5 quick tips to manage your daily workflow

Did you open your inbox this morning to find 100 emails to respond to on top of your already long list of to-do’s left over from yesterday?

Is your phone going off with Slack/Teams messages and phone calls before you’ve even had the chance to finish your first cup of coffee?

Are you so busy that you don’t really have time to read this post, so you’ve saved this tab to read it on the bus/couch/toilet later?

Yep, I hear you. Work in the 21st century is overwhelming! Your boss/client wants everything ASAP, your heart is in ever-increasing stress mode, and you’re not sure if you’ll even be able to make it through the day in one piece, let alone manage the giant washing pile waiting for you at the end of the day (update: yesterday’s load is still waiting).

Taking control of our seemingly long list of tasks can feel impossible. But you’re not alone. Here are five ways I’ve implemented to manage my daily workflow to make time for the more important things (like eating the chocolate I hid from my kids earlier in peace).

1. Use your morning to plan out your day

Daily planning is recommended by all the well-known time management experts, but do you really know HOW and WHEN to do it?

Planning sounds BORING, so most of us don’t bother trying, but good ol’ Ben Franklin knew what he was talking about when he said, ‘If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail’.

Have a good look at your to-do list and email inbox and work out what needs to be done right now (like IMMEDIATELY or all will fall apart) and what can be either pushed to the afternoon or even tomorrow. We’re not robots – we need to eat lunch and go to the toilet and get our next caffeine fix and things – so planning ahead will mean less time feeling guilty you’ve left your desk.

Trust me, end-of-the-day you will thank morning you for doing this!

2. Sort your immediate and daily tasks into categories

Another BORING step, I know. But if you get some cute, colourful highlighters, I promise it will make this task much more fun!

Not all tasks are the same. Some are short action tasks, such as responding to an email or accepting a meeting request, while others can be related to your core work, which will require more time that day to complete.

What is core work, you say? Great question! This is the work that is the main focus of your role. So, if you’re a writer like me, your core work is your writing projects. If you’re a photographer, it is your shoot or editing time. You can work out what your core work is by examining the main tasks you are expected to do to get paid. Sometimes, we lose track of our core work when we’re bogged down in all the admin or short-action tasks of the day!

Colour-code each task and then head to the next step, this is where the magic happens…

3. Add each task category to your calendar

This is where we get to the juicy part of planning. Look at your day and realistically plot when you will complete each category of tasks. Think about how long each task will take and block out that time within your day.

TIP! Use the same colours as your highlighters (e.g. blue for core work, red for meetings and short-action tasks, etc.) and your stressed, overwhelmed brain will thank you for it.

Check for any last-minute meeting requests and give yourself a few breaks throughout for snacks/lunch and creative brainstorming time. Many of us forget that our best ideas come from time away from our screens, looking at the trees out our windows.

Are you not a fan of time blocking or worried it won’t suit your crazy schedule? I completely understand! Not every day is the same, so when you’re starting out, just block out time for today - don’t even think of tomorrow. This way, you can see how it works for you and adjust accordingly for future days.

4. Stop researching the latest productivity tools

I mean it! We spend WAY too much time looking at all the pretty new tools said to revamp our working life (I see you, Notion!), but what we’re actually doing is wasting precious time.

If you really want to introduce a new productivity tool, take a squiz at it during your lunch break or after you clock off for the day. Once we head down that rabbit hole, it could be hours before we return to the land of the living, so it’s best to flirt and fantasise about our future organised selves in our own time. Plus, if you find one you LOVE, you’ll be all tooled up and ready to go when your workday kicks off again.

5. Be kind to yourself!

This step should really be at number one because YOU are number one. We’re human, and our days can be frantic and messy, and not everything will fit perfectly into your schedule.

Some days will start with dog vomit on the rug, a five-year-old waking with the flu and no sleep. You won’t be at your most productive that day, but that’s okay. Incremental changes are all you need to get that little bit closer to a more organised you.