Organization is what guarantees that you will move forward and complete the projects you have set out for yourself, and it makes it easy, surprisingly, once you have the right schedule for yourself.
A process should be as simple as possible but not simpler than what is required. Do not create something too elaborate because it will create confusion, and people will not follow it. Simplify your workflows as much as possible.
The Only Handle It Once principle, otherwise known as OHIO, is a useful model that will help you improve your productivity. The idea behind it is that once you start working on a specific task, you work on it completely from beginning to end. That is, once you touch an activity, you do everything related to it until you finish.
This approach is especially useful for shorter tasks, like a quick email or phone call. Instead of letting it take up space in your inbox or to-do list, you take a few minutes to take care of it. The task doesn’t even ever have to make it to your to-do list. Of course, it is not always possible to do everything at the moment. If you cannot work on the incoming task immediately, set a reminder at that moment to work on it in the future.
With everything that we balance regularly, it can often feel like time is moving too quickly. Like many other parents, I sometimes look at my daughters and cannot believe how fast they have grown. Time flew. All I can think about during those reflective moments is that I must make every minute count because time will not stop.
At the point when we are choosing how to spend our time, a million possibilities are available. The path is completely open because, at any given moment, we can choose anything. The catch is that once the choice is made, the moment is gone. The time has passed, and we can’t go back. The key is to choose wisely and to choose what matters the most.
Process implementation is a necessity in any company. Set procedures standardize your operations and allow you to deliver your product consistently. Between one task and the next, they also help you and your teams ensure no one forgets the basic yet fundamental steps inherent in any procedure.
Atul Gawande’s book The Checklist Manifesto (public library) presents a compelling case for using checklists in companies. He explains why procedures are so important, when you should use them and how to implement them. Throughout his book, Gawande provides useful advice on how to best work with checklists. He stresses the importance of formatting and how to present the content properly, for instance, which will help you get the most out of the processes at your company. The guidelines that Gawande describes will help you implement or improve upon your company’s processes.
Even within the same industry, every company is different. Selecting the systems that you will use within your company can often be difficult because the programs that are available for managing companies are not always customizable. Certain solutions are more adaptable than others, depending on their price.
Modifications are sometimes not enough; you may need to add more systems to arrive at a comprehensive result or implement further add-ons to the system you already have. It all depends on what works for you. Nevertheless, the solution you arrive at will probably never be 100% perfect. A workflow may not be as smooth as you would like, or the system may have quirks that you cannot eliminate.
We juggle numerous tasks, day in and day out. The mountain of work can often seem to grow every day and the amount of work we need to do never seems to end. It is at times like these when it’s important to question the quality of the work we are doing. There are days when we may complete 20 different to-do list items, but what have we accomplished in the grander picture?
The to-do list is inevitable and quite powerful. It is the means through which our goals can become a reality, but it can also become a problem when it starts having a life of its own and controlling our lives. Instead, you can ask yourself the following questions at the beginning of each day:
What matters the most today?
What will have the greatest impact?
What is crucial today?
There are several ways to organize a company; you may choose to organize by function, by business unit, which is common in larger organizations, or by using a flatter structure. Whatever model works best for your company, it’s important that the structure be intentionally designed and not just a haphazard arrangement of functions that have been organized just to get the work distributed. Every role and function in a company should be included, and nothing should be left out.
That an organization should be meticulously crafted might seem obvious to a professional who works in a well-ordered corporate structure. However, for a growing company, the complexity is immense as workloads increase. What should go where? Who should do what? These are the types of questions that a newer company is constantly confronting to make sure all the work is done well and efficiently. Often, these questions are asked when it’s too late, and a problem has arisen, such as an activity that should have been completed and wasn’t or something that wasn’t finished on time.
I often wish I had more than 24 hours in the day. Although obtaining a few extra hours is unfortunately not possible, there are ways to get the most out of the time we do have. These practices have helped me be more productive during the time that I have, and I hope they help you.
Being organized is a critical component of professional productivity. When everything is in its place and easy to find, work gets done more quickly and with the least amount of friction. As an added benefit, I find it more pleasant to work in an organized environment.
Therefore, I try always to maintain control of my inbox and my computer desktop, and to ensure that the top of my work desk is clean. My goal is to have all emails responded to, archived, deleted, or set as tasks within 24 hours. My computer desktop should have no files (everything should be uploaded to the cloud), and my desk should be neat at any given moment.
Therefore, I try always to maintain control of my inbox and my computer desktop, and to ensure that the top of my work desk is clean. My goal is to have all emails responded to, archived, deleted, or set as tasks within 24 hours. My computer desktop should have no files (everything should be uploaded to the cloud), and my desk should be neat at any given moment.