I work full-time in a pretty demanding role. At work, I lead a large team of professionals and interact with clients across the globe to support a diverse portfolio of projects. At home, I transition into my second full-time job as a mother of two very young children, who dislike to eat and sleep. In the last four years, both me and my husband also did our MBA while working. I therefore have little to no time to bring my office work back to my home, meaning I must make the best of the 8 hours I spend at work everyday.
In this post, I want to share with you my 7 best kept secrets of how I manage to be highly productive at work. Some of these tricks I have learnt through experience and some through a very useful leadership course for first time managers. I still don’t perfectly execute them, but everyday is a new day, and I try again!
So here goes…
7 Secrets for a Highly Productive Day
1. Make TO-DO Lists Your Best Friend
I love To-do lists. The main reason why I am such a big fan of to-do lists is because they help me empty my mind. When my mind is free of all the clutter, constant reminder that I need to setup the dentist’s appointment or the nagging thought that I have not yet checked with my engineer on the upcoming deadline (more on this in tip #2), I can focus and get quality work done.
This does not need to be complicated. Many advocates of to-do lists suggest to keep only one list. This has sadly never worked for me, and therefore, I have two running lists. I keep the first one on my phone (I love Google Keeps) for tasks that usually take more than one action to complete. The other list I make on sticky notes (you’ll find these stuck to my monitor), covering mostly urgent tasks that must be completed the same day. Regardless of whether you use sticky notes, a fancy planner or a digital product, it is essential to do a brain dump so that you can use the space for greater creativity and productivity.
2. Maximize Use of Outlook ‘Tasks’ Feature
At work, I need to engage with cross-functional teams to get my projects done. For several of my tasks, I have to rely on inputs from other people, which don’t always come in time or without regular cadence. Here’s my little trick for keeping track of when to follow-up with the right people:
I use Outlook’s ‘Tasks’ feature to serve as my alarm clock! Every time I get an email which requires me to check-in with someone, I immediately flag it for a reminder at a later appropriate date. Not only does it make sure I close the loop on that email, it also helps me clear my mind so that I am not thinking about the issue everyday.
You can assign tasks to yourself to serve as reminders, or to your team to follow up on deadlines for weekly updates, end of the month reporting, etc.
3. Choose Your Communication Medium Wisely
I get invited to an average of 6 meetings per day. Some meetings definitely require my presence for decision making or information dissemination, but several others can still accomplish their purpose if I do not attend. Everyday, I get over 100 emails. Some of them are truly needing my attention, but do all of the others need to have me on CC?
Here is my take on communication channels at work:
Don’t do an hour long meeting if you can accomplish the same outcome with an email. Don’t spend 20 minutes writing the email if you can call the person. And don’t spend 10 mins calling the person if you can just walk down 2 cubes to discuss the matter in person. Not only will you be saving time, but also passing on the message without chances of miscommunication and misinterpretation.
4. Book Meeting With Yourself (And Honor It)
This one is real simple. If you need to get something important done, book time in your calendar. And honor the commitment you made to yourself by not double booking that slot.
5. Learn to Say No
Learning to say no did not come easy, but it was necessary to ensure I do quality work, while maintaining my sanity. Therefore, if a project/task does not align with my personal or professional goals, it does not go on my plate! I read an interesting article how to implement Refusal Strategy to say ‘No’ more often. At work, instead of trying to please everyone, my philosophy is to ensure my stakeholders and I are on the same page regarding the priorities, so that I can focus on delivering the best results possible for the projects I do execute.
Priorities can also change over time. When I was doing my MBA, work had taken a backseat and that was OK, as long as it was a conscious choice. At this time in my life, my focus is on my family, my work, my closest friends, and helping young professionals in STEM fields find their career passion.
6. Delegate If You Do Not Need To Do It
This is management 101. Yet so many of the first time managers get it wrong. I made the same mistake as I stepped into my first team lead role. I felt that I knew best how to do everything, and was afraid to let go for fear of being imperfect, the definition of imperfect being it is not done my way.
As I stepped into my current role as an Engineering Manager, I suddenly grew from managing a team of two to managing a team of 15 people. Not only do I manage a very diverse team, I also look after a very diverse portfolio. I am like Jane of all trades, but queen of none! This role has therefore taught me to be humble and accept that my subject matter experts can probably do things better than I can.
Your job as a leader is really to ask the right questions, so that you can challenge your team to bring out their best everyday. The sooner you learn that, the earlier you’ll find yourself with more time to focus on important tasks, and less time firefighting (in a future post I will talk about the difference between urgent and important priorities).
7. Take Care Of Yourself
Put your oxygen mask on first before helping others! I have found this cliched airline instruction to be equally applicable for increasing my productivity level everyday. When I take time out for myself to do things that I enjoy, I find myself to be a better employee, a more easygoing partner and a happier mama. Though my personal time has gone down tremendously after having two kids, I still try to build in self-care activities throughout the week. This includes small things like taking an hourly 5 min break at work, listening to my favorite podcast while driving, meeting up with my husband once a week for lunch, and planning for my next travel adventure over the weekend.
It does not matter if the activity you do is small or big, what matters is that you consciously take time out for yourself, to enjoy the things that bring you joy, decompress and bring back a more productive self, both at work and at home.
What tips and tricks do you use to be highly productive at work?
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Happy reading and see you next time!