Shut Down Your Programs

To help you focus on that single task, rather than the ten projects bogging down your mind, we recommend shutting down all of your processes on your PC that are not involved in completing the work that you are doing. This keeps you from getting distracted by the spreadsheet due next week, that email you began writing yesterday, or the shopping cart you started at your favorite e-tailer. It also helps you stay focused on the work you prioritized as important.

Prioritize and Utilize Productivity Tools

To keep track of your own responsibilities, utilize a tool such as Microsoft Tasks. Tasks shows all of your assigned tasks from Planner, To Do, and flagged Outlook emails, and can be sorted into buckets. When you log on in the morning, you can look at your tasks, including those carried over from previous days, choose the three or four most important ones, and add them to your day in the time chunks mentioned above. These will show up in My Day. You can also filter tasks to see them sorted in different ways. Tasks helps users view and manage all of their personal and team tasks and prioritize their work.

Don’t Let email Control Your Day

We’ve said this in previous blogs, but it bears repeating. Continually checking email throughout the day and responding to the latest fire drill or never-ending email chain can take over your day and keep you from being productive. In addition, if you receive notifications on your phone or smart watch for email, turn them off. You don’t need to know when every email arrives. The distraction of every incoming ‘ding’ of a new message will quickly derail your day. Instead, intentionally schedule one or two times per day to answer email and shut down email at all other times.

Schedule Limited Social Media Time

Like email, social media can wreck the day of even the most disciplined people. Plan your day in a way that allows a limited time for engaging with social media so you can avoid the rabbit holes that suck away your time. And like email, turn off the notifications that can distract you.

Move Your Phone Out of Sight

We all understand the habit of mindlessly picking up our phones and scrolling while sitting on calls or even when working. Hiding your phone out of sight and checking it intentionally during scheduled times or only periodically for important calls can help you use your time more wisely and get work done more efficiently. You’ll be more productive and have more time for what is really important to you.