I need your help. Before having the baby, my memory was awesome. I never had to write things down as I would just remember everything that I needed to do at a given point. Now, here we are post baby and I can't remember anything! What are your little tricks to staying organized at work? I know it should be as easy as JUST WRITE IT DOWN! But for some reason, I don't do that. I tend to be a bit cluttered so my desk doesn't help. I was thinking that maybe I should schedule some time on my calendar every day to collect my thoughts but wasn't sure if it will be more helpful to do this at the beginning of the day or the end. I just need to get into a good habit. Thanks for your help!
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Two things that come to mind are outlook reminders and actually scheduling "work time" in your calendar.
Set up a meeting first thing in the morning, just to go over your action list.
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I write myself a lot of lists. I have calls/meetings/appointments scheduled in my Outlook calendar, of course. I also have a small memo pad that I use as a daily to-do list. I'll repeat anything noted in my calendar, but I also note the tasks/projects I'm planning to accomplish that day there.
I also take notes in another notebook, separated out by the different client accounts I work on (PR agency). Whenever I have to-do's that emerge from a meeting or call, I write them in my notes with an asterisk so they jump out at me. Then I also add them to my daily/weekly to-do list.
So basically, a ton of repetition! I jump back and forth all day long on different clients, so there's no way I could remember everything I'm supposed to do if I didn't write it down.
Regardless how cluttered my desk gets (which admittedly, isn't very bad), I always have my daily to-do list pad and big notebook handy.
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I write down everything that HAS to get done in my calendar. Then I cross it off and it helps me feel accomplished. I also color code my calendar, highlighting personal stuff in pink, deadlines in red, general reminders in blue, and events in black.
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@MUI831: I use a basic small notebook as a reminder book. I use 1 page per day and it has my meeting notes, to do lists, hours, etc. I love technology but I don't always have the time to transcribe a to-do from a meeting into an outlook task.
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I think doing it at the beginning AND end of the day is best. Morning: unpack, settle in and check your to-do list. End of the day: check/do stuff from to-do list, revise to-do list for next day, pack up/clean up.
I'm kind of messy, hate my handwriting but I write everything down because it is the fastest way to write random to-dos that cross my mind during the day so I can do it during 'free' time either at the end of the day or beginning of the day.
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Thanks for your tips. I think I just need to get in the habit of writing everything down and reviewing it.
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6 comments