Is being organized the MAJOR KEY to job success??

[Jan]

Hello there,

I have been at my job for 12 years - too long but that's another story - and I never felt like I was doing the job efficiently. At first I thought it was lack of knowledge about the industry as it's fairly complicated at times (insurance/reinsurance) and I'm sure that was part of it. However as time has gone by and as I improve myself I realize that I have the technical knowledge to complete all the tasks and in fact it is not that hard after all!
I plan to move on to a different area of the industry but in the meantime I want to feel completely competent in my current role which will give me confidence moving forward.

I realize that all my frustrations are based on not keeping track of this e-mail, that reinsurance document to be signed , that person to follow up, that new program, that renewal, that commutation agreement etc. etc. etc. So many different programs, renewals, documents, charts, clients, e-mails, meetings. I think I need to come up with an excellent organization system and I do have the book GTD which if my memory serves me correctly talks about a "tickler" system - but I haven't implemented this or any other similar system. I do make haphazard lists but that's about it. I'm pretty rushed throughout the day then busy at home with kids and so I just get through each day without having a proper system in place. Part procrastination I suppose. However, it's not a comfortable feeling - what if I have forgotten something really important!

We don't get taught this in school but I see the young accountants join our firm, 10 years younger than me, and they juggle more tasks than I do - very competently. They seems to naturally be able to keep track of everything. Is it because they are mathematical and naturally logical??

What really is the simplest most logical way to keep track of everything do you think? For instance, if I were to list my tasks in a daily diary...then at the end of the day five out of eight are done (some needing follow-ups if necessary) should I copy those remaining three to the next day and then flip to a week away to jot down the ones that need following-up (if no reply received)? If I do get a reply later then I will need to find the follow-up notation & cross it out to avoid wasting time looking at the files again. Grrr...I should just build walls for a living, at least you know where you are at the end of the day!!

What do all of the successful folk here do? I will also copy this post into the Career section.

Thanks so much,
Jan

[Brutha]

Why don't you give GTD a 30-day-trial?

[RT Wolf]

^ They can handle more tasks cause they're more used to multi-tasking.

Getting Things Done is pretty much the best way I've found. A few tweaks here and there, but by and large, GTD is awesome. It seems like an unwieldy and huge system at the beginning but you get used to it quickly and then wonder what you did before it.

[Scott H Young]

I can't speak from experience but I've generally been told that interpersonal skills are also very high up in what matters in job success. I suppose this would vary job to job, though.

[Erik Mazzone]

I agree, there is no harm in doing the patented Pavlina 30 day trial of GTD.

I'm a bit organizationally challenged, as well, so I'm not offering advice as an expert, but more as a compatriot. GTD is a little too much system for me: I admire its elegance and thoroughness, but at the end of the day, it just takes a little too much effort to maintain. For me, maintaining the system became an end unto itself, rather than a tool to help me achieve a balanced life (or, as David Allen says, "mind like water").

I ended up making what I consider to be a bare-bones version of GTD, and it works for me. It has 3 parts:

1. Calendar: the only thing that goes in here are hard deadlines and appointments, not to-do's.

2. Tickler: I absolutely love this part of GTD, and if you only did one part of the system, I would say do this. It takes little time and the ROI is awesome.

3. To Do List: I have 1 to do list (as opposed to several, as suggested by David Allen). Tasks go on and do not come off until done, even if the list grows to several pages.

This is a far more simplistic and less elegant solution than the full-on GTD, but it has been working for me.

Good luck!

[Alvin]

Jan, I wouldn't say it's the major key, but it does sound like the major key for you right now

Since you brought it up, it must be important, and I suggest these blogs and boards for you to get yourself up on track towards being organized...plus action since you seem to already know some GTD.

Black Belt Productivity » GTD Primer

Matt's Idea Blog

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[ahimel]

I do mostly like Erik. The only difference is that I'm currently lousy at making my tickler file work, so I put time-critical items on my calendar. (I use a digital calendar, so it just pops up and reminds me in the morning.)

Also, I get depressed when I have to look at a 3-page to-do list multiple times per day. So I look at my "Mondo Huge To-Do List" every morning, and select 4-8 tasks that are my top priority to do today. I write these in some weird color, like pink. Then as things come up throughout the day, I'm able to tell which to-dos I started the day with (because they're pink or purple), and which to-dos were the result of "fires" causing problems (because I wrote them down in whatever color pen I had in my hand, probably blue or black). This helps me track which areas of my life are creating too many fires, and need to be worked on.

[Jan]

Thanks for your suggestions! I am going to improve my organizational skills. I think organization is definitely at the top of the list of desired work skills.

You can have tons of knowledge and a great personality but at the end of the day what matters most is that the work is done on time - without forgetting anything!

[songwriter]

I think the key to job success is doing what you love to do.