Happy Monday, hope you had a great weekend. Are you planning to be better organised for the week ahead? Knowing you have so much to do and wondering how you will find the time? I’d like to share with you my plan for the week.
Make a list
This morning I’ve listed everything I want to do this week. Clearly there is more I’d like to do but I’m aiming for an achievable list. So I have my plan for this week, and I’ve already got some things listed for coming weeks.
My tasks include personal commitments, client sessions, client work such as writing LinkedIn profiles and revising CVs and business development – I want to update 2 eBooks: How to use LinkedIn to Find a New Job, and Create a CV. I also want to do housekeeping on my website and get rid of broken links. This is probably a stretch, but should be achievable if I make good use of time.
Switch Off email
This is the first thing I’ve done as I don’t want to be distracted. I’ll check emails after I’ve had my lunch and about 5pm today. I know I’ll find it easier if I deal with them in a group and also allow a limited amount of time, we save much more time when we are focused.
Pull the plug on my broadband
You may not be able to do this but if I don’t have easy internet access I’m not going to be distracted by shopping and random surfing. Instead I’m going to make a note of anything I want to look up and deal with it later. It’s so easy to get distracted by Facebook or other favourite sites and time just vanishes.
Diary the important commitments
I’ve got client sessions listed and my personal commitments too. I then see how much time I have left and can work out the number of work slots I have. I can then estimate how long a task will take. So for example updating the How to use LinkedIn to Find a New Job eBook I’ve estimated to take 6 x 50 minute slots. If it takes longer than I have the back up of dropping out the Create a CV eBook till next week as I’ll reprioritise completing this task.
Time for me
I’m not going to work flat out, I’m going to work in 50 minute chunks with 10 minute gaps in between. I’ve also given myself a proper lunch break, not just to eat while I check emails. I’m assuming that both will make me more effective.
When you are employed
As an employee you will have demands put on you by bosses and customers/clients. You can still manage your time and you may need to be assertive. You will want to make sure that you are working effectively, but then when your boss tries to get you to take on yet another task a really great response is to say something like – Yes I can complete the task/write the report/ go to the meeting. I’ve already got a full diary for this week so can we discuss which I should leave till next week?
You are being responsible but you aren’t going to just accept more and more. That’s likely to lead to illness.
Here’s to a productive week to all of us. I’d love to hear of any tips or challenges on my blog and I’m sure together we will work out what to do.
Best wishes, Denise
Brought to you by Denise Taylor, double award winning career psychologist with Amazing People and the author of ‘How To Get A Job In A Recession.’ My 7th book ‘Getting the Job You Want’ published by ICON books is now on sale.
Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
