Regardless of whether or not we are still pursuing additional training or an advanced degree, many of us still correlate the days immediately following Labor Day with thoughts of getting back to work or work/class as the case may be.  This is a great time to review our to-do lists and systems to be sure they are aligned to ensure success as we move into to cool, crisp days of fall.

The more that we have to do the more important it is to maximize our productivity and create a productive environment.  According to Barbara Hemphill of the Paper Tiger Productivity Institute, a productive environment is a setting in which everything around you supports who you are and who you want to be.  In order to achieve this, we should focus on sharpening our organizational abilities and adapting good time management skills.

To begin with, we need to re-assess our objectives, which become the basis for our daily and weekly to-do lists.  As there are a finite number of hours in the day, it isn’t possible to do everything that we might like.  Hence we need to weed out the essential from the non-essential.  To aid us in clarifying our objectives, we should apply the SMART methodology to the process.  When setting objectives, make sure that they are SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, RELEVANT, TIMELY. This will enable us to focus on those tasks which will yield definitive results.

Now that the objectives are clarified, there is a growing list of tasks that need to be addressed. The method in which we keep track of these tasks can vary from a to-do list to a sea of post-it notes or a combination of both. In any event, there is a high probability that all of the information that is being collected can’t or won’t be acted on based purely on the notion that there isn’t enough time to do so. Here are some tips for creating a better process for reminding yourself of what needs to be done.

• Assess the importance of each task and only include those which are very important on your list.
• Accept the fact that not all tasks have an equal degree of importance.
• Identify the top 2-3 tasks and focus on them until they are completed.
• Block out time on your calendar to work on specific projects.
• Recognize that there are tasks on your list that you will never get to and plan to re-assess their importance at a later date or just cross them off the list.
• Delegate tasks as appropriate.
• Get into the habit of consolidating all of your to-do’s in one place – preferably creating a system that is easy to use and doesn’t include post-its!
• Group like tasks together.  For example, schedule a block of time to make/return all of your phone calls.

Lots of paper, e-mail and other data can be a byproduct of many of the tasks that we undertake.  So we can find ourselves spending lots of very valuable time trying to locate a specific document or folder. Hence, it is imperative that our filing systems are effective and enable us to quickly retrieve documents on our desks, in our file cabinets and on our computers.  Here are some suggestions for better managing our paperwork.

• Start by clearing all of the paper on your desk so that all that is left are those papers related to either new tasks or ongoing ones.
• Sort the papers that are left into categories by the type of action required and create files for each category. File all incoming paperwork in appropriate folders upon receipt and review.
• Create a system for filing pending items.  Papers related to specific event or project that requires an action in the future should be included in this file.  A tickler file or the Swiftfile is a good tool for tracking this type of information.
• Set up an in box so that incoming materials don’t get mixed in with the paperwork already on your desk.

As more and more communication is done via e-mail, we need to manage our overflowing in boxes so that we are making the most of the time spent on our e-mail.  Some tips for doing so are as follows.

• Schedule time to check your e-mail.  Depending on the volume of daily mail, you may need to check it 2-3 times during the day.
• Open a message only when you are ready to act on it.
• Read all e-mails from one sender prior to replying.
• Create folders and move messages that need to be kept out of your in-box as quickly as possible.

Even once we have adapted the above suggestions into our daily routines, we should periodically re-evaluate our productivity.  This will highlight areas of improvement as well as identify areas where more work may be needed.  A great self-evaluation tool for doing this is the Productive Environment Scorecard^TM.  If you are interested in finding out how well you score on the productivity scale, contact me at Stephanie@theorganizingzone.com and I’ll send you a copy.