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Originally Posted by Manta  I came to the realization that I waste a lot of time in my life. I look at my job and the way I work just seems backwards. The problem is I get a ton of "stuff" coming at me in various mediums (I know I'm not the only one). For instance:
1. I get a ton of emails at work relating to various topics. Some are urgent, some are FYI, some are useless, and some may or may not be important (I'm not sure unless I research the issue).
2. I get voice mails from customers, employees, the boss, etc vying for my attention.
3. I go to meetings and papers are given out, notes are taken, next steps and action items are formulated, etc.
4. I have random conversations from office walkins, a co-worker who stops me in the hallway and requests something, etc.
5. I have "real work" to do such as updating the website with content, crafting the budget for next year, and a slew of other "busy" work things that I need to do.
There is more but I'm tired of typing. So, all this stuff is flying at me and I never know how to deal with it. What gets priority? What do I do with all the informaton? How does it get filed?
Right now, I can't even describe how I work. All I know is that I seem busy but I never get anything accomplished. I forget to follow-up with people. I respond late, etc. To be honest, I'm not sure how I've survived work for 10 years!
I'm here at Stevepavlina.com asking for help. I want to be more efficient so I can get more done in less time and do things I enjoy. If you haven't guessed, I'm not naturally organized. For instance, when I was younger, I never kept a homework pad. I kept it all in my head. My office is a list of piles and stacks of paper.
Finally - I've read a few books but many "time management" and "organization systems" seem so overly complex and completely unrealistic. It is like they are setup for a world where everything comes to your desk already organized and it is easy to file, prioritize and move on.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Books? Sites? Systems?
Thanks in advance...sorry for rambling.
Manta |
What is it about this job, that keeps you there? Money? Importance? Deep down do you actually enjoy the demands of it? Could it be as simple as quitting and going and doing something else? Is the structure of the work environment fixed and can it be changed? Is there any possible way to restructurre the nature of the job, to lighten the load?
Ask yourself these questions and you'll get to the core of the problem, the last thing you probably need is any system that is going to make it more involved, you don't need to complicate the problem, you need to find out exactly what the problem is, not just layer more work on it.
Max