How Do We Find A Few More Minutes in the Day?

I found an organization tip on Pinterest this weekend. It was talking about what professionals should do on Sunday to prepare for the week ahead. I was pleasantly surprised that I already was doing some of those things–reviewing the calendar, making notes for upcoming meetings, reviewing your to-do list etc.

I also reflected upon a presentation Marshall provided for some of us in December where he challenged us to determine what our top 3 priorities were for our position. After we had our priorities, we were then to review the past three months of our calendar and determine if we spent 60% of our time focused on our priorities. He also challenged us to see if we could shorten our meeting time in 2019. If we normally allow 1 hour for meetings, could we accomplish the same objective in 30 minutes. I like both of these ideas as We all know we often get pulled into meetings that 1) may not apply to our priority issues and 2) take much longer than needed.

As we look to 2019, I am trying to really invest in our priority issues and ensuring I am available for faculty when needed by examining how I spend my time and how I can recapture time throughout the week. Although I have not reviewed my calendar for the last quarter of 2018, I am taking a hard look at meetings going forward. I also took 20 minutes this morning to “unsubscribe ” to several email messaging services. While they have good content, if you have time to read an extra 25-50 emails a day, they are not focused on my priorities. Even if all I do is delete the emails daily, that robbed 10-15 minutes a day from being more productive.

So my motivation to you this January morning is to find small ways to focus on your priorities and recapture a few minutes each day that will allow you to more productive on things that matter most to you….while I mention I chose these simple things to increase my efficiency and productivity at work, I must admit it also allows me more time with those near and dear to my heart…the picture above are our two grandsons. This picture was taken in December after the Centralia Lighted Tractor Parade. We had never gone and the boys thought the holiday lights were so amazing.

By prioritizing our efforts and finding ways to be productive in a more efficient manner allows us more time to spend enjoying those around us without worrying that we have missed a deadline or their are tasks going undone. Give it a try and share with me how you find new ways to be productive each day!

Until next time…