Allocate a Task to Each Day
By Tana M. Mann Easton, Lead Efficiency Engineer
Most of us have time-consuming tasks that we need to perform weekly or with some other cadence of regularity. I’ve found that it often helps if I assign each of those tasks a specific day when I usually handle them.
For example, I worked in the financial industry for 14 years. There were quite a few duties that I needed to perform weekly and that required a considerable amount of time. So, I would often assign certain tasks to specific days of the week. Expense reports were often completed every Monday since most of the people I supported were in the office that day for meetings, and I could easily go to them and obtain any missing receipts I needed. On Tuesdays, I would look at everyone’s calendars for the following week and proactively ask them what they needed. On Wednesdays, I would follow up on the Tuesday requests for anyone who didn’t respond yet. A large part of Thursdays was devoted to running reports, putting together client books, and prepping any other materials the people I supported needed for the following week. On Fridays, I tended to complete facilities duties that I managed for the office space.
With my current job/life, I still assign certain tasks to certain days. I tend to do most of my computer work (sending emails, writing blog posts, etc.) on Mondays. I try to schedule most of my training sessions for Tuesdays and Thursdays when possible. I plan for the following week on Fridays. I do laundry on Wednesdays and Sundays. I can always deviate from the preferred days of the week when circumstances require some flexibility, but I find that having tasks allocated on certain days makes it more likely that the tasks will be completed because they are part of my scheduled habits.
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Sincerely Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team