Do you know those CEO's and management gurus who write all those books with „stress-free", „productivity easily", „time-management" and so on? They give the impression of people totally in control, who take life's hurdles effortlessly and are flexible to any change. These people were not always like this, and the underlying theme of their separate methods is always the same.
Few people realize it, but management, organization and productivity go together, along with another popular term, stress, in my opinion the most important one. I think there are a few steps anyone can take to become better organized and productive, without having to wade through all the books there are.
Stress and Everything Else
In my opinion stress is the single biggest factor for most people. No matter how good theories you pursue, no matter how organized you are, it doesn't matter if you are a CEO or a janitor, stress is something you absolutely have to get rid of if you want to better yourself.
The reason is that stress inhibits you, it keeps you from focusing totally on something since your mind is preoccupied with all the other things you need to be worrying about. Now the trick here is not that you need to neglect your other duties, it's to put them away safely somwhere, where you know you won't forget it, and you know you will get to it when you should. Now here is where organization comes into play
The Role of Organization
The role of organization is twofold. First of all, it organizes you, that's not a big surprise I think. The other huge role is that through organizing you, it takes a big load off your back and let's you focus on what you really need to be focusing on.
I need to write an operating procedure for one of tasks, I also need to contact my boss to ask for his input on it. It's the end of the month, so I also need to e compiling payment details for contractors, but while I do that, I need to clear up with someone who disappeared for two months and is now back, wanting his money. I also need to deal with the every-day emails of clients and management issues pertaining to orders. I feel no stress, I have spare time (after all, I am writing this article in the midst of it all), and I feel good and relaxed.
Why is this? I have everything organized. My email is filtered automatically, payment details are generated by a pivot table in Excel, I just need to copy paste the table into another one. There are a lot of little details that go into this, but the point is that I know that everything is either being dealt with, or will be dealt with by me personally when the time comes. I use Outlook's task management to keep me updated on when I need to be doing specific tasks.
Overview
My tip to you is that the actual management method you use is not an issue. If it takes you 10 hours to organize and then 2 to get the job done that's fine. If this is what you need to do to keep the stress away, go ahead. You can always refine your method and get it down to 30 minutes organization and 2 hours work later on.
The point is that you have everything in place, and things will be done. Remember, be relaxed, don't let things slip out of your hand and you will be on your way to a stress free, productive and organized life in no time.
