Get organized to defeat chaos

We all like a moan after a long, tiring day at work but deep down we know that if were just a bit better organized, things wouldn’t be so bad. We’d be more prepared for the tasks thrown at us, more able to deal with unexpected complications, and less likely to panic when there’s a deadline looming. “The beauty of being structured is that even the simplest and smallest of changes often have great effects on productivity – not to mention the positive emotional and mental effects,” says Swedish business guru David Stiernholm. He uses these principles in business, but they can apply to anything from creating a training program to planning an event or writing a book.

1 GET YOUR PLAN IN PLACE

Improving your habits should be regarded as a project like any other. Your first task is to decide on eight half-hour time slots when you will work on your structure project like meetings, just with yourself. The first slot is the one in which you schedule the next seven, so congratulations, you’re already on track! In this first meeting, find a way to reward yourself as you progress through the program.

2 CHOOSE YOUR TOOL

Where do you record the tasks you have to do? Perhaps some of them are emails marked unread or flagged, with more on Post-Its or in a notebook, while still more are in some kind of to-do list app. This is a common mistake. The more places you have for your notes, the harder it will be to identify what you need to focus on right now. Get a piece of paper and write down all the things you have to do as they come to your mind. Start with what you have to do today, this week and so on, and continue as far ahead in time as you feel is helpful. Decide where you will keep all your to-do tasks from now on. It doesn’t matter if this is a digital tool such as Outlook, or a notebook, or even sticky notes on a board. Once all your tasks are in one place you will instantly know what needs to be done and when and that you are not missing anything crucial or urgent.

3 CLARIFY YOUR TASKS

The devil’s in the detail when formulating to-do tasks. Go through your list and formulate the details of every task concretely and thoroughly. If you first have to do one thing and then another before you can check a to-do task off the list, divide it into two separate tasks. Make sure that each task contains a verb, and beware of verbs such as “fix”, “make sure” and other ambiguous descriptions of what you intend to do –you could end up obscuring an entire project behind vague phrasing.

4 CREATE YOUR CATEGORIES

The value of having a single to do list is clear. The downside is that looking at a long list of your tasks can seem overwhelming. This is where good structure comes in: by categorising, you will avoid being distracted by seeing tasks that you’re not interested in dealing with right now, and it will be easier to concentrate on the task ahead. Where do you need to physically be in order to do the task? How long will the task take to complete? When does the task need to be completed by? For example, if 20% of your tasks can be done during your commute, you will only be looking at a fifth of the whole list when you check it on the train. Digital to-do list tools let you categorise tasks by checking a box or using labels or tags. If your to-do list is in a physical format, you can use written symbols, split your notebook into sections using tabs or dividers, or simply use highlighter pens. Start by choosing just one way to categorise your to-do tasks, and add more categories gradually otherwise you will perceive this method as difficult and complicated, and go back to remembering things instead of writing them down.

5 TAKE TIME TO RECAP

Unexpected things happen all the time and when they do, schedules and plans get disrupted. We intend to make a change and create an ambitious plan for doing so, but something unforeseen throws us off-course. Tasks previously considered to be priorities may suddenly no longer be as important as a newer, more urgent task. The danger is that you feel discouraged instead of motivated, and conclude that your work situation is simply impossible to change. You should do your best to expect the unexpected. Instead of a
new structuring task, treat this slot as a “spare” one and use it as an opportunity to get back on track if you have fallen behind with any of the previous tasks.

6 HUNT OUT THE MILLSTONES

Checking tasks off your list regularly lets you experience the rush of having taken another step and accomplished something. But most people have some tasks that remain on the list for days, weeks or even months. They just sit there, fermenting and brewing frustration, and I refer to them as “millstones”. Every time you see them uncompleted, you feel disheartened and the list loses some value. Plus the longer you put these off, the harder it is to get started. Find your millstones and for each one, formulate the next possible step as a to-do task. Make it small, so small that you feel almost embarrassed to write it on your to-do list, and then it will be easy to do and you will be on your way, feeling motivated – which is much better than stuck and passive. You could even get such a boost that you feel like tackling one or more every day.

7 TIME TO GET STREAMLINED
There are lots of places you can store documents. If they’re physical, they could be in magazine files, hanging file folders, an inbox on your desk or just piles; if they’re digital, they could be on your desktop, on a shared file server, on a USB stick or in a cloud… or multiple versions of any of these. You might know your way around them, but if you’re ever away or sick, no-one else will. The other danger is distraction – the more files or piles you have, the more likely you are to catch sight of one while you’re working on another and think of something else you need to do. Choose one (or preferably more) of these storage places. Then choose three of whatever you are storing in that place. Then file it somewhere else or, even better, throw it away. You’re instantly more streamlined. A study reported in the Harvard Business Review showed that in an eight-hour work day, approximately 70 minutes are lost to distractions. If you can decrease that time. loss by only a tenth, you’re getting back the equivalent of 3½ work days a year.

8 LOOK BACK TO LOOK FORWARD

By doing this you will have realized a lot of things about the way you work and it will give you a very important structure tool: foresight. If you can create an ongoing routine that works for you, you’ll be able to anticipate upcoming events. Decide how often you need to pause and review your list and categories, when to do this so it works best for you (Fridays so you can “close” the week and relax over the weekend, or Mondays to start the week proactively?), and schedule these slots in. Create a checklist of what you’ll go through during them. You’ll find this gives you more latitude – which means you won’t be caught out by imminent deadlines and you’ll be less likely to finish things at the last minute.

Condensed from men fitness UK 2017.