Generally we have all been there, trying to do too much in too little time. And then there is the time-thieves – those little things that keep nagging your attention all through the day and make you loose track of where you were.
As a web designer, I know one or two things about stress, and how to work on short deadlines. Here are a few tips, that I hope you find useful:
- Work where you work best
If you ask people “Where do you get your work done?”, not many people will answer “the office”. If your job, or current task allows it – go to your favourite haunt – be it the pub, the coffeeshop, your summer house or a tree house. See this TED talk for a few good thoughts on the subject: - Check your email on regular times – not all the time
Today we have emails coming in constantly. We even have the ability to check emails on our phones, our mp3-players and our tv-sets. Some of us even have several email accounts and it takes time so that some days we just never get any actual work done because we are answering emails constantly.
One way of dealing with this information overload is to have time allocated for reading and answering emails. I have 9am, 11.30am, 3pm and 4.30pm as my allocated times. Some people get frustrated and try to push you into being accessible all the time – just explain to them that you will get back to them at that time, or if it is urgent, ask them to tell you straight away what it was about. Be firm, and notice how suddenly you can focus on your current task and not the things waiting in your inbox. - Close your door
Just like with emails – if you are accessible constantly, then people WILL come to you constantly. Allocate hours when you keep the door open, and make it clear that you are busy during other hours, either by physically closing the door or having some headphones on if you are in an open-plan office. It sounds nice to have an open door policy, but it isn’t very effective. - Pick 3 things that you will do each day
Don’t just let the day take you where ever it may. Find a structure in your day and stick to it. Pick three things that you will do today, three things only that would make you say ‘Today I accomplished this, this and that. I am happy about that.’. Deviate only for genuine emergencies. This way you will never run out of time just because you tried to squeeze in one more thing on your agenda. Once your three things are completed, do it again, but now for the rest of the day. - Keep meetings to a minimum
Meetings are the most unproductive things at work places. A one hour meeting between 4 people is in actuality 4 hours. To avoid them completely is impossible, but you can do your bit to keep them effective:
A. Set a time limit to the meeting and communicate it to all participants. Keep the time limit to less than 30 minutes.
B. Have an agenda. This could be a bulleted list of things or just keywords. By having an agenda, you make sure that the meeting won’t stray into banter or pleasantries.
C. Keep the number of people to a minimum. If two people can accomplish and communicate the information needed, then there is no need to invite six people.
D. Offer to send out notes from the meeting to people not able to come, or who would like to be informed of the outcome. This ties in with having an agenda above.
There you have it. Just a few things that have been brewing in my head the last couple of months. I have implemented most of these points with great success. Some need some fine tuning, but I leave it up to you. They are just suggestions after all.
