How often do your eyes glance at the blinking clock on your office computer, only to realize it is suddenly 5 minutes to 5pm? Such is the life of the modern-day office worker – bound to the shackles of the desktop computer, iPhone and unending pointless meetings, it is near impossible to actually achieve productivity.
So how do we break away from the habitual evils of office life? Try adopting the following 5 simple strategies for bringing productivity back to your life.
Keep a calendar
Either electronically or the good ol’ fashioned paper diary, visualizing the grid of the working week is the most effective way to plan your time. But it is critical that you use your calendar in the most effective way. Stick to these rules:
- Only schedule meetings that have a clear purpose and agenda.
- Keep track of deadlines and dedicate blocks of time to work solidly on required tasks without distraction.
- Schedule time for a lunch break of at least 30 minutes, regardless of how busy you believe you will be.
Set aside 5 minutes at each end of the day for your calendar
Take a deep breath before you sit down at your desk in the morning and review your daily and weekly calendar. Ask yourself:
- Have I prepared for today’s appointments?
- Have I scheduled sufficient downtime between meetings to refresh my mind?
- At around 4.15pm, take 5 minutes to review the next day’s calendar.
- Ask yourself, what preparation is required for tomorrow’s appointments?
- Have I allocated dedicated blocks of time for working solidly on a single task (i.e. for drafting a report, reviewing a document, etc.)?
Make your desk a ‘clean zone’
Take note of the objects you use on a daily basis. Only these objects should be within arm’s length on your desk. On a weekly basis, dispose of, or archive, items that are no longer used daily. Keep an eye out for common offenders: post-it notes, old files, paperclips. By all means, surround your work environment with images and small objects that assist your state of mind – photos, postcards, mementos – but keep clutter to a minimum.
Create order from email chaos
Make use of your email desktop client’s ‘rules’ function to automatically file emails received from particular senders or relating to particular subjects. Keep a functional email folder system that compartmentalises administrative matters from projects and personal emails. Regularly review this system of folders for relevance and efficiency. Use follow-up flags and review these emails daily to ensure you have scheduled time in your calendar to attend to them.
Set time aside weekly for independent strategic thinking
Ensure you regularly schedule time for independent ‘strategic thinking’. On a weekly basis, set aside an hour to address a strategic issue. Use this hour to step back from the daily grind and dedicate time to growth; consider professional development, an upcoming project, an ongoing issue for your organisation, a new fundraising strategy for the staff social club, and so on. Keep it interesting by challenging yourself to think about a range of problems and topics.
Try out these 5 tips and see how simple it can be to declutter your busy working day.
Jessica Currie - Jessica is an experienced criminologist, regulatory consultant and anti-money laundering professional.
