I love being a writer.
What I can’t stand is the paperwork.
Have you ever felt like you are losing in the battle of paperwork, even in our computerized age? Does it seem like that mountain of paper on your desk is constantly growing higher and higher as the clock ticks? Not to worry. The good news is that you can take back control. You could make yourself a lovely little origami hat out of it like the gentleman in the picture, but I am not certain doing that will prove to be constructive on any level.
A much better way to get things under control is by implementing some basic, but effective time management techniques, you can cut that mountain down to size and keep it that way. Effective time management is the best way to drastically cut down your existing work load, and keep it at a level where you can manage it effectively on a day to day basis.
1. Complete your tasks in the order of importance
If you don’t really pay attention, everything that comes to your desk will be labeled, “Important!” And while they may be truly important to someone else, you simply cannot survive if you make everybody’s priority your own. You will probably never get much of anything completed that way!
Instead of you immediately adopting the urgency with which the project was brought to your attention, choose a sequence of steps:
– Assess the importance of the task in relation to everything else you have to get done.
– Advise the person requiring your urgent attention that you have a specific window of time allotted to work on their project.
– Adhere. Stick to your plan. Stick to completing the tasks in the order of importance.
2. Stick to the Schedule Set for Tasks
Once you have identified the sequence in which you plan to attack the tasks at hand, it is very important to stick to that schedule.
You will very likely encounter one or both of the following scenarios when you start trying to clear your desk:
First, you will tell yourself that you will complete a specific task later because you are really not in the mood to work on it right now. And/ or…
Something else that is truly “small” in the overall scheme of things will be added to your pile, and you will begin to drift away from the schedule you have set because you are just trying to get that particular task over and done with.
Both of these scenarios will, without fail lead to the pile of paper growing larger.
It’s very simple concept: set a schedule and stick to it.
You know the old saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” There is little or no point trying in trying to conquer the world all at once. In most cases, if you try to do too many things all at the same time, you will end up not conquering anything!
3. Make Time for Re-Energizing Yourself
Re-energizing plays an important role in being able to manage your time and work effectively and efficiently. The reality is that when you are feeling burned out or just plain exhausted, it is all but impossible to focus on the task at hand. You start to find that you are becoming easily sidetracked by any and every sort of distraction. And, before you know it, you are that much further away from getting your desk cleared than you were before.
Give your brain a chance to breathe and relax. It actually functions much like most of the other machinery you encounter. It needs servicing every now and then! And a sharper mind is most naturally more successful at setting and attaining goals.
Clearing paperwork can be quite a daunting task. In fact, without effective time management skills and strategies, you are probably have been feeling stuck, thinking that you might never get it down to size. But, the more organized you are, or can get, the greater the likelihood that you will be able to stay on top of your work, instead of having your work on top of you!
Thoughts?
Photo Credit: elod beregszaszi via Compfight cc
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