We live and work in an extremely fast paced world where technology has provided us with the tools to more easily perform our jobs.  However, the pace at which we all work coupled with the instant access to information has made it more important than ever for us to maintain a healthy work-life balance.  In order to do so, we need to revisit those basic organizing procedures that may have been more faithfully followed when we weren’t so tech savvy. In addition, the current need to do more with less has made it necessary to re-assess our work flow to ensure that we are being as efficient as possible.  If this isn’t the case, some business organizing solutions should be adopted which will enable us to begin to function at increased efficiency. It is time to put some of those tried and true organizing practices back into play.

Here are some business organizing tips to get you started:

To-Do List: This is a great tool for keeping track of all that needs to be done.  It is a living document that can be continuously updated.  Every time a viable task or project comes to mind that needs to be addressed it should be added to this list.  It is necessary to ascertain the importance of a task prior to its inclusion on this list.  While we might like to pursue every idea that comes to mind, in reality there isn’t enough time to do so.  Hence, it is imperative to weed out the non-essential tasks and to leave them off this list.

Prioritize Tasks:  Once you have created an ongoing to-do list, it is important to periodically review the tasks on the list and establish a criteria for prioritizing them since it will be impossible to tackle them all at one time.  In establishing the criteria consider issues like pending deadlines, financial impact and workflow implications. Identify the top 2-3 priorities for each day and focus on them. By limiting the number of top priorities, you will have a definitive goal and will be more likely to be successful.  It is most advantageous if the priorities for each day are set the night before – that way you will be able “to hit the ground running” each morning.

Plan Your Work/Work Your Plan:  Before diving into a project, take a step back and assess what needs to be done to produce the desired result.  In doing so, identify the steps that should be taken, the order in which the tasks need to be tackled, the amount of time required and the additional assistance or information that will be needed. Once this has been done, you can be assured that your approach is the most efficient means to the end.

With a well thought out plan, there is a definitive focus so that all involved will have a clear understanding of their assignments and hence be better able to manage their own time and priorities.

Book Time For Tasks:  With the typical daily interruptions, there are days where you can still be checking the morning e-mails and it is almost lunch time.  This is why it is crucial that time is scheduled on your calendar to work on each day’s priorities. As complex tasks will require more time, blocking out time on a number of days to handle them is highly recommended.  This should be done at the start of the task so that the time will be on reserve should needed. In addition, since you will be working on these priorities at specified intervals across a series of days, you shouldn’t find yourself with a looming deadline and a ton of work still to be done when you would rather be wrapping up your day.

Being more productive at work allows us all to accomplish more, to limit the number of 14-hour days and be able to take well-deserved time off over the weekend.  This should be everyone’s objective and is possible…all we need to do is to get organized!