Who’s In Control – You or Your Technology?

IN this electronic age, has the convenience of being able to have greater access to information actually made your life more complicated? Do you find yourself working 24/7 as you answer emails on your Smartphone, iPad or home computer, catch up on industry journals, or watch a webinar or two during the evenings and on weekends, instead of giving yourself much needed down time? Are you scheduling date night with your significant other, meditation time for yourself, workout classes, dates with friends, even time for reading a book? There is no shortage of technological productivity tools to help you become a more effective Manager.

But do they really deliver on their promise? How many hours have you spent on the Internet researching a myriad of products to help you become more productive? How many ‘apps’ have you tried and discarded? How many productivity seminars (or webinars) have you attended with the hope of finding the system that will finally make you or the practice more efficient? A few simple productivity management tips can go a long way toward decreasing technology distractions and increasing your productivity:

1. Clean Out Your Inbox (and Keep It Clean!) – First, let’s tackle your email inbox. Are you guilty of keeping hundreds of email – newsletters, news feeds, Google Alerts, etc. – in your inbox waiting for that elusive time when you get a minute to catch up on your reading? If you’re like most people that time never comes, or when it does come the emails are so old that the information has been updated many times over since you first received it. Only keep what needs to be handled each day in your inbox. And, as you clean out your inbox, you will reduce your feelings of overwhelm and actually feel a sense of accomplishment and control.

2. Create a System for Managing Snail Mail – The next area of overwhelm and clutter comes from the things you’re getting by US Mail – newsletters, journals, sales offers, brochures and pamphlets. Treat these just like you do your inbox. Separate them from the mail that has to be taken care of today, and set them aside in a ‘To Read This Week’ folder. Schedule time on your calendar every week to go through what’s in the folder and discard whatever you don’t have time to read. Skim publications looking for topics that are relevant to you right now. Here’s where the beauty of the electronic age helps you – if you miss a topic that later becomes relevant to you, all you have to do is enter a few keywords into Google to gain the knowledge you need.

3. Increase Focus with a Targeted To Do List – I find that a calendar and a well-defined To Do List are one of the most effective ways to stay focused on what you need to accomplish each day. Avoid the open-ended question: “What do I need to do today?” This will only cause your mind to race from one thing to the next. Instead of becoming focused and productive, you will increase your anxiety possibly becoming overwhelmed with a mountain of To Dos. A big running To Do List with no timeframe for completion attached to the individual tasks is just going to become another tried and discarded efficiency tool. You must hold yourself accountable by including target completion dates to find the real efficiency in the To Do List. I find that setting a goal – challenging myself – to complete a certain realistic number of tasks each day is a great way to get more done. The ideal number of tasks for me is 6. I like to make sure that those six items are differing levels of difficulty and time commitment. To maintain your focus, the question to ask each day is: “What are the 6 most important things I must do today?”

4. Create a Schedule (and Stick to It!) – You’ll notice that a lot of my suggestions revolve around scheduling. Your calendar is one of the most important tools you have to keep yourself organized, productive and in control. When you block time on your calendar, protect that time so you can use it for what you intended. You’ll find that once you schedule something, it is no longer floating around in your brain as one of those elusive ‘To Do’s’ that awaken you at 4:00 in the morning.

5. Make Time for Annual Goal Planning – One of your strengths as a Project Manager is your ability to access a wide array of information and knowledge. Important ways of doing this include networking, attending seminars, gaining new certifications, implementing new productivity tools and techniques in your practice and much more. You should approach this aspect of your personal development methodically. Each year, set aside time for goal planning. Identify the top 10-12 items that you really want to accomplish in the coming year. Take those items and schedule one per month for each of the months of the New Year.

6. The Power of Writing Things Down – Get in the habit of writing things down. Get a journal and use it to jot down lists of things you want to do, ideas you have, techniques you want to research, things you don’t want to forget, etc. Once you get ideas out of your head and onto paper, you free up your brain to work on other goals and tasks. You gain more focus, increase your ability to concentrate and, ultimately, get more done.

7. Take Time for Yourself – You need down time to function at your peak. Think about the things that give you joy. Is it exercise, a walk in your neighborhood, volunteer work, spending time with your family, reading, listening to music, a hobby, or something else? Make sure that you’re leaving time on your calendar to do things that feed your body, mind and soul. Start by listening to some meditation audios