Prioritize | Delegate
What's on your to do list these days? Is it manageable, or is it overflowing. Perhaps you find that your to do list grows and changes so quickly, that you aren't even really sure what should be on it, resulting in missed deadlines and frustrated colleagues.
If this sounds familiar, perhaps it's time to do something about it. Set a timer for 30 minutes. Yes - an actual timer. Trust us!
Write down all of the things you need to do, work on, or check on. You may need to scroll through your emails, check your calendar or shuffle through the sticky notes scattered all over your desk. But get it all onto one large list (and then recycle away all of the sticky notes).
Now comes the fun part. On ANOTHER paper (or on your computer), rewrite the list in order of most urgent (at the top) and least urgent (at the bottom). As you do this, be aware of anything that should come off of your list altogether - perhaps it's a "would be nice" task, but unnecessary. Remove it. Would it better fit someone else's skill sets? Pass it on. Is there something that could be a great learning opportunity for a colleague? Delegate (and offer some suggestions).