So block off a couple of hours sometime soon that you are going to devote to yourself and the vital task of getting organised. For a task of this nature I find it easier to make an appointment and treat it as an important meeting, rather than a single item on a “to do list”, in fact a simple trick here is to rename your list from a “to do list” to a “do list”. Sounds simple – it is still very powerful.
Take all the paper that is lying around and put it into a single pile. Then go through it from the top, and split it into four different piles.
The first is the paper you can dump. You might be amazed at how much you can get rid of. If the paper is to remind you of a particular task, and the details are available electronically, take a note of the task in your diary or on your “do list” – dump the paper. If you have put a magazine or article to one side to read later – dump it – you are never going to get time to read it! I have seen research that if managers took time off to read all the material they have put aside, it would probably take about two years to get through!
The second pile – is the paper that should be on someone else’s desk. So either write their name on the top of use one of those post-it notes if you don’t want to deface the paper. As a manager, your staff should feature here as some of the paper you have accumulated should be on your staffs list of things to do – remember delegation?
The third pile is the paper you have to file. There is nothing here that is going to jump up and bite you, you have to keep it either for back up or legal reasons. For now just create a single pile that can be filed away later.
The fourth pile is your action pile, this represents the tasks that you and only you can complete.
Now comes the fun part: Dump or shred the dump pile, deliver the paper from the second pile to its rightful owner, put the third pile somewhere out of sight until you can plan your filing session, so now the only paper on your desk is your own action pile.
Number the pages from 1 to the end. On a spreadsheet or A4 Pad, enter the numbers on the left and details of the task that has to be completed beside it. Go down through the list of tasks to be completed and ask yourself “What is the most important thing I can do right now?” Complete that task 100%, cross it off your list, and take out the list again and ask yourself “What is the most important thing I can do right now?” and repeat until you get to the bottom of the list.
Of course there are days your list will get longer, rather than shorter, there are days that you will be more productive than others. As long as you keep your workspace neat and tidy, as long as you can focus on the most important thing every time, and one more thing, when you are working on the most important thing, leave the list and the other sheets in your drawer or out of sight.
The best way to get lots done is to tackle the most important tasks one by one and celebrate your successes, Finally if there are two jobs of equal importance, do the job you like least first, that will give you something to look forward to.