Your time is important so make good use of it. When your day is planned and managed properly, it’s easier to get everything done that you need to. Often in life things pop up that need our immediate attention which is unavoidable. However, by having your day mapped out, it’s easier to shift your focus to address an issue and then be able to carry on with your remaining duties for the day.
Here’s a few tips and ideas that you may consider implementing into your daily routine to make your days more manageable:
Plan your day at the end and the beginning
Spend the last 15 minutes of your work day planning what you need to accomplish the following work day. By jotting down the top 2 or 3 priorities for the following day you can relax leaving work, knowing that you can pick up where you left off. When you come into work the following day, take 10 minutes to review your priorities and make any adjustments that may have come up as soon as you walked in the office. One way of doing this is to go through your Daylite task list and add high priority tasks to your worklist. This way, when you open up Daylite, you have a focus list of what to tackle. Read our blog on Starting a Focus List to learn more about this method for task management.
Schedule time to check your e-mails
When you’re working and have an e-mail come in, avoid the urge to check it right away. Opening that e-mail will only divert your attention from what you’re doing and make you think about something else that needs to be done. Resist! Check your e-mail once you’ve completed what you’re working on. If it’s an emergency, chances are it won’t be sent by e-mail.
Take breaks
Your brain, just like your muscles, can get tired and need a refresher.Give yourself a 5 or 10 minute breather every hour to reflect on what you’ve accomplished and what still needs to be done. This gives you time to re-prioritize if something else comes up and it also gives your brain the opportunity to reset and refocus. Often when we’re working on a task or problem it can be helpful to take a step back, adjust your view point to look at the big picture, then get back at ‘er!
Lump little tasks together
Set aside time in your day to fire through all the little tasks that you have to complete that always end up taking up a big chunk. Those small (and sometimes annoying) little things can waste a lot of time if they are scattered throughout your day. By blocking off a window of time and doing them one after another, you’re able to fire through them and get back to the big things that need your full focus.
Make a plan for the end of your meetings
Take 5 minutes after every meeting or phone call to recap and create a plan of action for what was discussed. While it’s fresh in your mind, it’s good to make notes of any tasks that you need to complete as a result of a meeting or a call. Map out where in your schedule (today, a week from now, 2 months from now) it will be a priority and set a reminder. You can do this in Daylite by creating a new follow-up task or follow-up appointment and assigning an end date so you’re reminded of it.
The less your brain is thinking about when to do things and how to fit things into your day, the more you can focus on getting work done. Daylite is extremely helpful in this sense because it is a project management software that you can customize to suite your workflow. With a Mac CRM that allows you to track leads, manage your tasks and projects as well as having a shared calendar, Daylite makes it easy to just get things done!
