Office Routines and Time Management

The same time- and task-management tools that you’ve used to organize life at home can also bring your workday under control. Routines, checklists, and to-do lists help you cut through the confusion and make the most of your time each day.

At the office, maintain master and daily to-do lists just as you do in your personal life. A two-step list system organizes the work you need to do and makes sure you get the most important things done first.

Regular “brain dumps” onto a master to-do list cut stress by bringing ideas out of the recesses of your mind and onto paper, where you can address them and act upon them. Use the master to-do list to break down large goals into individual steps. Each day, move items from the master to-do list to a shorter list of daily actions. At the end of the day, shift any undone tasks onto the next day’s to-do list so they won’t fall between the cracks and not get done.

Streamline paper handling with an office action file. Keep a small desktop file holder to separate incoming paperwork according to whether it’s something you need to do, buy, decide, file, delegate, or hold for further information. Adapt the action file principle to your computer inbox as well, to streamline incoming email and triage incoming requests to folders organized according to action.

SPEEDY SOLUTION

Along with a to-do list, consider building a “to don’t” list: a short reminder of things that interfere with your productivity. Surfing social networking sites, sending personal email, and asking a certain chatty co-worker about her health are all worthy “to don’t” list entries for the office.

Building a Workaday Routine

Developing an office routine is the surest way to get down to work, quickly and well. Bundling a set of steps into an orderly progression, routines speed the job and prevent wasted time.

Begin and end each workday with short routines designed to mark the transitions between work and personal time. Drop car keys in a ceramic dish, hang your jacket, and stow your purse or briefcase as you sit down at the desk; the routine will be the signal to start your day. At day’s end, tidy up the desktop, water the office plant, and turn out the lights to tell yourself it’s time to leave the office and return home.

Use chunking to carve out specified times each day to answer phone calls, return email, or provide feedback on a needed project. Establishing a set time to receive incoming calls can help keep you from being interrupted throughout the day, so include this information each time you must leave someone else a phone message.

Creating Calendar Checkpoints

Use calendar checkpoints to keep your work life and workspace organized. A few simple routines tied to each day, week, and season keep your organized office in good shape.

The inbox fills up daily, and a bulging inbox is distracting and disheartening. Get in the habit of clearing your inbox at the end of every day. Route email items to action folders in your mail client to keep you focused. If you can do an item in two minutes or less, do it now.

Begin and end each week with a clean slate and clear desk. At the beginning of the week, set the stage for success by arranging materials you’ll need for current projects. Before leaving for the weekend, dump clutter, take out the trash, and clear your desktop for a new week.

To stay organized throughout the year, schedule regular office retooling days. Every few months, set aside a day to dive into your workspace, cleaning out files, reorganizing drawers, sorting reading materials, and removing clutter.