Tips for productivity and managing workload

[happygertie]

I work in a role I love and I am very good at the actual jobs practical side, the part I trained for and an experienced in. However, the workload is crazy and I find that the admin type things aren’t getting done, and then they become griefy so I avoid them and then become stressed about how to deal with them. It’s really getting me down and stressed about work.

I am starting a new job at a new firm in a few months and I’m really excited, but I’m determined to be organised, productive and learn how to manage my workload. Something I’m keen to do is “swallow the frog” and basically tackle the difficult tasks head on and no put them off and they become griefy.

can anyone give me and hints, tips, tricks or recommend any books, podcasts, methods?

I’d say dedicate some time to them. For example I always did for
example any CPD training or my expenses either first thing in a day - I’d be in early when it was quiet and no distractions, or did them Friday afternoon when most people are less focused. Helped to feel more relaxed for the weekend too as they are ticked off. Could that work?

Filing emails well and having well structure folders for documents also speeds things up. And coming into the office/logging on at home and just cracking on, rather than faffing helps productivity for me anyway.

I did training called Getting Things Done and it was great. It worked for me as I intuitively already did half of the programme and really just added a level of finesse onto my productivity. My work paid for the course, but there is a couple of books about the system. It’s devised by David Allen who I think writes the books.

It might be a small thing, but I've noticed I work a bit faster after learning keyboard shortcuts. You can print a list of useful keyboard shortcuts (easily find online) and pin it next to your desk.

In desperation, I started blocking diary out for protected time and it's really working. I do it for the substantive stuff as management can overwhelm that, but you could do it the other way round.

Always hit the tricky stuff first thing with a fresh head. It saves hours.

I agree with this, simplest solution is the best.

I have some smaller admin things which I was always putting off but then become important and start to cause problems as I get chased. Now I just block out 30mins in my diary 1st thing twice a week and just power through them. Makes life so much easier for everyone!

Use your calendar and colour categorise everything. Have an A4 paper diary week to view open in front of you too write the smaller stuff and make a to do check list every morning. ADHD here, and this keeps me completely on track

I use Microsoft planner for tasks that have a lot of component parts or tasks that I will be dipping in and out of. If it takes 5 minutes I do it that day and it never gets onto planner but if I can't it gets a planner card. Last thing on a Friday I sort the planner cards into priority As and Bs for the next week and plan time in to do them.

I block out focus time in my diary. When I just called it 'focus time' people would routinely disregard it and book meetings in over it. Now I give it a name e.g 'focus time for board paper' and, bizarrely, people respect it more.

I set my calendar to finish appointments 5 minutes early for a 30 minute appointment and 10 minutes early for an hour appointment. It means the '5 minutes left' warning pops up earlier on teams and I get a few minutes before the next meeting to deal with any actions.

Speaking of actions, I have colour coded tabs in my notebook (like slimline plastic post its, sticky and reusable) Any actions have an orange tag on the page until I've done them or planned them in. Other colours are for reference pages or meeting notes. We have a lot of 'laptops closed' meetings so this helps when I can't transfer things directly onto planner.

If there are issues I need to raise or papers I need for a meeting I add them to another calendar appointment alongside the meeting appointment which I title 'notes for meeting ' and colour code so I can see it. Save faffing around trying to find the papers that someone sent later week (why they don't just attach them to the meeting I will never know!). If a meeting is recurring I set these to recurring to. Means I always have somewhere to drop a note to raise X at the next team meeting. Gets it out of my head quickly so I can move on.

1. Have sub-folders in your emails where you file completed emails. Organise by person if you are a line manager or consider client/ project/area of your objective so you can easily source information . Also helps plan for meetings as you can scan your emails for a overview of activity
2. Book out dedicated times to complete tasks and ensure your protect that time and do not avoid it! Especially important if you find it easier to avoid/let the admin build up by focusing on other things. During this time be focused on only the task you have booked in, update Teams and other systems to do not disturb and get the task done. If you complete it already of the planned time great!
3. Only keep emails in your inbox that still need dealt with as file everything else as above
4. Have a to do list and update it consistently, ie when you’re meetings add everything to your to do list. Have sub headings - what is urgent for today/needs done this week/needs done this month and prioritise on this basis. Review at start and end of day and update priorities if they change. Again book out your diary for key tasks if you think you will struggle to meet your deadlines
5. As you are moving into a new role plan on networking, whether that’s a coffee chat, attending meetings to observe stakeholders or widen your network. Who will you need to know? Start making connections from week 1
6. Ensure you understand your role and responsibilities, is there an induction process and if so who is setting this up/what does it cover and understand this
7. Personally I make tasks I dislike the first thing I do where possible, means no delay from previous meetings and I feel great after I get these tasks done

Good luck