What is the best way to organize, what does it take and how can we make it effortless and
fun?
Keywords such as “prioritizing” and “time management” are used in a very fashionable
manner. The phrase is used and interpreted in many different ways.
But how can we actually be organized when the phone won’t stop ringing, how can we be
productive when we keep being interrupted, and most of all regain the long lost sense of
job satisfaction?
Plans
Planning is great as long as life doesn’t get in the way. Especially if experiences of
“plans not working out” have been stored in the subconscious, chances are you are less
likely stick to them in the future or even bother to make them.
Plans could also be seen as project scaffolding:
They are not the building and they are not the cement. They act as structural support that
holds things together and keeps the people walking under the building site safe…
Therefore plans need to be clear, simple and adjustable in order to be of real use.
They may include breaking down goals into tasks and projects…
Tasks and Projects:
There is a difference between tasks and projects. A project consists of many steps and
tasks toward its accomplishment. I define tasks as the actual “thing to do now “.
To create an overview and step by step outline, projects can be divided into their tasks
which can get a time assigned to them. Though it may cost a little time to do so, the
benefits are
-structured approach
-overview
-accountability (you will know what you are doing and what has been done etc)
Rather than luring tasks dangling like the sword of Damocles, you will know where you
are in relation to where you want/need to be and therefore be able to take responsibility in
a sensible way.
Time Blocks
Tasks and chores can be grouped into blocks with a certain timeframe assigned to them.
This allows you to create an “end in sight” on things that practically have no end.
Administration for example has no real end, there will always be papers needing to be
processed, to be filed, bills to be paid, lists to be ticked. In order to keep your head above
water, dedicate certain times to these i.e. e-mail quarters, post time, finance time, contract
time etc.
Making Time
There are many ideas about time management, from taking action immediately to
delaying every request for 24hours to allow room for reflection.
As a matter of fact, we need to make time to do what we need to do.
I strongly recommend finding your motivation strategy. We all have certain things that
motivate us and others that de-motivate us, there are patterns that bring about anger,
boredom, frustration as much as certain chains of events and thoughts will make us feel
excited, valued, alert, creative, productive etc.
Following your joy- i.e. what makes you feel good is a very safe method for enhanced
productivity and efficiency.
How many miserable productive people have you met?
This can be applied in business as well as privately. Some things we like more or less, it’s
not always a question of kite surfing versus sitting at a desk but more detailed choices
such as clearing my desk vs. expenses. Cup of tea or reading an inspirational quote.
The closed door policy
Open offices and open door policies are great communication enhancers but
uninterrupted concentration time becomes scarce. Creating islands of isolation can be
extremely effective in relation to productivity. Forwarding calls to your PA ( if you have
one) or answer phone for 1hour or even 30minutes won’t kill anybody. But it will save
your sanity. More and more people will state they get more work done at home or on the
train because the phone is not always ringing. The person in charge of making the
decision to answer immediately or 30mins later is you. Within the open plan office
telephone loop, you can have certain times where you don’t have to be on ( do make sure
your colleagues know and agree).
Self Management
Good Self-Management is about understanding your personal preferences, using them to
your advantage. This is the main factor for increasing productivity.
If everything else outside of yourself comes first (the boss, the colleagues, the clients),
which usually derives out of an idea that professionalism requires this, consequences are
often feeling tired, drained and fed up by the end of the day.
It is indeed possible to attend to your needs as well as giving excellent service and hence
being very professional. This would indeed promote a humane professionalism as people
who care about themselves are more likely to genuinely care about their business.
I have however found the feeling of guilt creeping up when taking care of myself at
work. There may be a belief saying: “work is not for pleasure” or “you are being paid so
you shouldn’t think of yourself.” “Others don’t do that”, “professional means focussing
on the work, not on you”.
It’s important to notice these thoughts, identify them and analyze them to their
usefulness.
How would your productivity be affected if your work was a pleasure? What exactly do I
get paid for- does that really include others stepping all over you? Will you benefit from
adapting to what others do?
Good self management means attending to your needs as well as getting your work done
in the best way possible. To me the best way is thorough though quick. Thinking about
what else I could do to make another person’s day brighter and acting on it. The more I
brighten up my own day, the more likely I am to enjoy doing this for others. This creates
a positive cycle- make sure to reward yourself when you did well. It’s nice if your boss
does but the more you can accept praise, the more motivating its impact will be.
Communication
The basic form of communication is transmitting information from one person to the
other.
As simple as it sounds when written down, as complex it seems to be when implemented
practically. According to the teachings in NLP information runs through 6 different filters
in each individual before actually arriving at its destination. This explains why
information often becomes distorted.
One way to make sure other people have the same understanding as you is to ask how
they see interpret the bespoke information. It is never a crime to ask. And closed door
conversations with people will strengthen the working relationship granted the
conversation is based on clearing the air in a professional way! Most conflicts are only
misunderstandings, so rather than dwelling, asking saves time and is therefore in
everyone’s interest. Expect others to be doing their best and act in their best intention
rather than pointing out their faults as it makes it easier to communicate.
The Little things- little tips
Often work itself is not the main challenge, it is much rather the juggling the flood of
requests. A useful tool is to request the task givers to write the nature of the task in the
subject line of an email. This allows a quick find especially when the inbox or reminder
list fills up.
