In a world where technology changes come and go at the speed of a sonic boom, there is one skill that all others depend on and that never becomes outdated – organizational skills. It is so easy to become distracted, lose focus, and end up in the panicked “fight or flight” mode to achieve a deadline. In order to avoid that feeling of being overwhelmed here are 5 tips to start you down the joyful road to organization.
5 Ways To Get More Done
- Avoid interruption: If possible, leave your phone on voice mail during times you have scheduled to work on projects. If you have a private office, close your door. You might even place a sign saying something like “Hard at Work: Please Come Back Later.” If you are interrupted, help keep the interruption short by remaining task-oriented.
- Schedule time to make phone calls and return e-mail. When you leave a phone message, list times that you will be available by phone. Ask the other party to do the same – it will save you both a lot of time that would otherwise be spent on everyone’s favorite game, phone tag. Also, avoid checking your voice mail and e-mail frequently. Instead, review them at scheduled intervals during the day.
- Plan stress breaks throughout the day. Make sure you give yourself a break! Working to the point of total brain fatigue and muscle tension will never do you any good. Stretch, take some deep breaths, and go out to get your lunch, call your kids – do something to give yourself a little break. If you’d like, you can schedule these breaks as a reward for when you’ve finished a particular chore.
- Appreciate your own approach. Just as we are all different in other ways, we all have diverse organizational styles. Keep in mind that you have gotten where you are today because of whom you are and what you have accomplished. Employ improved organizational skills to enhance your personal style, not change it. Getting organized should make you feel good, not burdened.
- Stick to your plan. The best-laid plans often fall victim to their makers. While spontaneity is important, there is a fine line between it and plain procrastination. Once you’ve come up with a good plan for tackling a task, stay with it. Only you can prevent yourself from wavering.
Believe me, I understand how hard it is to ignore the phone or not leave your email up at all times so that you can see the messages as they come in. Once you finally convince yourself that you aren’t going to lose your clients because you don’t answer them immediately, you’ll discover at least two amazing things. The first is that once your clients get used to the fact that you answer emails or calls at a set time each day throughout the day, they will likely discover that it helps them become more organized as well. In fact most of my clients utilize this same trick in order to keep organized with their business priorities. The second thing you’ll notice is a completely unintended (but wonderful) side effect – not only will you accomplish more work in the day but you will do a better job at it. You will able to focus in on your task at the exclusion of all other distractions and this will make a world of difference in the work you put out.
Until next time . . .
Write On!
Paige
http://www.paigejackson.com/business
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