Does it often seem like you keep trying to get the same things done day after day, but there are always too many distractions?

One way to deal with this is to plan work days better, to build a more concrete strategy for addressing all the tasks and procedures that have to be done throughout a business day. Here are some tips on ways to conquer your workload in an intelligent way, and get more done each day.

List the Big Things

Sometimes it’s necessary to do various kinds of ‘triage’ and prioritize certain work tasks in front of others. Make a list at the beginning of every day of the ‘big picture’ things that need to get done, and try to knock those out strategically before tying up any loose ends. That way, you’ll have accomplished your core objectives, even if you run short on time. Think of these big ticket items as things to be knocked out to keep your workload “rolling” so that at the end of the week or month, you’re in good shape.

Block Details

The importance of this strategy can hardly be overstated. Part of the reason that so many people feel unproductive is that they’re constantly starting and stopping small work tasks. These could be things like managing invoices, handling payroll details, making individual client calls or doing other little tasks that may only take minutes, but have to be done again, and again, and again.

Blocking details means performing these tiny tasks into work blocks and doing them all at the same time. This makes it easy to ‘get on a roll’ and possibly automate some of these processes, or build efficiency into them by doing a group of them at once. Blocking details will allow you to know how much time you’re spending on any one administrative task, while making structured progress, instead of just trying to do each single thing as it comes in.

Structure Different Kinds of Work

It’s also often necessary to really put work into different time categories. That’s why even a lot of people who work 40 hours in an office will have designated office hours – they’ll structure a number of hours where they are available for calls or other interactive work. Then they’ll structure other hours where they are not available, because they’re working on other tasks.

Ignoring this strategy means you’ll constantly be scrambling to address different demands during the day. You’re trying to get reports done, and answer e-mails, and calls are coming in, and there’s just not enough time to do everything at once. But structure plays a big role in maximizing your productivity at work, because you know what you’re doing at any given time.

For more, check out what Full Steam Staffing offers businesses throughout the Ontario, California area. We help businesses build functionality into their plans, and we help them to succeed in fast-paced and competitive industries.