Braking Into The New Year

"Here are some ways that you can make the most out of the slower times, to set yourself up for success during the busier times:

Purge/Declutter

• Clear Off Your Desk – Put everything in its place. Put that extra stapler back in the supply closet where it belongs. Straighten, neaten, tidy and toss.
• Remove Paper – Get rid of all that paper that’s been accumulating. File, scan and/or shred.
• Unsubscribe from all those marketing emails that are just cluttering up your inbox and not providing you with any value.

Organize

• Digitize! – Have you still got a lot of paper hanging around? It’s never been easier to digitize. Most printers have a scanner. I
• Organize Digital Files – Is your desktop a mess of document icons? Clean up (or create) your folder structure and give those docs an (easily findable) home.
• Organize Email – Are your labels, tags, and/or folders working for you? Take some time to clean them up. Automate labeling of emails by setting up filters and auto-applying labels.
• Prepare For Your Performance Review – Create an email label/tag called “performance” so that you can tag anything you want to include in your annual self-review (kudos you receive from others, emails you send yourself to remember your accomplishments, etc.). Doing so will make next year’s review process a breeze.

Tackle the Backlog

• Get to Inbox 0 – It’s elusive, I know. It can feel like an overwhelming feat. But you can do it. There’s no better time than a slow period at work to make it happen.
• Schedule a Productivity Power Hour (or Day) – We’ve all got tasks on our list that just aren’t as important as the rest of our work. And those things can start to pile up. Schedule an hour, or a day, and just knock them all off your list.

Reflect

• Reflect on the Busy Period You Just Emerged From
  • What practices or habits made the busy time feel even more overwhelming?
  • What systems seemed rather inefficient?
  • On your most stressful days, what was going on?
  • Take the time to really think back and figure out what you can do now to help yourself later. Maybe you need to improve communication with a certain team or coworker. Maybe your information/resources weren’t always up to date. Reflect on the challenges so that you can work on the solutions.

Set Goals/Priorities

• What’s Next? – It’s hard to think about the future when we are treading water in the present. But now you’ve got a little room to think. So think.
  • What do you want to do, learn or become over the next several months or year? Do a little research to figure out the next steps and make an action plan. Figure out what you need to do each day or week to make your goal a reality.
  • A big decision on the horizon? Start a list of pros and cons. Put your thoughts to paper. Start narrowing down the options and pick a direction.

Relax

Taking breaks has been proven to help us improve both our creativity and productivity. Bask a little bit in the slowness. Take a deep breath, or a walk, because you know the busy times are right around the corner."

Read the complete article available at Thrive Global!

Reflection:

What are some of your plans for 2023?

#NewYear #Productivity #Motivation