AndyMcGowan

There’s always one person at work who is so effortlessly organised that it leaves you completely envious as a result. Fortunately, you can become exactly the same by adopting some of their techniques to help manage your workload more effectively.

Sadly switching your organised mind set on isn’t like flicking a switch, for it takes time to fully adapt towards a more organised routine. With this in mind, check out some of the most advantageous habits used by highly organised individuals that’ll make your life much easier.

Organise Your Emails

There’s nothing worse than a cluttered inbox. It makes distinguishing between the important and unimportant extremely difficult and simply wastes time. If you work for various clients/companies, create subcategories underneath your inbox and move messages into their relevant folders once read. This will make keeping track of individual clients more manageable and ensure no emails are jumbled together. Also, you could designate a specific timeslot every day for reading through your emails (if you get a lot of them).

Follow a Check List

A check list might be basic, but it’s undoubtedly practical. Writing down your daily or weekly tasks will free up your mental energy, enabling you to spend less time focusing on the things you need to remember. Avoid planning monthly schedules as this might cause you to feel overwhelmed with your workload. A check list will also prevent any deadlines from being forgotten.

Leave Room for Last Minute Changes

Not everything always goes to plan, even if you have a check list, so make sure you leave room in your schedule for last minute alterations – i.e. emergency meetings or requests; otherwise you could wind up utterly confused over what to do next.

Tidy Desk = Tidy Mind

Having a messy work space will only result in your mind becoming cluttered too and cause distractions. Keep all paperwork filed specifically (e.g. by clients or month) and possibly stored away in plastic storage boxes; this will increase your productivity as everything will be easily accessible. Designated areas for belongings will ensure nothing goes missing and therefore reduce your stress levels.

Ask for Help

There is no shame in asking for assistance. The most diligent individuals can differentiate between their strengths and weaknesses, meaning they can avoid unnecessary stress through delegating tasks to colleagues. Realise your time is more valuable completing work than deliberating on how to do it. This ties in with your inner perfectionist too, for although you may dislike the idea of handing someone the reins, it’ll work out better for managing goals and time.

Self-Care

If you have noticed, most successful individuals are well-groomed, and look well. This is due to the fact that they take proper care of themselves. A healthy mind and body shows on the outside, whether it be a result of self-care sessions, healthy eating habits, or exercise. Therefore, you should dedicate some effort to taking care of yourself. Go to that local spa you’ve been wanting to go to, look up “facial near me in Arlington, TX“, and give yourself a treat, should that be where you live. Eat well, exercise, and give yourself the sleep you need.

Wind Down

Learning to let go after a long working day is vital for monitoring stress levels. Use your free time for hobbies or activities designed to release stress (e.g. yoga or meditation); this will increase your motivation and overall focus for the next working day. Some workers might also want to consider relaxing in other ways too. For example, when stress becomes overwhelming for some people, they will decide to buy weed online and smoke it in their spare time. That allows people to unwind and relax properly. Maybe more people should consider trying that.

Let Go of Perfectionism

In actuality, perfectionists are incredibly disorganised. They are unable to start working on another task, despite the one they have already completed being to a high enough standard. All perfectionism achieves is a disproportion in work – you spend a huge amount time, energy and resources on one thing and actually produce very little. Stop focusing on the fine details and add extra attention to other responsibilities.

Avoid Procrastination

We all find it easy to procrastinate occasionally, but it soon becomes a problem if occurring regularly. Keep on top of your work and add variety to your schedule – e.g. mix less interesting tasks around with the more enjoyable to uphold your interest and to ultimately complete your work.

One Task at a Time

It is a common misconception that multitasking is the way forward, for attempting to tackle more than one task at a time spreads your attention around too thinly; meaning the different tasks you’re juggling get less time and lower quality outcome as a consequence. Give one task your ultimate, undivided attention, even if this includes turning off your emails to protect your time.

Be Conscientious

According to David W. Ballard (director of the American Psychological Associations Centre for Organisational Excellence), the Five-Factor Model – a concept that uses five personality dimensions: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN) to give an overall description of a person’s personality, and someone who scores high in conscientiousness are likely to be efficient, achievement-orientated and self-disciplined; resulting in better a better work ethic.