Lately I’ve been a little disorganized. No – that’s an understatement. I’ve been an utterly chaotic tornado of inefficiency.
Today I almost went to lunch instead of leading a 12:15 web demonstration. Somehow I never managed to get it on to my calendar, and luckily another attendee emailed me a confirmation with about 5 minutes to spare, right as I was about to hop off for a $5 footlong.
My task list in Salesforce.com is 98% red, meaning OVERDUE, some of them months old. Sure, every time I look at them they don’t strike me as any level of priority… but some sick, sad, inner professional masochist will not allow me to delete them so I can start fresh with my latest tasks.
I’m flying to Houston Wednesday… and I just booked my flight on Saturday. You don’t want to know how much that cost. I still have marketing emails to send out in preparation for that, but somehow they elude me.
I have an enormously important demonstration at 1 PM tomorrow, part of an RFP process and it’s going to follow a 4 page demo script. I just realized it’s happening and looked at the script for the first time at about 3:30 PM today. I died a little on the inside.
I have this fantastic theoretical awareness of how I should be organizing myself, but my To Do lists are still scattered pieces of yellow notebook paper, etched with fierce cross-outs and giant bullet points. Business cards are strewn about, semi-prioritized in mini stacks under and around my keyboard. The amount of scrap paper cluttering my work area (and expanding beyond into 2 more work areas) would make Al Gore weep.
What’s the secret? Is it just me? I’m remarkably OCD about a lot of things. Maybe I’m just overworked and heading towards burnout and getting on top of things is simply impossible right now. I don’t think that’s it though. I’d love to hear some of our readers’ tips for handling work/information/stress overload…
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This post made me laugh out loud. Ok, ready for my top 2 tips?
1. Keep your desk clear. This means if a piece of paper hits it, deal w. it instantly.
2. Make a priority list every evening. Paper-based, email, salesforce, whatever. If I do it the night before, I don’t waste an hour pounding through emails and getting ‘pulled’ into somebody else’s task list.
Good luck Michael – I’m quite convinced there should be an organizational gene out there for purchase.
Personally, I’d recommend reading David Allen’s Getting Things DONE.
Here are three posts that should provide some ideas (and hopefully some motivation). Good luck.
Lifehaker – Reusable Solutions (4/1/09)
http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/R83JxvI-OY8/beyond-life-hacks-reusable-solutions-to-common-productivity-problems
Lifehacker – 3 Productivity Systems (12/23/08)
http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/FEQ8wNxI4Xg/putting-three-productivity-systems-through-their-paces
Daily Anchor – 9 Tips (2/23/09)
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thedailyanchor/~3/y-W13l3HGoY/