Oct 13, 2020
Sort the small
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Bonjour. In this video, I want to share an important principle to better manage all your tasks.
A few months ago (pre-pandemic) I was in Singapore working with senior leaders from a large global company. During the session we had a discussion about task management and how to cope with the endless bombardment of tasks every day.
You open your inbox, you get tasks. You read your Slack or Teams’ messages, you get tasks. You go to a meeting, you guessed it, you get tasks.
I am often asked how to keep up with this constant flow.
One of the principles we discussed today is ‘sort the small’. What I mean by ‘sort the small’ is that you need to make a difference between the time-consuming task and the quick task.
Time consuming tasks are ones that take you more than 5 minutes to do and they need to end up being scheduled into in your calendar. You can write them up in a task list if you want to, but the best process is to block a time straight away in your calendar so you can action the task at a later date.
Quick tasks are ones that only take you only a few minutes to do, and shouldn’t be scheduled into your calendar. You can either do them now, the first time you touch them, or if you really can’t do them now, use a task management system to remind you to do it at the right time or the right day. I personally use Outlook task but there are many other great task management systems out there.
You allocate this task to the right day in your task management system and then you can completely forget about it as your system will remind you about it at the right time.
This is ‘sort the small’. Put any time-consuming task in your calendar. Tasks that can be done under 5 minutes , either do them now or use a task management tool so they can be done on a specific date.
This is this week’s Work Smarter: Live Better tip. I hope that is useful for you.
Have a great day,
Cyril
P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you be in control
1. Grab a free copy of my weekly plan
It is a simple tool but very important process to spend 2hrs more per day on your business and personal priorities.
2. Check my video blogs
For my clients, I record regular tips to keep the momentum on challenging their work habits. I have now made the previous video blogs available to all.
3. Get a copy of my book, Work Smarter: Live Better
Pushed by my clients, I wrote a book about practical ways to transform your life by changing your work habits.
4. Work with me and my team privately
If you are feeling swamped: by emails, by meetings, by things to do and you’d like me and my team to work directly with you … just send me an email and tell me a little about your team and business, and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll personally be in touch!
