, accept or receive in your workday has a place where it is best managed.
To be more efficient and effective with managing crucial information and important tasks—as well as with managing your time—think in terms of WHERE those bits of information and tasks are best managed and NOT where they came from.
Information and tasks are NOT best managed at their sources. They are best managed in systems that are MEANT for managing THOSE types of information or tasks. And you already have access to them.
Here are a few of the useful REFERENCE systems you have in your workday.
- An E-document Library for storing digital information. This can be the hard drive, a shared drive or a cloud-based e-document library. This is where the e-documents you create should be stored. This is also where useful attachments from emails should be stored when you want to find them in the future. Attachments from emails that you need to find later should NOT stay stuck in emails and important e-documents should not be stored on your computer desktop.
- A Contact system or a CRM for contacts. Necessary contact information also should NOT stay stuck in emails or on those business cards on your desk.
- A digital Calendar for appointments, meetings, calls, events and other time commitments.
- File drawers and cabinets for physical papers and files you need for future reference. Papers and files are NOT easy to find quickly when they stack up on a desk or a credenza in multiple piles or scattered assortments.
- Email folders for emails you need for future reference. But not too many! There is such a thing as over-organizing.
There may also be other systems or software you use for reference information specific to your job or industry. But no matter what, ALL of the information mentioned in the list above should be for reference ONLY, as anything ACTIVE is considered a TASK.
There should be only ONE location for ALL tasks.
This should be a centralized, digital Task List that contains a complete inventory of ALL of your tasks—no matter the source of the task or when you will take action. It could be today, this week or several months from now, but the key is knowing what they are so you can make a plan that’s accurately prioritized.
Here’s the bottom line: STOP using paper and START using the systems you ALREADY HAVE that are MEANT for managing those specific types of information or tasks.
Working more systematically and proactively was already of TOP importance BEFORE the pandemic, but now, it’s even MORE critical to work efficiently and effectively to maximize your time, navigate these uncharted waters, and keep making meaningful progress on the projects and the initiatives that matter the most to you and to the future of your organization—throughout and beyond a pandemic.
