PROJECT ME - What is the best way to organise your time and workload?

Maximise your mornings
Ellie Carswell
Graduate project manager, Faithful+Gould

Your brain has a greater capacity in the morning, so I find it best to deal with tasks that require a higher level of concentration first, such as reviewing risk registers, dealing with client queries and administering detailed reports. Repetitive, generic tasks are easier to complete in the afternoon, especially if concentration lags after lunch. In progress meetings, it’s a great idea to actually make a drawing of the table showing who is sitting where. When writing up meeting minutes, it is easier to visualise the conversations that occurred when looking back at the drawing. It also works a treat for remembering names.

Get a ‘second brain’ and meditate
Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton
Director of consulting services, Wellingtone

By making a to-do list, you put in place a ‘second brain’ that deals with all the tasks that continually pop into your head (usually when you are trying to get to sleep). Use whatever method works for you – a whiteboard, sticky notes, apps – and accept that your list will never be empty. Add everything in as you think of it and only use due dates if you have to (eg client deadlines), because things will move. If you use it consistently, you will definitely sleep better. Also, you should meditate – it is important to take the time to calm your thoughts. Using 15 minutes of your morning to meditate will result in greater efficiency throughout the day and help you stop reacting negatively to situations you can’t control.

Use an action tracker
Gareth Beauvoisin
Senior project coordinator, BAE Systems Maritime Services

I use an Excel-based action tracker to log my tasks. Doing this allows me to concentrate on one thing at a time, as I can just log any new tasks on my tracker and come back to them later. The advantage over a paper-based to-do list is that I’ve added extra features to help keep me on track. For example, tasks automatically highlight amber if they are at risk of being late, and red if they are overdue. I can even run metrics on my own tasking, which helps me identify patterns and predict where issues may arise.

Keep up with the glossary
Tom Taylor
Principal, Dashdot

Every time a new edition of the APM Body of Knowledge is published, I read through the glossary from A to Z. I have just completed the recent seventh edition. It takes a few sessions, but I find the experience rewarding and reassuring. It ensures I am using the right words and phrases in appropriate contexts. It also helps me notice when other people misuse terms, which might need correcting. Naturally, there are other vocabularies in use – including legalese, sector terms, acronyms, scientific terminology, bad language and ‘txt speak’.

Forget voicemails
David Cross
Portfolio executive, Rolls-Royce

Voicemails are a thing of the past and entirely inefficient to leave and pick up. If someone doesn’t pick up the phone, then texting is far more immediate and more likely to get a response. If you are adamant the message needs to be spoken, you can send voice notes via WhatsApp or iMessage. Still, nothing beats a face-to-face conversation, whether that is digitally or in the same room. When it comes to emails, we all now get so many that it can be hard to ensure you are reading the ones that matter the most. To help with this, I have set up Outlook so that any email I am cc’d into goes into a separate folder that I only check once I am on top of all the emails sent to me direct.

Prioritise your goals
Gennadii Miroshnikov
Technology manager, London Business School

You have only 24 hours during a day, and you are never going to get them back, so you need to make choices that reflect your long- and short-term goals. I differentiate my professional and personal long-term goals and break down the task of achieving them by carefully aligning short-term goals to what I envision for my future. To gain professional expertise, I see my job as an experimental lab in which I am always looking for ways to improve my work methods. I research evidence and evaluate it critically. The overall point is to be self-aware and determine consciously what actions take me closer to or further from my goals, and adjust course accordingly.

Get in touch
Stumbled across a great productivity hack or tip? Get in touch with Project to share it in the next issue.