Organizing Your Day

One day I was standing in line at a wake to give my condolences to the grieving widow of a former colleague. As I waited in line rehearsing the right words to say, a former colleague stopped to say hello as she was heading back to her seat. We exchanged pleasantries and she expressed her appreciation for me and how much she missed me. She laughed and said “after you left, they had to hire 5 people to do your job”. She went on to explain that I had left a void and that not one person alone had been able to take over my responsibilities. She told me that I should write a book about organization since she felt that it was the reason I could manage and accomplish so much. I laughed and shrugged it off and was thankful for her words and for distracting me from the sad occasion that had brought us to meet that afternoon.

I gave a lot of thought to what she said for a few days but then went about my busy life. That was 10 years ago. Then a few months back, I attended a women’s networking event and the speaker was holding a workshop on organizing your life. The women in the room asked many questions and then a few turned to me asking me to share my way of organizing my life. Once again, I was met with comments on organization. One of the women met with me a week later and told me that she wasn’t kidding -- that she wanted to understand my secret formula for “getting stuff done” for organizing my life. She looked at me very seriously and said “how do you do it?” I once again was faced with the same question and of course I went on to share a few of my techniques. I am a big believer in sharing; if I can help someone improve, then I feel I have contributed.

Since this is a short blog I will share a few key points to organizing my day. This is years of discipline and practice but I will share a few basic tips to help you get started. Whether you are running your own business, in sales, or in a traditional employee 9 to 5 job, you must organize your day to be effective. You must establish a routine and you must stick to it like a train or airline schedule. Can you imagine going to the airport for your 2:00 pm departure and the flight crew didn’t show or the gate agents aren't prepared for you, or catering forgot to prepare the meals? Of course not -- that would be ludicrous! The funny thing is, most people let the schedule run them. There is no sense of organization, no plan, no routine. I do agree that your schedule will shift and change due to different circumstances, just like a flight delay. Occasionally you will experience mechanical failure, hence you get sick, or weather delay, hence off schedule meeting but you will eventually get back on track.

Getting Started
Start by understanding what the key things you need to get accomplished every day are, what pays the bills, what gets you promoted, what gets you recognized. In sales for example, your client appointments should be your priority. Block off the times in your calendar that are dedicated to these activities. How many appointments must you keep to be successful and what are your prime times for this? If you have a structured 9 to 5 schedule, this might be your project times, your call time, your input time.

Next, block off your prep time. In sales, this is important to have a successful appointment. If you are working on a project, this could be your research time.

Next, block off your buffer time to catch small things that creep up during the day. When I finish a meeting and I have follow ups, I immediately go to my calendar and block off the appropriate prep time during the block of time I have arranged. This is especially helpful in prioritizing things since you may not need to follow up on something for 2 weeks and you have another follow up that demands your immediate attention.

I also block off email time. I know we have the tendency of checking emails first think in the morning but keep in mind that your most productive time and creative time is early in the morning. This should be the time you block for your most important tasks; those that demand your best work.

The end of the day, we are least creative. We are tired and our creative juices are drained. Leave the least important work for the end of the day.

Tip
Emails are a distraction. Turn off your notifications when working on a project or during your focus time, put your phone on forward/do not disturb. If you are in a cubicle and lack privacy, invest in a headset and wear it. People will hesitate talking to you assuming you are on the phone.

Personal Time
When arranging your schedule, block off non-negotiables such as evening workout classes, a cooking class you might be taking, your family time, etc. This is also important because if it is written down and in your calendar, you will learn to keep it and not blow it off.

This is a high-level view of how I organize my time. You will find so much value in organizing your day.

Sample schedule

-Bellaria Jimenez