Communicating when you are overload is substantial for others to know what to expect.
Saying: this may take a little while; I have a big task list right now, lowers expectation
and pressure. It also creates trust as it means you still stick to your promise and if you
manage to be quicker than expected, you can celebrate another success.
If you are a slower than expected, you are human. If you are more off your plans than on,
you can use this as valuable feedback to plan differently. You will find that most people
go off their plan in a constant figure wrong most of the time. I.e. people, who come in
late, tend to be consistently late by a certain time (always 15 minutes, always 5 minutes).
Adjust your plans to the observed reality.
Consistency
Consistency is the key to trust and to inspire confidence. As simple as the concept
sounds, it’s one of the greatest challenges for especially the more creative thinkers
amongst us.
It’s natural to change style over time, and 1 document can change in format because new
ideas come in, new techniques and skills have been acquired etc. Improvement is great
but only when it’s throughout.
To assist consistency, formatted task sheets and feedback routines have been proving
successful.
Feedback on completed tasks by reply to the original email helps everyone keep track of
what has been done.
Feedback on tasks in progress is only necessary when appreciated. Busy people rarely
need to spend time on reading emails about someone about to do something.
They just want to send the task and get the result or at least an idea of when to expect the
result.
Regular update in newsletter format is a great way to keep the team up to date, it helps
everyone’s memories and communicates you are consistent and organised, you have the
results and are on top of things.
Review
The best way to improve systems is to review them after a while, i.e. after 6months.
Taking a review day to take a step back and look at what is going on, will pay out in the
long term.
Warning: Over-administration
Some of the most time-consuming and nerve wracking procedures have only little
benefits.
Administration means organizing and filing documents, however indulging in filing
minor details will only cost time and nerves. Common sense and picking the brains of
assistants, administrators/PAs is more than recommended. Encourage office heroines to
think in terms of relevance, rather than rigidity to create a win-win situation.
Questions to ask are: how will this be of benefit to the company/my work
practice/accountability?
Is there an easier way to do it- that would get the same benefits?
What does it require to set up a system that costs less time?
Responsibility
The great joy of being employed is that the overall responsibility always lays at least one
step above oneself. However, this can easily lead to establish a blame culture which has
not proven to be productive or beneficial to anybody.
Rather than getting stuck at the level pointing our fingers at others, we can shift our
perception of “responsibility” from the image of “your head rolls when it goes wrong” to
“take it into your hands and treat it like it’s your valued friend”.
This may not appear the most corporate of concepts, but it will have a warming effect on
the way things are dealt with.
If a line manager requires a report about a project that is yours- questions such as how is
this coming along? What can we do to speed this up etc. would probably motivate more
than addressing from the pressurising angle of : why has this not been done yet? We
needed it by 12!
Also note open questions lead by words as “how” and “what” lead to answers that move
forward. Closed questions/statements make it difficult to find new ways of moving on.
They are great to bring things to conclusion, close a sale, discussion etc. “Why”-
questions ask for reasons but not necessarily results.
Control
A major component of feeling satisfied with yourself and your job is your level of
control. How much are you in control of your work/day?
Control does not necessarily mean executive decision on a daily basis; you may not be in
a position to decide the direction of company or your day. I am speaking of control as a
perceived state of mind in which you feel you are on top of things, you feel confident and
calm.
We may not be able to control our circumstances at all time, but we can take charge of
our responses to the circumstances.
The key is to know that YOU are the subject of your day not your workload. The loss of
satisfaction and negative consequences of stress are often rooted in perceiving your
workload greater than yourself.
Taking control means realizing that you are in charge and the work is what you do. Fact
is: there will always be work as work creates more work.
NLP techniques can be very effective to rebalance the way you relate to your work. I
would recommend rebalancing the internal images themselves as they have a major
impact on our behavioural responses.
Task lists, Notebooks, pieces of paper
Or as long as you know where to look.
Devising a system that works for you is highly recommended. Whether you use a black
book with pages to rip out or the task list in outlook, what works, works.
How do you like to make sure you know where the notes are you needed?
I recommend having a central place of task storage and a daily piece of paper with
selected daily tasks on.
Reminders in outlook are the greatest blessing in the world as they allow organisation
with a timeline, i.e. tasks due on Thursday next week don’t have to be in your face today.
Organizing by colour:
Working for 3 people who need to get quick status information, colour coding is
invaluable. Each person has one colour and tasks/emails/ deals are marked in their colour.
This allows using one list with all information and thinking in one format.
Logging
Though at times tedious, logging is the best way to keep an overview. In an assistant
position it is useful to log outgoing packages, special achievements and progress of tasks.
It ensures going home and leaving the job at work whilst building a good reputation.
Summary of and basic questions to achieve excellence and ease through
organisation:
• What is the benefit of this task?
• How can I accomplish this with ease and excellence?
• If I wanted this task to be accomplished more than well, what would it need to be
like?
• Is there a quicker way?
• Is there an easier way?
• Is this a reoccurring task and if so what system can I set up to make it easier for
me?
• What is the most efficient way to keep an overview over this?
• How will I know in 6weeks what I have done and where the information was
stored?
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