Get Organized
Do you feel overwhelmed with the never ending list of responsibilities waiting for you at the office? Some of the stress you may feel at work can be significantly reduced simply by becoming more organized. Follow these simple steps and you will be surprised how much more productive and less hectic your days will become.
1) Clear off your desk
Your work day has officially started as soon as you sit down at your desk. Being welcomed by a huge stack of unorganized papers, old post-it notes and a dirty coffee mug can make your day feel out of control before it has even started. Take time to purge and use stacked trays or other desktop organizers for important documents. Store as much digitally as possible.
2) Separate your inboxes
Most email providers have features that will separate personal emails from promotions, purchases and spam. Organize your inbox even more by creating folders for certain projects and for people who you work with regularly.
3) Create a schedule for responding to emails.
If you try to respond to every email as soon as you receive it, you will not get anything done. Some emails are urgent, most are not. In order to complete time sensitive projects, you need to be focused and uninterrupted. Along with creating a schedule for working on those projects, also create an email responding schedule for yourself. An example of this could be setting apart three 15 to 20 minute time blocks to respond to emails, once in the mornings, once mid-day, and once at the end of the day
4) Learn to Delegate
You can’t do everything yourself. Part of being organized is learning to properly delegate tasks to the right people.
5) Take 10 Minutes to Plan
The last 10 minutes of your day should consist of preparing for the next day. Write out 3-5 important projects and schedule time blocks to work on them the next day. Taking time to plan allows you to start each day with a purpose. It only take a few minutes and it can save a substantial amount of time and stress the next day.