Organize Your Day for Maximum Efficiency 

“With organization comes empowerment.”  ~ Lynda Peterson

If you had a dollar for every task on your To-Do List, would you be a millionaire? If you are like most people (myself included) you probably have a million things you want to get done. But of course, the reality is that there are only so many hours in the day so you have to choose what will get your time. And if you read last week’s post, you know that choosing how you spend your time is ultimately, how you spend your life. And that… is priceless; so you must choose wisely.

You must visualize your goals and prioritize your tasks. But once you’ve done that, if you really want to spend your time well, you’ve got to organize your day with maximum efficiency. So if you are someone that has a long To-Do List that never seems to end or you have a hard time staying focused and on task, its time you maximize your time and get more done in your day.

Last week I told you I’d be writing more soon on helpful tips to organize your day for maximum efficiency. So, this week I want to follow up on that and give you 7 Helpful Tips for organizing your day and feeling completely empowered to get things done!

1. Have a Morning Routine – There is proof that having a regular morning routine can start your day off in a positive and productive manner. However, use caution here. Not having a routine or having a negative routine can have the opposite effect, leaving you feeling down and disorganized before you even begin. For example, you might want to forgo watching the morning news and use that time for meditation or journaling instead.
2. Know When and How You Work Best – Schedule your daily tasks based on when and how you work best. For example, if you find you are most focused and creative in the morning then schedule tasks that require those skills to be done in the morning. If you know you need a quiet space when writing or concentrating, then be sure you shut off distractions like phones, etc. when you are doing those tasks.
3. Do It, Delegate It or Dump It – This is one of my favorite ways to organize the day for maximum productivity. Look at your To-Do List. For each item, identify if it is something you must do, something you can delegate to another person (i.e. your assistant, another employee, your family, etc.) or something that really isn’t a high priority. If it’s not a “must do” then maybe it’s time to dump it. (A surefire way to tell this is if it’s been on your list for longer than a month then odds are it isn’t that important to you.)
4. Have More Than One List – Break down your To-Do Lists into: Important-Urgent, Ideal-Possible, and Dream Projects. With the first, these are things that are important and must be done in a timely manner. I call these the WINs (What's Important Now). These are non-negotiable items. Even if you end up delegating them, they still must be done in a timely manner. The second list would be things that you’d ideally like to get done. They are important but not urgent. Just use caution here, if you keep putting them off, they may become urgent and it’s best not to work from a state of urgency if you can help it. So, plan to work on these tasks whenever possible. And the last list is for those things you dream about getting done but are not a priority. It’s possible that some of those “dump it” items might fit here if you decide not to get rid of them altogether. (Yes, I've had “clean the storage room.” on this list for the last year.) 😉
5. Take Breaks – It’s easy to think you don’t have time for a break. But if you find your energy and focus are waning, then it’s imperative that you take a break. Trying to push through and finish something when you are tired will only result in the task taking longer and likely not being done as well. Taking a quick break, even if it’s to get up from your desk to get a drink of water and stretch can be extremely beneficial to your productivity. Just be careful not to get distracted on your breaks and not get back on task in a timely manner. Setting a timer can be helpful here.
6. Be Fully Present and Focused – If you are distracted when working on a task, it’ll take much longer to complete the task then when you are completely present and focused. The old adage of multi-tasking has been proven to not be as effective as once thought. The truth is, multi-tasking is a lie. Our brains aren't actually capable of doing it, so trying to do multiple things at once causes each task to take longer to complete and they are less effectively done then when a task is focused on until completion before moving on to the next task. It can also be helpful to block your time so you work on similar things together. (I.e. schedule time to make sales calls in a block so you get in a rhythm and flow. Think of it as riding a bike. It takes more effort when you start and stop then when you get rolling and coast through.) Whatever the case, be focused and fully present when working on a task and I guarantee it’ll get done quicker and more efficiently then if you are distracted.
7. Only 3 "Bigs" a Day – Prioritize your To-Do List (refer back to tip #4) and only set 3 big non-negotiable goals per day. (Non-negotiable means it is a WIN and MUST get done. That is not negotiable!) If you have more on the list you can begin to feel overwhelmed and when that happens, it’s easy to lose focus or shut down. Schedule time for those three big tasks to get completed and then once you’ve completed them, you can look at your list and pull other tasks up to complete. This will give you a feeling of accomplishment rather than overwhelm. And that positive energy of completion (let’s face it, it feels awesome to check something off the To-Do List) will motivate you to keep at it much better than the negative energy of feeling like you can never get enough done. Note: if your 3 big goals seem too big, break them down. Smaller more manageable tasks keep the overwhelm down and productivity up.

You can empower yourself for success by using the above 7 tips to organize your days for maximum efficiency and productivity. You may not get a dollar for every task on your To-Do List but you will certainly value all the time you get back in your life to do what matters most. 

***Need help getting organized? Let me help you get clear about where you are and where you want to go, plus give you tools and tips to succeed. Click HERE now to schedule your free 30-Minute KickStart Call.

***Want to learn more about why Multi-Tasking Doesn't Work and how to actually get more done? Click HERE to check out this a short video!