I was on a podcast recently and asked to give my most important productivity tip. If you do this each day for 30 minutes it will save you so much time! Processing!
Pre-step minimize all contact points-where data collects, email, texts, voicemail, etc. and go to one contact point at a time. I start with email and take the first email and do the following.
Simply follow this method of:
Should I even do this task-if not delete
If yes, then if it can be done in 5 minutes do it now
If it takes more than 5 minutes then does it have a deadline or will it take more than 30 minutes
If yes, then calendar it
If no, then put it on a task or to-do list.
4. Pull out your to-do list when you have extra time-some of us have a little more of that now that we aren't commuting and wasting time on meetings :) This is a simple process that will save you so much time throughout the day. So instead of doing this between other projects, try scheduling a block of time in the am or pm or at lunch and process! What is it that you get caught processing throughout the day the most? Email, texts, to-dos?