This is the workflow I’m going to try and stick to today and for the next week and see how it goes.
“And it goes a little something like this, huh!”:
Check
Check my emails (and messages from other sources, LinkedIn, FB, Twitter, etc). I work on an Inbox Zero
type policy. When emails come in I try to ACT on them. Either
immediately as they come in if I’m not busy focusing on something else
or in batches, whenever I get a break. Right now, I have 4 emails in my
inbox and should be able to get rid of all of them today. Working
through emails at the start of the day is good as you can reply to any
which need the recipient to perform an action and better to get those
out as soon as possible to quicken their response time. I usually also
find tasks which need delegating to my workers/other people in my inbox,
so to continue onto my next workflow phase – “Delegate”, checking
emails first saves backtracking later.
Delegate
As with emails requiring responses/actions from other people, task
delegation should be done as soon as possible. The key to keeping my
clients happy with frequent progress not only relies on doing some jobs
myself, but more and more depends on managing many contractors working
on small to medium tasks. Having other people do work for you is very
rewarding, though there is an art to doing it successfully, I’ll be
writing more about that in the future. Once your inbox is reduced and
everything which can be assigned has been assigned, it’s time to
actually do some work while managing the communications received in the
background.
Do
It used to be that my
job as a web developer, waiter or Japanese speaking tour guide (or any
other of the 50+ roles I got myself into) required me to show up to the
office and just do one job. Now, I manage people, manage tasks, manage
my schedule, manage, manage, manage… On top of that, I’m still required
to do specialist programming jobs, marketing communications, update
financial and task management apps for multiple clients and perform
emergency server support when a crisis happens.
The way to
best approach the tasks I do myself is to just start one and don’t stop
until I’ve finished it or got it to a good stable point, where I can
pick it up again later without dreading working on a mess (delaying
starting work on it again further!). I use a few systems for task
management, but due to the scale and specific needs of my job, I’m
writing a more efficient task management system now, specifically for
multiple website management, including tracking software versions,
content freshness, ad revenues, keyword rank and traffic and actual
tasks per project (stay tuned for updates on that system). Whatever
system you use, it should not require a lot of your time to use, but
instead free you up to get your work done.
I like to reward
myself after finishing a task. Either with a cookie or just giving
myself a pat on the back and moving on o the next job
Manage
This is what I tend to do for the latter part of the day (often
night!), while at the same time completing my own tasks. It involves
answering questions from clients and workers, ACTING on emails as they
come in updating task management systems as jobs are completed and
deadlines change.
Productivity Tips
If I’m in the zone and/or working on something very complex, I turn off
apps like Mail (yes, I’m a Mac user!), Skype and ignore my cell phone.
One of the keys to productive programming I think is FOCUS. Sometimes we
can sit staring at the screen or doing little for an hour or more. If I
can’t focus at times like this, I’ll force myself to take a break and
do something completely different for a while.
Get an office
with other productive people working in it. Working at home is
distracting if you have a family, Starbucks is not convenient if you
need to run to the bathroom and working in a “place of business” feels
better (for me and my friends, at least). There are many “co-working”
offices all over the globe, highly recommended!
Other important parts of the day
Music – I need this to work efficiently. Most anything by the Ministry of Sound keeps me productive!
Caffeine – Caffeine and other focus chemicals are wonderful for increasing my productivity!
Play – Got to take a break sometimes, go grab a bite to eat with
someone, play some basketball or do something crazy while hepped up on
caffeine.
