1. Organise your workload

Design a list or spreadsheet that specifies all the tasks that you’ll need to complete. Note their urgency, approximate time needed until completion as well as their due date. From here you can organise your working day. By doing this exercise, you will get a sense of how to organise your workload to ensure that the most urgent items will be actioned first. For larger, long-term goals be sure to factor in enough small periods to chip away at them rather than waiting until they become urgent.

If your list makes you realise the amount of work you have in a set period won’t be possible to complete, set aside time to devote to the most pressing issues and provide a status update to those waiting on your work. As long as others can see a task is progressing, it can be a shorter-term way to manage a full workload until you can clear it.

In many jobs, there will be certain times when your workload’s at a hectic level, so having well-developed habits will enable you to get through a seemingly endless to-do list a lot more efficiently.

2. Review your environment

First off, it is crucial that you get unused items inside your office hauled away. Since they do not serve a purpose anymore, there is no point in keeping them inside the office premises. We are talking about the documents that are no more needed and have found a permanent place on the floor; the broken drawer pedestal that keeps staring into your eye and prevents you from focusing on your work; and the old table lamps that have no life left in them. Get them taken care of by a Junk Removal company in your neighborhood so that you can free up some space.

Once you are done with this, it is time for you to ensure that your workplace is tidy and spotless. Of course, we are not asking you to pick up the broom and the mop. It is something that your employer should ideally take care of. Your workstation and the entire office premises should be cleaned thoroughly every day with the help of providers of office cleaning london or wherever you are based. By doing this, your employer shows that he thinks well of your health. However, if this is uncommon in your office, you need to bring it to the attention of the management at the earliest!

If you are an employee who gets to see clean floors and work desks every day, then you should do your part to keep it looking organised. Once you’re organised on paper, set up your workspace to facilitate the most efficient means to complete your tasks. Laying resources out in the order that you’ll require them will save time. This is still achievable in a small or customer-facing workstation, but you may need to be more clever with storing items in discrete areas until they’re required in order to avoid clutter. By checking off all the materials you’ll require to manage a task, you’ll have a chance to chase up outstanding input from others before you need it and have to wait around for their contributions.

If you work from home and find your environment too distracting, whether it be noise or the dishes piling up encouraging you to procreate-clean, it may be time to consider looking at offices for lease or a co-working space so you can work in a more disciplined manner. Likewise, if you’re in a noisy office, book quiet meeting rooms or wear noise-canceling headphones when needed to minimise distractions.

3. Know thyself

Some people work best on detail-intensive tasks first thing in the morning, while others need to ease into the day and start with the routine admin. Whatever your style is, ensure that it meets the needs of your workload to maximise the amount that you can achieve at work. There is little point slaving away editing a large document mid-afternoon if you typically find yourself a little drowsy after lunch.

So cross-compare with your list mentioned in point 1 to schedule the completion of work tasks in a matter of urgency, but also to suit how you work best.

4. Use technology

Having Google at your fingertips is sometimes a curse when events, lol cats, and checking the news turn a 5-minute glance into a 45-minute break. Being human, we all need a time out to refresh our brains, so instead of banning all extra-curricular phone or internet use at work, set some parameters around how you will utilise them. Many people swear by the Pomodoro technique for time management which will see you working in 25-minute bursts followed by brief 3-5 minute breaks. After 4 or so 25-minute cycles, you will have earned a longer break.

If you can’t stick to something like this, there are several apps and desktop plugins that will lock your computer for specific tasks for a predetermined time.