AIBU to ask for your tips on how to be really organised at work?

[AprilMayJuneJuly]

I’d really appreciate any advice on how I can be more organised at work.

At the moment, I use a notebook to write down all of my to-do lists (not very high-tech, I know, but it works).

Although it works for me for now, I was speaking to another colleague today, who mentioned that our manager (who’s the most organised person I’ve ever met) uses a digital to-do system which colour-codes different tasks according to priority. Does anyone have anything similar?

How do you all stay on top of things at work?

I love using technology, can flag things up, colour code, project manage everything. But the best way i find to organise myself at work is a whiteboard, reviewed daily and with weekly summaries of to do lists, it’s scrawled, not pretty, and generally looks crazy but I find it so much more effective than anything else (including the same informstion written on paper)

I use outlook for my to do list, and OneNote for making notes in meetings. You can tag things in OneNote which add them straight onto the outlook task list. You can also flag emails to add them as tasks.

How do you receive most of your tasks?

I get a lot of mine via email, we use outlook. Outlook allows you to categorise emails (any you haven't categorised are simply stored in date order). The categories can have different labels and colours. So I tend to use this as my to do list - I categorise the task based on job type and then flag the jobs based on when I will do them. You can simply flag for that day or set specific reminders.

For what it's worth I do also use a notebook to-do list and depending on how many email tasks I have, they are written individually and mixed with other tasks or I just write "emails".

I think most organisation comes from being able to adapt and prioritise effectively, once you've got a method for that everything becomes easier.

My job is all about organisation, I just keep lists, cross off what I've done and make a new one for the next day in priority order and use the outlook calendar to set reminders for tasks. Sometimes I use the outlook task list.

Depends on the sort of work you do. Most of my tasks come through email so I flag my inbox with different colours, and keep anything in my sent box I might need to follow up if I don’t get a reply. Once I’ve dealt with it it goes into a project folder in my email archive.

I also file all my emails and only have active stuff in there and file it as soon as it's dealt with so my inbox only has that days stuff in it.

I use the categories in outlook too to colour code.

I use Outlook to organise deadlines by a colour-coding system (orange for a report I need to do, purple for meeting, yellow for a visit etc) and use a paper to do list for smaller tasks. I utilise flags for responding to emails and prioritising. Works fine!

I love technology and use all sorts of resources such as outlook calendar and one note plus notebooks and tick sheets.

But somehow it all comes down to post its stuck all over my desk and screwed up once the task has been completed.

Seems much more satisfactory to me .

Learn to say "no". It is not slavery, it is a workplace. People have the right to say No.

A simple list. In my opinion spending time colour coding it all or organising it all is waisting time rather than just getting it done crossing it off your list

Look up Getting Things Done. It's a system, rather than a tool, so you can make it work with whatever tool suits you best. (I use it with Todoist and its Outlook plugin.)

I've just started using the Pomodoro Technique again, to keep me focussed and realistic about what I can achieve in a day.

Assassin tell us more about the pomodoro technique!

Here you go

francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique

I am using it at the moment to stay on task, I've got a lot on my plate and have been letting myself get distracted, so concentrating on ignoring interruptions for 25mins. It's also good for planning your day, estimating tasks, etc.

There are loads of apps you can use to do the timer, I've just started using pomodoneapp.com, which can use my Trello lists.

I hand write a list and use highlighter pens. The colours I choose reflect my state of mind, so colleagues know whether they can chat to me or not 😉

Big list of all the tasks I need to do on word. Then each day I write a few that need to be carried out that day. Then I write
Down the next 3 and carry them out

I have a daily to do list notebook, items dated when I finished/sent them. There is a Task List option in Outlook, but I prefer hard copy. I colour code my mail inbox with (right click on the email) coloured flags. Red for urgent/client/finance, blue for general/next few days, green for non urgent. Once done, ruthlessly file by subject. (outlook can auto file by subject which is handy, under tools, options). I also set reminders for weekly & monthly reports in my & the team's calendars as we can all access each others but only I can set up meetings for my team. I also colour code meetings in calendars as per agreed team policy:. Blue for internal, red for client, orange for finance.

This is a great book
goo.gl/images/8M6b3Z
And helped me think about my priorities as well as get some systems in place. They do courses and have a great blog too - think productive.