Step away from the desk

I’ve tried the “exercise” tip from Jonathan Fields a few times this week. When I hit a total mental standstill, I got up and moved around – either picking up clutter throughout my workspace or taking a quick walk to the 7-Eleven for an afternoon pick-me-up. When I sat back down to work, my mind was quieter, and the rest of the afternoon was far more productive.

Block time for tasks

I’ve also been trying to block my schedule into “X hrs on Task A” or “X minutes on Task B” – and aiming to complete certain things before and after lunch. I use Office TIme (available for Mac and Windows) to track my hours on a variety of things. I like that the timer is up at the top of my screen, making it easy to see how much time I have left to work. It is really easy to use, and has helped keep me accountable.

Immediately plan your day

When I arrive in the morning, I spend 15-30 minutes reviewing email, my calendar and jotting down my list for the day. I try to create the list in order of importance, and I leave off anything that doesn’t have to be done today. I reference the list all day, instead of wasting time reassessing my to-do list throughout the day.

Turn off email alerts (seriously)

It’s amazing how distracting that little “ping!” and pop-up balloon can be. Again, even if it only distracts you for 30 seconds, think about how many times the alert pops up throughout the day. I read this tip at least 30 times on various sources before I finally did it myself. Trust me, you won’t “forget” to check your email.

I’ve also stayed off Adium my collective instant messaging client (for Mac), for the last week or so, and seen my productivity greatly increase. Again, it wasn’t necessarily that I was spending all day chatting, but I was distracted by people signing on/off and the alerts that popped up.

Use the simplest tool available

Right now, I’m composing this blog entry in TextEdit, adding in the basic HTML tags as I go along. I’ve found that it takes me much, much longer to write and format the post if I do it all in the WordPress interface. [I've researched/written all this in about 20 minutes] If the extra bells and whistles are available, I use them. By using the simplest tool available, you can minimize the distractions and focus on the true task at hand.

I hope these tips help you find some extra minutes throughout your day. Please share your own tips in the comments.

Photo credit: brandoncwarren/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

I developed a new project tracking/scheduling/to-do system last week. It involves a big orange wall and a color-coded system of Post-Its. I run the days of the week across the top (with today at the far left) and I run clients/projects down the left side. Green means active, blue means inactive (I’m waiting for materials from a client, the project hasn’t started, etc.) So far, I love it.

I should probably back up a bit…I am a perpetual list-maker. I always have a to-do list, a to-pack list (for trips), a to-buy list, a i-wish-i-could-buy list, etc. I’ve also tried a TON of different methods for keeping track of my projects/schedule, because something inevitably falls through the cracks, no matter how hard I try.

I liked Ta-da Lists from 37 Signals, but it was really hard to move tasks from day to day. My lists got really long and overwhelming. So, then I tried TeuxDeux, which is very cool-looking and designer-y. It has great drag-n-drop features, but…if I didn’t log in…I didn’t see my list. And stuff didn’t get done.

Scrap paper lists are handy, but they can get lost, or shoved under a pile of papers.

This new system (which I don’t have a name for yet) takes my list and blows it up. I can easily move a Post-It from one day to another, and it only takes seconds. Some are really generic (like “comps due”) and I reuse those over and over again and others are very specific (“research paper tray”).

I think the best part is that it has helped me visually see how much I have on my plate for the day, and whether or not it’s realistic. It is also great for quantifying how many days I have until that next phase of the project is due. Monday deadlines always seem to creep up (“oh, that’s not due until next week”) but it’s easier to see them coming now, since they’re not on the next page of my planner.

Pulling Post-Its off the wall is also somehow more satisfying than crossing something off a list. Maybe because it’s completely gone. No clutter, no reminder that I originally had 10 things to do — I only focus on what’s left.

Is it a little crazy? Over the top? Yeah, probably. I think it works for me because it’s outside of my line of vision while I’m concentrating on a task, but any time I enter or leave the room — BAM. Reminders.

Today I had a lot to do, so I made a quick #1-10 list of mini-tasks…that helped a lot too. I didn’t have to continually “go back to the wall” and stare for awhile to figure out what the next-most-important thing was. It’s 5:00, and I’m right where I expected to be in that list. And that never happens.

How do you stay on top of your to-do list?