Who wouldn’t?
We all have so much to do and not enough time to do it.
Here’s a recent testimonial I received:
“By organising my emails per Ciara’s recommendations, I have saved at least one if not two hours per day. I am no longer a slave to my emails”
Patrick Joy, Founder & Executive Director Suretank Group EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2014
One if not two hours a week, that’s between 5 and ten hours a week, which equates to between two and a half and five days a month.
Let me say that again: that’s a time saving of between two and half days and five days a month.
Five days a month is a work week.
If you could save the equivalent of a week a month by investing one day would you do it?
And yes this is a shameless sales pitch for my upcoming workshop 7 Steps to Powerful Productivity
But it is also a nudge to point you in the right direction.
What could you do with extra time?
January is a time for setting goals. One of the most common excuses for not achieving our goals is lack of time.
- Want to write a book?
- Take up Photography?
- Play more Golf?
- Read more Business Books?
- Spend more time with family?
Getting organised can give you that time.
Setting up systems, eliminating distractions, managing your email and your workflow will help you to find that time to do all the things you want to do with your life.
So if you are still looking for a New Year’s Resolution for 2015, how about Get Organised?
Where to Start?
Clear the Clutter
I always advise to start by clearing out the clutter from your life, the physical and the mental.
Spend a weekend clearing out your house. Schedule time to blitz your office and take some time each day to do a mind download, get everything out of your head and onto a electronic note or paper.
Purge your Email
Clearing your house and your office will have a big impact on your energy and your motivation to keep going. Schedule some time to purge your email. If you are one of the lucky ones and have less than 200 emails in your inbox an hour should do it. If you have thousands of emails this step will take a little longer. Use Barbara Hemphill’s FAT method (File Act or Trash)
Don’t move onto the next email until you make a decision on the previous one. Organise your email for action don’t do the work inside the emails.
Get a Task Manager
When you work through your email you will find that there is lots of work that needs to be done inside the emails. If the task will take less than 2 minutes you can do it straight away. If it is going to take longer, it must be scheduled in your calendar or sent to your task manager. I currently use a combination of ToDoist, Evernote and Asana. I use Evernote for storing project work, research or things that I will need for a later date. Todoist for small tasks or tasks that need to be done today or this week and Asana for larger projects that I am collaborating on.
Use your Calendar
Large pieces of work should be scheduled otherwise they will never get done. Your calendar is the most powerful productivity tool you will come across. Plan each day, each week and each month and you will make more progress that you ever thought possible.
Follow these tips to get you started. If you are ready to take action and benefit from these massive time savings (and you are in Ireland) come along next week to 7 Steps to Powerful Productivity
If you are lucky enough to be somewhere warmer than Ireland you could check out my book Chaos to Control
Photo Credit: Time by Thomas Hawk via Flickr
