DO MORE, STRESS LESS
Workload Planning Best Practices
Be Realistic About Workload
● What:
○ Recognize that there will always be more to do than we have time to do.
● Why
○ Having this knowledge as a basic premise allows you to get to the work of prioritization without feeling significant stress.
● How
○ Prioritize effectively. If you are not able to get all you tasks done by their deadlines, discuss prioritizations with your manager to either ask for help, or deprioritize some items.
○ Choose a firm cut off time for work/checking work related communications each day. Deadlines help you focus.
○ Strive for “good enough”. Getting from 90% to 100% will take too long and compromise other goals.
Time Blocking
● What:
○ Use your calendar to block off time that you will work on a particular task, batch of tasks or project.
● Why:
○ Time blocking works under the premise that if it’s not scheduled, it won’t happen.
○ It’s a great way to look back and see how you’ve been spending your time.
● How:
○ Create a separate “time blocking” calendar in your calendar (viewable only to you so that it doesn’t show you as busy in case your coworkers need to schedule a meeting).
○ Look at your to do list to see what you need to do in a given time frame and then schedule blocks of time to work on those tasks. Do your best to estimate the time it will take to complete tasks or projects, OR simply schedule blocks of time, and get through as much as you can on each block.
○ During these time blocks, do not check email, Slack or other systems that will distract you.
○ Build in buffer time to account for unscheduled interruptions, or daily organizing tasks.
○ Consider scheduling 30 minute blocks a few times a for checking email.
○ Schedule travel time into your calendar.
End of Day (EOD) Prep
● What:
○ Recapping today and planning for tomorrow. At the end of every day, spend 10-15 minutes organizing for the next day.
● Why:
○ If you plan at the end the day, you’ll be able to hit the ground running when you get to work the next morning. And, you’ll be able to disconnect from work at the end of the day with a clear and unanxious mind, knowing that everything is prioritized.
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This document is proprietary. Do not reproduce or distribute without written permission from Alexis Haselberger.
DO MORE, STRESS LESS
● How:
○ Block off time to update tasks completed from today, and reprioritize your tasks for tomorrow (and perhaps beyond) so that you know what to start with the next day, and what absolutely must be done that day.
○ Think of tasks falling into these broad categories
■ Must be done today - do these first
■ I’ll be in good shape if this is done today - tackle these next
■ Can wait - do these if you have time, if not reprioritize to another day
○ Add any new tasks/project that came up during the day to your system.
○ Read through any notes from the day and add them to your system.
○ Spend 2 minutes cleaning your desk surface - scan any paper and throw away, organize your belongings, so that you can start fresh the next day. This seems like a silly step, but it makes a huge difference.
End of Week Prep
● What
○ Prioritize your tasks for the following week and time-block your days so that you’ll have time for everything you need to get done.
● Why
○ If you plan at the end the week, you’ll be able to hit the ground running when you get to work the next Monday. And, you’ll be able to disconnect from work over the weekend with a clear and unanxious, knowing that everything is prioritized.
○ When you time block out your tasks and projects, you’ll have a better idea of if what you’ve planned is realistic and will be able to adjust accordingly
● How
○ Complete EOD planning for the last day of your work week.
○ Block off time at the end of the week to make sure that all of this week’s tasks are updated in your system.
○ Do a brain-dump to make sure you’ve captured in your system any lingering thoughts, to-dos or questions.
○ Review all tasks assigned for next week and make sure they are assigned to days of the week (so you’ll know when you’re planning to do what). Ensure that tasks are spread evenly
throughout the week so as not to overwhelm yourself.
○ Time-block your calendar to figure out when you’ll actually work on your tasks next week.
2 Minute Rule
● What
○ If a task takes less than 2 minutes, just do it now.
● Why
○ Often these tasks take longer to put into your system than to just do.
○ Just getting it done means that you don’t have to grow your tasklist and you’ll feel better
● How
○ Just do it.
www.alexishaselberger.com
This document is proprietary. Do not reproduce or distribute without written permission from Alexis Haselberger.