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A Productive Start to Each Day
Kicking off the morning with good habits
Far too many professionals show up at their offices each morning, bright eyed and ready to work, with no real plan or agenda for what they are trying to accomplish. Or, they come in with a plan or to do list, but without the tools they need ready at hand. The result is that they spend their first hour or two of the day – the time that most of us are more energetic and productive – figuring out what should be on the schedule--or worse, looking for files, office supplies, and whatever else they need to actually get moving.
In this way, lots of professionals lose what could have been their most productive time, simply because they were not ready to use it productively. And they may never get any of it back; often, by the time they are clear and focused on what they would like to accomplish for the day, other distractions have given them new priorities, or frustrated them to the point that it is hard to remember what the critical action items were.
Having this sort of thing happening occasionally is just part of modern working life. Go through it too often, however, and you will quickly find that you are not accomplishing what you need to in order to get ahead in your job and career. With that in mind, here are a few tips to regaining control over your schedule and giving yourself a few more extra hours every week:
-
Make tomorrow's plans today.
If you can get into the habit
of writing out a schedule, or at least prioritizing your projects
and tasks for the next day before you leave the office, you will
have everything you need to hit the ground running in the morning.
This does not have to be a long and agonizing process; simply figure
out what you most need to finish for the next working day and place
that first in your Daily Action folders, along with a schedule of
when you will do grouped activities.Be sure you have any materials or information on hand that
you would need to get started.
While planning for the next day might sound like one more chore to do before you finish work, and something that you don't have time for, it can actually be a relaxing exercise. That is because, by knowing where you are headed the next working day before you leave the office, you can take a lot of worries off your mind. There is a lot to be said for leaving work at work, and making a plan you can pick up on in the morning is a great first step. - Do not over-schedule. Try this with both the number of items on your list and the time increments you set. If there are too many things on your list, then you will not have a good chance of getting them done, and your plans will become less and less meaningful. In the same way, you are virtually guaranteed to run into distractions, so build time in your calendar to deal with them.
- Put the important items first. This is a frequent topic for me, as well as other time management experts, but that is only because it is so important. If you can begin your day by doing the most important things first, then the rest of the items in your Daily Action file will take care of themselves. A lot of your success in business will depend on your ability to start and finish large, important projects, even when there are more urgent tasks constantly pulling your attention away. Setting aside time to finish what you most need to will instantly make you more productive than most of your peers.
Losing a few minutes here and there to plan out your day, have some coffee, and get ready to tackle your most important work might seem like a normal, harmless part of a professional’s routine. Break that habit for even a few weeks, however, and you will quickly see what could be possible when you start the day off focused and ready to work.
If you would like to jumpstart your office organizing efforts and
add to your time management skills, we can help!
Corporate Time Management Training: seminars and consulting
to increase daily work flow and reduce stress
Individual Assistance: our onsite and virtual office
organizing to bring about changes quickly
On Your Own: books and CDs to work at your
own pace