To want to discover the secrets of extremely efficient work colleague

[crissymoomoo]

It's astonishing. You will email her at 9:02am asking for her to bring a report to you at her earliest convenience. 9:04 I get a reply 'of course. I am on my way'.

She replies to all emails within 30 mins max. Has all tasks completed within an hour max and she's super busy in a profession well known to be stressful and busy.

Anyone else know someone like this?

Drugs. Definitely.

Or magic.

Or both.

I have to be like this else the emails would disappear down my inbox and I'd forget about them! Not to say I enjoy being like this but the amount of emails I get means I 'have' to.

Yeah - deffo a case of 'accio report! '

Witchcraft...

T'is surely witchcraft!!

i have a coleague like this, she's super woman, she once sent me a link to this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done

i've not managed to find time to read much of it yet though (ironic)

honestly she's unflappable and swears by it (professionally and personally)

If you want something done, ask a busy person! It's true, the busier I am the better I am at getting stuff done quickly.

it's being organised
and being able to 'jump' from one task to the next.

I do this.

I use my outlook inbox as a to do list. I flag everything as it comes in and file it away when complete. I try and clear absolutely everything as quickly as possible and get a bit obsessive about it. I find I can't actually work very well with loads of things hanging over me and do everything I can to clear my backlog.

I chase people a lot too. I cba waiting around for people who take a week to reply to an email. I'm polite, but if I don't hear back within a few hours I chase.

I'm probably a nightmare to work with, tbh

Im constantly aspiring to be like the actual magician in our office though. She's crazy efficient

She is actually 2 small people.

If you can do it in five mins do it straight away. If it's a longer task file it in the to do emails folder and/or add it to the list of things to do which I would tackle at 11am or 3pm (my big job hours). Only touch a piece of paper once. File it, pass it on or bin it! Never have a filing tray. Simples. Best time management course ever about 15 years ago.

I do this. Three Minute Manager. It changed my life. If I get an email in that will take me less than three minutes to deal with I do it straight away, because that's less mental energy than storing it and remembering to do it later.

I also don't like having anything in my inbox - everything is filed immediately (in a relevant folder) and if it needs actioned I set myself a to do. So if it just needs a reply it's quicker to do it there and then!

If I'm doing something that needs full concentration I put my out of office on with my mobile number for emergencies and turn off email notifications for an hour or two. Very rarely happens though.

I'm not perfect at my job (not even close) but I am super organised and efficient, and good at switching from one task to another. My first office job was so hectic that it drummed these skills into me!

She doesn't ever pop onto MN for "only" 5 minutes...

Does she line manage anyone? I was much more efficient before I had a team to look after! I'm still a bit like it though - categorise the incoming stuff, batch similar tasks together and schedule them, try to get the inbox back to zero at least weekly...

I do this.

I am the Roadrunner of fast typing.

Yeah, could be me. Maybe.

Laptop dings when an email comes in so I look straight away, no matter what I am doing. If it's something I can complete in a couple of minutes I do it to get it out the way.

I don't do small talk in the office, don't faff, don't stop for tea breaks or whatever.

I prioritise first thing and make sure the top 5 at least are done, but try to do them all.

Get the little tasks out the way so I can concentrate on the big tasks.

I've generally got two or three things on the go at once so if I hit a lull in one I can move onto another.

I make good use of databases and set them up so they colour at certain times or dates (like for e.g. Annual reports go green, amber, red as they are nearing deadlines)

I contingency plan as well - what I will do if X happens or Y happens so I'm less likely to be caught on the hop.

I am a control freak though

Don't work in an office but do work in a school. Am v efficient.
I work with a very organised colleague and although you have to be 'on' all the time it did mean that when ofsted phoned to say they were coming we swiped a sponge round the sink whilst others were running round filing marking and checking paperwork. 😀 Only a little smug. 😀

Love all these suggestions!

I have a woman who reports into me and she's like that. She couldn't make a decision to save her life, but ask her for a report/file/t-rex femur and she'll appear as your desk with it four nanoseconds after you hit "send".

I'm like this. I wear earplugs to drown out the nouse of people complaining how busy they are, rather than doing the fucking job they are paid for.

It's not hard: don't leave stuff to fester. Don't hoard paperwork. File stuff appropriately and quickly. Put tasks in your calendar. Don't spend all of your time telling people how busy you are.

Works for me.

ADHD
It has a real upside.

I do this, a task comes in, I do it straight away and then it's done, filed away, no need to think about it any more.

For anything bigger/boring I do it first thing in the morning, I always try to make my day get better rather than worse!

I'm like this although I work shifts so don't work the same as my colleagues but I go through emails, reply straight away to those that I can then flag the Ines I need to work on for longer. I file them all when I have finished in folders. I line manage 25 people and have to dynamically manage a lot more so have to be reactive. It is less stressful to get things done and out of the way so when something happens I need to react to I don't have to stress about the work it is taking me away from.

I've taken to wearing earphones plugged into my mobile, listening to radio 2. It means I can't hear what my colleagues are talking about, so not getting sucked in to helping/discussing things.

I don't do it all day though.

"Ifartrainbowsandglitter

If you can do it in five mins do it straight away."
What if you're in the middle of your last five minute job?

Lol at t rex femur :o

But yes if I have something to focus on I close down Outlook.
I have a paper to do list and use it religiously. I'd cry if I lost it. Sometimes I write down "do thing for see email from 3.22 on 10/7"