Acting in urgency, submitting a report at the last minute, and responding to all requests—after a busy day, a sense of accomplishment may prevail for those who managed to get through it all. However, there are some simple yet effective tips for managing time well.
Managing Your Time: Some believe that being organized is an innate quality, but proactive thinking is one of the best strategies.
Forecast, Prioritize, and Plan
It’s a basic rule: every week, create a “to-do list” outlining tasks that need to be done. Then, sort these tasks according to the Eisenhower Matrix: what’s important and urgent, urgent but not important, important but not urgent, and neither urgent nor important. Delegate tasks falling into the latter category. Ultimately, your schedule should reflect these priorities, as well as two key principles: start by tackling what you enjoy the least and consolidate activities. In other words, spending an hour each day on a project takes more time than completing the project in one go. It’s also essential to leave yourself some leeway and always anticipate about 30% of unforeseen events in a week.
Sort Before Anything Else!
No more piles of documents on your desk. Sort through them and group similar items together. For instance, gather all the sticky notes cluttering your space and transfer the information onto a single sheet of paper (or a digital document to avoid using paper). Continue by categorizing all other documents on your desk by theme: bills, banking services, accounting information, tax documents, etc.
Quick tip: create a folder for URGENT documents and don’t hesitate to discard obviously unnecessary papers, such as empty envelopes (don’t laugh, you wouldn’t believe the number of outdated documents, drafts, used and empty envelopes one can find in a workspace).
Utilize Efficient Tools
Many still have the habit of printing out web-based information for later reading, fearing they might lose the link.
There are very simple internet tools to centralize all this information for later use:
• Pocket: getpocket.com
• Instapaper: www.instapaper.com
And finally, for note-taking and more, a software like Evernote (https://evernote.com/) (Windows, Mac, Web, Mobile) is a must! It allows you to gather all your notes, invoices, photos, and ideas in one environment. Its synchronization feature enables you to access all this across all your devices.
No more piling up papers! Opt for much simpler and more practical software. Synced in the cloud, these programs will allow you to retrieve your information from anywhere you are.
Here’s a list of some practical apps used:
• Astrid: astrid.com
• Any.Do: www.any.do
• Toodledo: www.toodledo.com
• Remember the Milk: www.rememberthemilk.com
