Like the great Ferris Bueller said, “life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” While I usually agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Bueller, there is one aspect of my life that could really use some speed: my workflow. Working faster is so much more than banging on that keyboard, so to help you (and me) I have broken down time spent in the work day to the two most crucial elements. Here are some easy tips and tricks that could drastically enhance the speed of your workflow:
Managing Time:
The Mac application, Time Out is a great resource to schedule micro and macro breaks throughout your workday. This is incredibly helpful because it will remind you to avoid extended durations of staring at your computer screen as well as keep you accountable. If you’re like me and tend to wander towards Twitter, set your break times throughout the day and *only* wander when it’s time. You will be surprised how much more you get done when you block out scrolling through Twitter.
Workspace Tools:
While I have thousands of resources at my disposal to get organized, the only thing I have found and consistently use is the application Todoist. Available for download on literally anything, you can make it as complex or simple as you like. The moment I think of something I need to do, I enter it in. From there, I sort my list in order of how I want to complete them.
It is amazing how easy it is to tackle lots of work when you only focus on getting one thing done at a time. When I have my list all organized, I’m confident I haven’t forgotten about anything. This confidence allows me to focus on one task at a time, and get literally everything done. Of course, there are thousands of other applications (Momentum, Asana, Focuster and I Done. to name a few that are popular) but I find if you just pick one, it’s all you need. Your organizational tools should help, not create more work!
