Your top tips for being organised in new job

[horseymum]

Looking forward to a fresh start and wanting to be organised right from day one, what are your top tips? I'm not line managing but will have several project areas to deal with and a bit of travel. Anything that makes me feel on top things and more efficient welcome!

Check out Amazing If and their Squiggly Career podcast. Loads of great info including how to smash the first few weeks.
Good luck!

Get everything ready the night before - every day. Make your clothes choices, get make up out, prep any food you'll take with you. Saves loads of time and faff.

Thanks, I'm moving back to the office so getting stuff ready will definitely help the morning rush! Podcasts are a good shout too as will have a commute to listen to things.

If you can, have a spare set of stuff for travelling you keep in your travel bag. Nothing worse than faffing around for toothpaste etc when you are in a rush. If the travel is abroad keep your plug adaptor in your case. Never think oh I don't need a case with wheels I will use a hold-all of some description. I have done this and end up juggling the hold all handbag random carrier bag and my shoulder aches

Does your new organisation use project management software? If not, there’s lots of great ones you could use yourself. Try them out before you start to see which one suits you eg asana, trello, Monday etc.

I also bullet journal to help prioritise but I mainly do that because I enjoy it 😬

Have an Excel checklist for travel including everything you need to do as well as what you need to pack. As pp said, anything that can permanently stay in your case - duplicates of chargers, for example, makes life easier.

Yes, a ready to go travel bag with toiletries, chargers, etc, all the faffybirs, that’s a game changer.

I currently use trellis but will definitely ask if they use something specific. I will need to get better at Excel as a colleague was ace at setting them up for me! Any recommendations for project templates or productivity hacks, I have a few days in between which bi want to use well to investigate a few things like this.

Doh, Trello obviously. Going to look at one note too, never had time to actually look at these things.

I agree prepare work bag & clothes the night before
Prepare food the night before if you need to take some with you

I have a diary

Do the things that you must do
Not the things that you like doing
Prioritise

If you are travelling, prepare for delays & other miscellaneous things to happen

Agree with some great advice by OPs here already:
a) Complete spare set of "essential stuff" that you can lift and shift for travel in hand-baggage (make up, travel toiletries, chargers, headphones, annual insurance doc, passport, medication , and one "emergency" outfit, lightest possible top and trousers for example, doesn't have to be glam, just has to see you through the day if they lose your luggage, which, at some point, they will)
b) The person who lays out their clothes and stuff the night before wins
c) The person who has a paper back up of the travelling arrangements also wins.

d) Not sure of your expense system, but do it immediately if it is electronic, if not a folder for your receipts, and then do it on the way home. You are not their bank. Similarly do not neglect admin (timesheets etc.)
e) If you are career minded, spend time every working week on your own career - and I would recommend 10% - whether this means assessing what you have done, and getting the credit for it, training, looking at the job market or internal market, working out your next move or who to network with, thinking about how things could have been better, what you would change etc. Knowing the rules for promotion. Discovering opportunities. There are plenty that would say "That's not really on, I just want to do a good job and be loyal / brilliant at my job" and then work their fingers to the bone, only to have others who have been more savvy, but less skilled or hard working, step right on ahead in front of them.
f) Make many friends, trust few, always paddle your own canoe

Hope this lot helps, fab you are looking forward to Day 1 and good luck xx

i love onenote but it’s a bit marmite. If your new organisation uses Teams being really familiar with its functions isn’t a bad idea (on your “account” you can use various productivity apps and create action lists inclusing set up lists which other people can access and you can assigne tasks to people etc). OneNote I love for taking minutes of meetings as it’s so versatile and instantaneous. I also love using it when I’m watching online training to keep notes with screenshots - a picture says a thousand words, and again you can flag things and add action checkboxes wherever you like which you can then search for throughout the OneNote

@TheM55 I'm keen to look at the ways to progress and use time to develop skills etc. I made a sideways move to leave a stressful situation so the next move needs to be up. I definitely want to spend time looking at how I can do this. Will be looking at courses etc. My new job does provide quite a bit of training but I probably need to find my own too.