Simplify Your Work Life

By Cyndi Seidler

Over the past year, I’ve seen quite a few articles aimed at helping people get organized and the focus in many of them has been to simplify.

One easy word, yes, but how is this done, you might wonder? Let’s take a look at some of the ways a person can work smarter by simplifying the way in which they operate.

Simplify your work style.
Do you deal with particular tasks at certain times of the day better than other times of the day? I recommend that you implement a schedule of routine tasks that will be done during your day. Break it down into early morning, late morning, early afternoon, and late afternoon. Keep it simple by not specifying "hour slots" but, instead, by breaking down your day’s activities into segments. Allow for change on occasion and, as the need arises, adjust your schedule to fit a change that becomes a routine. Overall, you want to try and maintain a regular pattern in the way you do certain activities.

Simplify your workspace.
Does your desktop area and workplace get out of control easily? Maybe you have too much "stuff" hanging around that doesn’t need to be there. Take a look around you and remove anything that you don’t need regular access to, like maybe certain supplies or material. Organize your desktop to have only what you need in front of you and put the rest away in a drawer, cabinet, shelf, or file drawer. Place furniture around your desk area strategically, with trade-related material and equipment within reach.

Simplify paper flow.
Is paper unmanageable to you? Implement a system to manage paper. Make sure that when paper comes in, it is dealt with, placed in a pending basket, action file, or active project file (as necessary), or put away (filed or routed out). If the paper has no value to you, throw it away. Make it your own policy to deal with paper during "desk time" (when doing administrative functions) and not "on the fly" during other production time. This is because you probably won’t give the task the proper attention it needs.

Simplify productivity.
Do projects and activities seem difficult to manage? An organized "To Do" list can sort out your priorities and help you focus on handling the tasks which need attention or which forward your goals. Keep a Master List and break it down into productivity segments (administrative, projects, operations, etc.). Write a Daily List from your Master List, listing only those tasks that you want to accomplish that day.

Simplify future goals.
Do you know where you’re going month to month? Write a plan and know where you’re going! If you’ve been coping with putting out fires, figure out what you need to do to prevent the fires. This can be done by implementing a plan which addresses what is causing the fires in the first place!

We can do everything better and, by simplifying our work life, we can achieve success in any area faster and easier.

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