How can I be better organised? I need tips!

[Pegasushaswings]

I’ve just got a job after being a SAHM for 4 years as admin/assistant to a small local company, I got the job as my background is in the same field, they aren’t too worried about my rustiness or lack of knowledge of excel etc, but I am! I’ve hit the ground running and need tips to be better at keeping on top of several projects that are happening at once.
I understand what is needed and I’m quick to reply to potential customers but I need some tips on how to keep track of jobs once we have secured them.

one thing I know but could still be better at is recording every step I take in the ongoing bookings.

I use Google suite and excel.

I'm a big advocate of the checklist.
You could create one by noting down all the steps you take and the tasks needed to get the job done. Once you have all the steps down, you could use that as a checklist for future bookings so you can keep track of what you have done.
I did something similar on excel for my job. You could create a new file for each booking and use it as both a point of reference to ensure all tasks are completed and then as somewhere to keep a record of what was done and when.
If anyone else Is likely to have to cover your role for holidays etc. you could also add links to documents outlining how to do each task so it could be easily picked up by someone else.
Might take a while to pull it all together but would be a good resource to have.

Another thing I do is block time out either daily or weekly to ensure there is time built in to the week to ensure the record are updated. If it's previous in your calendar it might stop other meetings going on - also gets you in to a routine and which I think really helps with being organised!

I block out meetings AND tasks in my calendar. If something crops up and I can't do what I've planned then I drag the blocks around to reschedule things. If I don't block it in my calendar people always jump in with random stuff.. which I block with notes on what happened..! Plus, it's very easy to report on what you've been up to because it's all there in your calendar.

I colour code by project which lets me see at a glance how much a specific project has dominated my week - and which ones are missing because I've let them slip..!

Thanks for the replies, there is a decent system in place for bookings, I can see that it would be easy to end up ‘fire fighting’ the things that crop up with jobs if I’m not careful though.
I think blocking out time to update the ‘log’ would really work for me as would the checklist and blocking out tasks, then moving around as needed.

I really appreciate the replies, I don’t think I’ve ever taken the time before to really plan my week in other jobs (very different unconnected roles) and allocate time for certain tasks and I can see how that would help massively!

keep em coming! I just don’t want to mess this up, it’s a great job and I’m lucky to get it!